Wolfowitz Retracts al-Qaida, Iraq Claim

[peterh]

<http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/6757798.htm>

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon's No. 2 official retreated Friday from his assertion that key lieutenants of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden are plotting with Saddam Hussein loyalists to kill Americans in Iraq.
In television and newspaper interviews on Thursday's anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said hundreds of fighters from al-Qaida and other groups are now in Iraq. Wolfowitz also said "a great many" bin Laden operatives were trying to link up with remnants of Saddam's regime to attack Americans.
But Wolfowitz - an architect of U.S. policy in Iraq - said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press that he had misspoken.
He said U.S. military forces were still trying to identify foreign fighters flowing into Iraq and whether they are collaborating with Saddam loyalists resisting the U.S.-led occupation forces.

Before Wolfowitz clarified his remarks Friday, two other senior administration officials had disputed his assertions, but only on condition of anonymity.


These critters keep trying to push the envelop of truth and then do a little spin when called on it. But how many saw the orignial vs. the retraction...

[htuttle]

1. They're tripping over their own spin again

It seems like there are several competing versions of reality coming out of this administration, and each one's moods (and truths) shift from day to day...sometimes hour to hour.

[saigon68]

22. WOLFIE IS NO BETTER THAN GOEBELS

The amerikan people (many of them) are no better than sheep

[Snellius]

2. He's so used to lying he just can't help himself

I give him a week.

[Rose Siding]

3. He learned how easy it is to get away with

He's in for the long haul. Not enough care that they lie to us. The admin is packed with criminals! They may do as they like.

[Ernesto]

10. I learned, a long time ago,

It is alot easy to keep track of the truth: keeping track of your lies can be very labor-intensive.

[Casper]

4. can you blame him...

lying has worked quite well for him his entire career.

[MaineDem]

5. Crap!

This is another of those Friday news things that'll get lost! No one will ever hear of this retraction. This sucks!

These guys are slime.

[lumpy]

6. This from the asserted 'prime architect' of the Iraq invasion.

This guy is the creepiest of all the Bushco gang. We have:
John Negroponte
Elliot Abrams
John Poindexter
Otto Reich
Richard Armitage
James Woolsey
Richard Perle
Wolfowitz and various other creeps and criminals
having a hand in running this country into the ground.

[gratuitous]

7. "He had misspoken"

Nobody in this whole corrupt administration ever does anything so crass as "lie." Wolfowitz merely "misspoke." Here, now he's going to "clarify" his comments.

Gore said he was instrumental in crafting the legislation that created the Internet. Wolfowitz misspoke about the connection between Al Qaida and Saddam. Guess which sentence got more people killed? Guess which sentence the "liberal" media would much rather talk about and twist?

[Whoa_Nelly]

9. misspoken

is having lied and being reprimanded to put a "fix" on the lies or get your pee-pee whacked.

[snippy]

8. "push the envelop of truth and then do a little spin when called on it. "

This is intentional and very effective. The Bush administration does this almost every day. Some people hear only the original lie and don't know any better, and others chose to believe the lie despite the truth. Both of these groups spread the lie by repeating or quoting it to still other people. I am confident that his particular lie will be mentioned in numerous Reich wing articles and editorials in the coming months.

One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.
- Pudd'nhead Wilson

[cboy4]

11. What a disgrace

What this man and this administration won't do to achieve their ultimate goal of global domination per the PNAC doctrine. He had an embarrassing performance on Meet The Press last month if you recall. He is a dangerous, evil, vindictive, lying little man, and the democratic candidates should POUNCE on this story, immediately.

[Gman]

12. This was planned. The statement was splashed all over the news

when it happened. The retraction won't even merit a mention on page 11E next to the "For Sale By Owner" ads.

They know this and did it on purpose. If it comes up again later Wolfowitz can say..."Oh, I did retract that." No one will hear it.

[snippy]

14. Agreed. They do it all the time.

[Cocoa]

15. now that 70% of americans believe Iraq was involved in Sept. 11

I don't think Wolfie is going to make a huge effort to remove that impression.

I hope Russert asks Cheney about this on Sunday.

[pfitz59]

21. Lazy whore media fellating this jagoff!

International disgrace!

[BattyDem]

13. These idiots do so much back pedaling ...

they can take a trip around the world in reverse! :crazy:

[karlschneider]

18. Hiya Batty, welcome to DU. It's a wacky free-for-all, but give us

a chance. :D

[RainDog]

16. Is this man criminally insane?

He lies, knowing his lies can be refuted. Yet he lies anyway.

He wants the American military to develop "weapons of genocidal terror" to target populations of people -- which, he claims, will be useful both for America's control of other nations, and in political situations (at home?)

This man and his friend Kristol, who said last year on tv that "peace is unnatural" are urging the American military to become a new SS, in other words, and enforce a "final solution" for anyone who does not share his beliefs.

Is that not sociopathic, at the least?

This man needs to be in a padded cell with his Hannibal Lector mask firmly attached.

[maggrwaggr]

17. short answer: yes

he needs to be sent to Gitmo with a bag over his head.

And left there to rot.

He's probably the most dangerous man on the planet.

[reprobate]

19. May I suggest that we provide him with company on his trip to cuba?

We could probably get a good group rate by adding Cheney, Perle, von Rumskopf, and of course Captain Codpiece.

[VolcanoJen]

20. Kick!

They truly know no shame...

:dem:

[TacticalPeek]

23. Kick.

:kick:

[ignatius]

24. It takes a smart man to recognize his own lie when it comes back

to him and these guys all seem pretty dim.

This will be their undoing..tripping over their own lies.

[snippy]

25. They are confident that they can lie whenever they like and prevail.

They do not see themselves as ever "tripping over their own lies." They lie knowing that the lie will be exposed but that before it is exposed as a lie it will be widely circulated. They know that the lie will be believed by their supporters even after it is exposed. They also know that more people will hear the lie than the correction. Lying is part of their marketing plan and they know that it is effective.