Kerry accuses Bush of trying to scare Americans about al-Qaida

[sabra]

Source: AP

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Senator John Kerry is accusing President Bush of trying to scare the country about al-Qaida.

...

In it, Bush insisted that al-Qaida in Iraq is run by foreign leaders "loyal to Osama bin Laden" and described al-Qaida's burgeoning operation in Iraq as a direct threat to the United States.

Bush also accused critics who claim al-Qaida's operation in Iraq is distinct from those behind 9-11 of misleading the public.

But Kerry says the president presents no evidence, adding "al-Qaida in not the principal killer" of US troops in Iraq. He says Bush is trying to scare Americans into believing his rationale for continuing the war in Iraq.

Read more: http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6832926

[ringtailtooter]

1. How many more times is he going to cry wolf.

Didn't Barbara read Aesop's Fables to him as a kid?

[LiberalFighter]

16. Little kids like crying wolf. They think it is funny.

To bad he wasn't an underling in the Mafia.

[Roy]

19. She is reading it to him now, just hsven't the final chapter.....

Don't want to overload such a fragile mind.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

2. Welcome To 2001 Mr. Kerry nt

[wisteria]

5. Oh please. Kerry has lead on the Iraq issue for some time now.

Where have you been since 2001?

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

6. His Statement Is Less Than Timely

This administration has been using the AQ Boogie Man for 6 years now, so why should ANYONE be shocked about it?

If this was something new, then ok. But AL QAEDA, AL QAEDA, AL QAEDA, 24/7, has been going on for years and years and years and years.

Nothing new here.

[karynnj]

8. It is not the first time he has said anything like this

He was one of the first after 911 to criticize how Bush dealt with OBL. In 2002, he spoke of letting OBL escape because Bush outsourced the effort to catch him to Afghan warlords who were working for the Taliban only weeks before.

He also brought up the politiaclly minded terror alerts long before anyone else ever did.

These ideas may be old hat to you - but this is Bush's reason to be in Iraq - and the vast majority of people still believe it. Senator Reid had good reason to have Senators Kerry and Reed do this response.

[rodeodance]

3. bu$h* said Al Qaeda 95 times in speech today.

Tue Jul-24-07 04:05 PM
Original message
bu$h* said Al Qaeda 95 times in speech today.

reported on cnn

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

4. Bush is becoming the Al Qaeda President - not the War President

Every other word now becomes Al Qaeda:

"Condi, Al Qaeda, bring, Al Qaeda, me, Al Qaeda, a, Al Qaeda, fresh, Al Qaeda, bottle, Al Qaeda, of, Al Qaeda, Jim, Al Qaeda, Beam, Al Qaeda."

[formercia]

7. The principal killer of US troops in Iraq is the Bush Administration

If Bush hadn't lied, none would have died.


...but then Poppy taught him well:

"Lies work." GHW Bush, 1992

Another gem that Poppy taught Junior in his training to be 'Commander in Chief' was the proper way to reference the troops, especially when speaking with their bereaved next-of-kin:

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/rmac14.html#2

OFU = "One Fodder Unit." Attributed to George H. W. Bush Sr., by Al Martin in his article: "The Ambassador Wilson Affair: The End of Karl Rove -- And George Bush?" Published September 2, 2003, http://www.almartinraw.com/

[liberal N proud]

9. Fear is all the bu$h regime has

It is all it has ever had and it used to work for them. They used to fear all of the people some of the time and then it was some of the people all the time. But I think they may have run out of time, no one is afraid this time.

[wisteria]

10. The administration used the scare card every time they want to distract the public and gain support

for continuing the war. Senator Kerry can't emphasis his comments enough. The public needs to keep on hearing them. Unfortunately as KarynNJ stated up thread, to many people still buy into the lies.



edited to correct name

[Maat]

11. Uh-oh; John Kerry is acting like himself, and telling the Truth ...

I did some research on Al Qaeda. "Al Qaeda" was originally a MOVEMENT, not a tightly-run organization, in Afghanistan. We funded leaders of Al Qaeda, who were essentially on our CIA's payroll, and we shipped arms to them in the 80's.

"Al Qaeda" has become a "cue," or a word an Administration official, or his/her media lackey, utters to induce paralyzing fear in a member of its loyal base. Now, because it gets such a response, every "terrorist/insurgent/freedom-fighter" self-identifies as a member of Al Qaeda to gain street cred.

Every time they utter it now, it cues ME to think "Bullshit Alert!"

[wisteria]

12. Thanks for providing this information. n/t

[Maat]

17. This is interesting, and supports what I'm saying (although some say the guy was lying).

********Quote*****************
The BBC documentary "The Power of Nightmares" says that the name "al-Qaeda" was first brought to the attention of the public in the 2001 trial of Osama bin Laden and the four men accused of the 1998 United States embassy bombings in East Africa. According to the documentary, the U.S. Department of Justice needed to show that Osama bin Laden was the leader of a criminal organization in order to charge him in absentia under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, also known as the RICO statutes.<20> The name of the organization and details of its structure were provided in the testimony of Jamal al-Fadl, who claimed to be a founding member of the organization and a former employee of Osama bin Laden.<21> To quote the documentary directly:

“ The picture al-Fadl drew for the Americans of bin Laden was of an all-powerful figure at the head of a large terrorist network that had an organised network of control. He also said that bin Laden had given this network a name: "al-Qaeda". It was a dramatic and powerful picture of bin Laden, but it bore little relationship to the truth. The reality was that bin Laden and Ayman Zawahiri had become the focus of a loose association of disillusioned Islamist militants who were attracted by the new strategy. But there was no organisation. These were militants who mostly planned their own operations and looked to bin Laden for funding and assistance. He was not their commander. There is also no evidence that bin Laden used the term "al-Qaeda" to refer to the name of a group until after September the 11th, when he realized that this was the term the Americans had given it. ”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda

[muntrv]

13. Chimpy created the Al-Qaeda presence. Saddham Hussein kept them

out. Then the US arrived in Iraq, and Al Qaeda followed suit.

[muntrv]

14. Uh Shrub? Read this!!

Saddam 'had no link to al-Qaeda'

Democrats say the report weakens Mr Bush's case for war
There is no evidence of formal links between Iraqi ex-leader Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda leaders prior to the 2003 war, a US Senate report says.
The finding is contained in a 2005 CIA report released by the Senate's Intelligence Committee on Friday.

US President George W Bush has said that the presence of late al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq before the war was evidence of a link.

Opposition Democrats are accusing the White House of deliberate deception.

They say the revelation undermines the basis on which the US went to war in Iraq.

The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5328592.stm

[19jet54]

15. Apples & Oranges

Pre-Bush: Clinton appoints a Terrorism Czar, Richard Clark to combat Al-Qaeda threat.

Bush Era: Richard Clark is demoted, as are all democrats in government, with no hint of a Terrorism threat.

9/11: Bush drops the ball - Sleeping at the helm!

Post 9/11: Terrorist are everywhere per the Bushies - this could get me re-elected!

Iraq: Go get the guy that tried to kill my dad - oil is good too!

Post-Iraq: Al-Qaeda is in Iraq & the war is Iraq! (Bullshit)

Observations: Bush has gotten everything wrong 100% of the time and he "lies" to both get what he wants & cover his ass when he makes mistakes (100% of the time).

WAG THE DOG! (Go Kerry)

[DutchLiberal]

18. Give me a D, give me a U, give me a H... !

And, by the way:

Bush also accused critics who claim al-Qaida's operation in Iraq is distinct from those behind 9-11 of misleading the public.

Come on, dude... Seriously??? :eyes:

[IronLionZion]

20. We should never fear our enemies. Our enemies should fear us.

Repubes want us to be afraid. That way they can control us. The last thing they want is a citizenry that is healthy, educated, and confident. They want us to be desperate, ignorant, and afraid. They truly hate Americans and want to just use us to make money.

[YvonneCa]

21. Finally saw this on C-Span...

...and Kerry and Reed did a good job. Thank you, Senators for continuing to speak the truth. It will eventually seep through...even with this news media we have. Special thanks to C- Span.:patriot:

[karynnj]

23. It's one of the choices on CSPAN.org for video

It is incorrectly labeled Kerry and Reid.

[ckramer]

22. Kerry is telling the truth

He needs to do these more to educate Americans.

[YvonneCa]

29. Go to...

...johnkerry.com and check out the video archive for the last several years. He has been doing everything to educate...the media rarely covers him. I'm glad C-Span did this time.

[The Stranger]

24. If Kerry had only said that when he was running for President, he would be President.

He is three years late with this.

[karynnj]

25. He did - the country was not then where it is now

Remember that they mocked him for a very serious answer to the question of what did it mean to defeat terrorism. He spoke of using mainly intelligence and law enforcement ane occaisionally special forces - and that we would reach a point where terrorist acts would be few.

Even most Democrats didn't heve the cuts to back him up - though he was right. If you think of it it is a message of hope and a brighter future that the threatening grey cloud of terrorism Bush projected.

[The Stranger]

26. But he didn't point out that the Bush Admin. was calling in Terra warnings/lies to win the election.

They were coming in nearly every other week. Instead, Kerry got lost in discussing how "this president took his eye off the ball."

Tell them like it is. The terrorism lies were keeping the Republicans in power. It won them the election. Tell the people this.

He is doing this now. He failed to do so then.

[politicasista]

27. When are people going to start holding the media accountable instead of blaming

the nominee? How many Dems did you see on TV backing Kerry up when it mattered? They and the higher ups sat on their behinds and did nothing.

I don't understand why they and the whore media get free passes while the one that came close to winning gets blamed for all the hard things like securing the elctions and having total party support when he didn't?

[YvonneCa]

28. The media...

...never covered the campaign objectively. And he IS president. :7

[bdamomma]

30. the media is just another tool for * and Cheney to do their bidding.