Bush again tries to link Saddam, al-Qaida

[Robbien]

By William Douglas and Jonathan S. Landay

Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - President Bush continued to insist Monday that there was an operational link between former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida despite reports by the Senate Intelligence Committee and the commission that's investigating the Sept. 11 attacks that there was no evidence that Saddam and Islamic terrorists collaborated to kill Americans. Specifically addressing national security issues for the first time since the Senate report was released Friday, Bush acknowledged there were "shortcomings" in the intelligence on Iraq's banned-weapons programs that was used to justify the war. But good intelligence or faulty, the president said war with Iraq was necessary.

. . .

"Although we have not found stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, we were right to go into Iraq," the president said. "We removed a declared enemy of America, who had the capability of producing weapons of mass murder, and could have passed that capability to terrorists bent on acquiring them."

. . .

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Bush was speaking broadly about "the nexus between terrorists and outlaw regimes." Asked if the president was speaking about a Saddam-al-Qaida connection, McClellan said, "We know there were ties between Iraq and terrorists, including al-Qaida." McClellan noted that Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a Palestinian from Jordan held responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Iraq and who ran an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan, was a "senior al-Qaida" member who was in Iraq.

But U.S. intelligence officials consider Zarqawi an associate of the terrorist network, not a member sworn to obey Osama bin Laden. Zarqawi, they think, is an independent operator who has an agenda similar to bin Laden's and cooperates with al-Qaida when it's convenient. He and some followers found sanctuary in an enclave in northern Iraq run by armed Kurdish Islamic extremists that was outside Saddam's control.

more
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9138286.htm

[Parche]

1. Enemy of America

So do we also remove Iran, North Korea, Libya, Saudia Arabia,
also?

[laconicsax]

12. Don't forget

Cuba, Paletinian occupied territories, Blue States, and France.

[arcane1]

2. found sanctuary in an enclave in northern Iraq run by armed Kurdish...

in other word, the no-fly zone that we protected for a decade

[NMDemDist2]

3. !

:argh:

[librechik]

4. good-maybe this little despot will "insist" himself right out of office

who told the conservatives that clueless inflexibility and contempt for the truth was the way to get ahead?

Oh, yeah, they've been taking their own 30 (300?) year old advice.

[donco6]

5. Does anyone really believe this crap anymore?

Rove just doesn't know when to quit. It's time to come up with another argument Karl. This one's only playing to people who would vote for Bush even if he sprouted horns and performed the abomination of desolation in Jerusalem.

[IndianaGreen]

17. Bush and Cheney do!

Either they are pathological liars, or they are living in such a fantasy world that they need psychological intervention.

[Fozzledick]

6. Actually, there IS a real link between Saddam Husein and Osama bin Laden

They've both worked for the C.I.A. !

[DemoTex]

7. "Mantra" from http://dictionary.reference.com/

man·tra
Hinduism. A sacred verbal formula repeated in prayer, meditation, or incantation, such as an invocation of a god, a magic spell, or a syllable or portion of scripture containing mystical potentialities.
A commonly repeated word or phrase.

[UpInArms]

8. proving one more time

(like we needed more proof) that this buffoon cannot accept information that does not jive with his stupidity.

[JoFerret]

9. No shame. He has no shame

.

[InkAddict]

10. Could * have the other picture?

You know, the one in which he smirking while Rummy's shaking OBL's hand - I'd be locking that one up too-but why brag about it? Poor guy's delusional; perhaps Jimmie Cricket syndrome??? WTF, we're not playing six degrees of separation, George! Beside, Methinks thou dost protest too strongly - menage a toi????

[devinsgram]

11. He just can't help beating that horse to death.

[charlyvi]

13. Do you think if he keeps beating this same dead horse

his poll numbers will continue to go down? Why is he doing this? Surely his pollsters have told him most folks don't buy it anymore.

[Beetwasher]

14. I Hope He Continues To Do This, Right Through The Debates!

Kerry will tear him a new asshole! :evilgrin:

[RamboLiberal]

25. And I think Edwards will do the same to Cheney

Don't let that southern pretty boy smile fool you snarly! Edwards is going to take his case to a new jury - the American voter!

[Geo55]

15. we were right to go into Iraq

Tell it to the pictures on the WH walls dickhead....
reminds me of the poor dudes you see on the street , mumblin' to themselves....least they deserve sympathy though.

[buycitgo]

18. does this make sense?

they've become SO emboldened by getting away with all their halftruths, insinuations, etc, that they now believe they can just LIE THEIR ASSES OFF at will, and that, even when they're proven to be lying, the combination of the reiteration of the lie and the need to restate it in the process of refutation does the double duty of simply telling the same lie TWICE for the price of tellin it once themselves

this is simply the apotheosis of marketing, brought to the politica arean: doesn't matter if it's true or not, the mere repetition of the meme will find a place in the benighted public's mind, and they'll think there was a connection, just as so many still do between Saddam and 911.

remember, the bigger the lie, the more easily it's believed

you know who said that

they've abandoned all pretense now

and you know the media will swallow

[Geo55]

34. you know who said that

Yes ..I do...what troubles me the most I guess is the huge lack of critical thinking in our society.
It's a strange world.

[struggle4progress]

16. Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth,

Blowing down the backroads headin' south.
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth,
You're an idiot, babe.
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe.

[Berserker]

19. The Boy King

is a Pathological Liar. If you keep telling the same lie over and over you begin to believe it's true.

pathological - caused by or evidencing a mentally disturbed condition; "a pathological liar"; "a pathological urge to succeed"
:puke:

[daleo]

22. Bush can't help it, if he's lucky

n/t

[Randi_Listener]

20. Smirky the Chimp

Couldn't link peanut butter and jelly.

[daleo]

21. I doubt whether Saddam had any use for Zarqawi or vice versa

More likely, they would have killed each other on sight. If this is the best Bush can do, it is worse than pathetic. Zarqawi (if he even exists) would not be harming Americans in Iraq if it wasn't for Bush.

[POed_Ex_Repub]

23. Personally, I hope he keeps repeating it...

Along with the "booming economy"... The more people see the disconnect between what he's saying and what they're seeing on the news and in person, the worse it makes him look.

[Kinkistyle]

24. Weapons of Mass Murder: Like a box-cutter and an airplane?

Notice how its now Weapons of "Mass Murder" and not "Mass Destruction" anymore. Seems like mass murderers have been able to get away with doing their deeds with knives and pistols. Perhaps Saddam was thinking of selling box-cutters to Al-Qaeda operatives. HORRORS!!

[Ivan Zero]

26. He'll eventually be talking about "Weapons of Mass Scariness"

if they keep downgrading Saddam's boogie man aura.

So if producing weapons of mass murder is so intolerable, does that mean Georgie Boy is going to start invading Smith & Wesson factories?

[Pachamama]

27. You think that they believe if they say it enough times it becomes true?

Because I can't explain any other reason these people would keep saying this crap, even after it's been disproven and questioned a million times.

Either that or they really believe this sh*t, but are they really that stupid or just play stupid on TV?

:think:

[amber dog democrat]

32. incantation, exactly

repeated saying something may bring it about.
and if you believe this, then do I have a deal for you !!

I thinking he has nothing else to go by but restating the same old tired lies.
They don't care if anyone believes them, but what I wonder is if they believe their own mendacity.

There will be a day of reckoning, you can bank on it.

[bvar22]

28. bush* has closer links to Osama than Saddam.

bush* only 2 degrees of separation from Osama through his well documented business relationships with Osama's family.

Saddam feared a coup by religious fundamentalists and would have executed Osama or any Al-Qaeda operatives he found operating in Iraq.

[Manix]

29. ....sounding like a real looney...cracking up

[Disturbed]

30. Babbeling to his Cult.

He is sounding more like Jim Jones everyday.

[radfringe]

31. 18+months after invasion

and bush* is still trying to sell the Iraq 'product'.

what does that say about it being a 'just' war?

Meanwhile -- Leadership means choosing priorities....

We've got a terror threat hanging over our heads, our troops are still in Iraq, Afghanistan has become the forgotten war on terror, Bin-Laden is still out there, economy is barely crawling, children are left behind, millions are still without healthcare...etc. -- so what is bush*'s priority? Tie up the Congress in a debate about a gay marriage amendment. This is leadership?

[amber dog democrat]

33. He's a con artist, a NEOCON artist

who loots the world while playing on American cultural obsessions.
And sadly people are stupid enough to fall in behind him.

He reminds me of the evangelical sorts - but with wealth and family connections to prop him up.