Rumsfeld: "No Strong, Hard Evidence" of Saddam-Qaeda connection"

[Sleepless In NY]

Rumsfeld says no 'strong, hard evidence' of Saddam-Qaeda connection
1 hour, 9 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he has seen no "strong, hard evidence" linking former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) with Al-Qaeda, backing away from his pre-war assertions that contacts between the two went back over a decade.

"I have seen the answer to that question migrate in the intelligence community over a period of a year in the most amazing way," he told an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations after being asked what Saddam's connection to Al-Qaeda was.


Rumsfeld said there were differences in the intelligence community as to what the relationship was.

"To my knowledge, I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two," he said.

The nexus between terrorism and the Iraqi regime was a key point in the US effort to persuade the world that Saddam Hussein had to be dealt with after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1521&e=6&u=/afp/us_iraq_rumsfeld_qaeda

Please rate this story.

[madmax]

1. Well gee now..

can we cancel the war and bring the dead back?

[slojim240]

20. No, but the photo of him shaking hands with Saddam give strong link

between US and Saddam!

[truthisfreedom]

28. holding hands. not shaking. there's a difference.

8^|

[jean]

2. so they're using the weak ,soft evidence? To his knowledge? Rumsfeld

is senile and disinterested in his job, Can his butt.

[Mojambo]

3. He should tell Cheney. n/t

[livetohike]

4. Edwards should hammer Cheney with this statement and

keep getting to the real reason we are in Iraq, imo.

[daleo]

5. He has spouted off plenty of weak, soft evidence, though

As have the rest of his criminal crew.

[mzmolly]

6. Funny their looking for "strong hard evidence" after the !#$* invasion.

:eyes:

[Sydnie]

7. Done n/t

[Sleepless In NY]

10. Saw an ad on "Real Voices" from mother of dead soldier

Real Voices will sponsor a national television advertising campaign featuring the voices and stories of military families who lost loved ones in Iraq. In "A Mother's Tears", Cindy Sheehan of California talks about her son Casey and speaks out against the President and the lies that led to the war in Iraq.

http://realvoices.org/rv/tv.html

[Lizzie Borden]

8. Is Rummy going "soft"?

n/t

[shockingelk]

9. I am rooting for Rumsfeld

At least he's admitting a mistake.

My fantasy is for the week before Nov 2 for Powell, Rummy and Ridge to announce their rumored resignations and say "Rice, Cheney and Bush - they're a bunch of freaks."

[FlashHarry]

11. "To my knowledge, I have not seen..."

Amazing. These guys start every statement with plausible deniability. Either you have or you have not seen something. "To my knowledge" doesn't enter into it. Ugh.

[Disturbed]

12. "rooting for Rumsfeld"

The following are facts. I hope they do not confuse anyone.

Rumsfailed Admitted to Violating Geneva Convention

Rumsfailed admitted in public on TV that when CIA Director Tenet requested that an Iraqi prisoner be sent to a secret Afghan/US Prison that Rumsfailed did so. After four months a DOD Attorney stated that this was an illegal act. Rumsfailed then ordered that this prisoner be sent back to Abu Graihib but the prisoner was purposefully not listed at that location, also an illegal act.

Rumfailed has commited at least two violations of the Geneva Convention; thereby also violations of The Constitution of the USA. Recently it has been found out that even more detainees were "ghost detainees". The fact that Rumsfailed and Tenet have not been charged speaks volumes. If Congress wishes to garner any respect they should move forward with Rep. Rangle's Impeachment Declaration of Rumsfailed and also proscecute Ex. CIA Tenet.

Does the US, Govt., Congress, and the Justice Dept no longer abide by the Geneva Convention or the Constitution of the USA?

[PermanentRevolution]

25. "Rooting" is a little too far

Well, a LOT too far. But it WOULD be sweet for Powell, Rumsfeld, and Ridge to all bail a week before election day. Imagine FOX and CNN trying to spin that one.

[sonicx]

13. Rumsfeld wants to go home i guess

Kerry should thank him for this gift.

[LynnTheDem]

14. Bullshite. Rummy is LYING.

The worldwide intell community have ALWAYS said there were NO TIES. That even includes Israel's Mossad.

Sky News (London): "One question for you both. Do you believe that there is a link between Saddam Hussein, a direct link, and the men who attacked on September the 11th?"

Bush: "I can't make that claim.'

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030131-23.html

Sept 17, 2003- Bush: No evidence Saddam Hussein involved in Nine-Eleven attacks

http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1447698

Sept 16, 2003- Rice: U.S. Never Said Saddam Was Behind 9/11

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/983821/posts

Sept 16, 2003- Rumsfeld sees no link between Saddam Hussein, 9/11

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-09-16-rumsfeld-iraq-911_x.htm

Aug 6, 2003- Wolfowitz: Iraq Was Not Involved In 9-11 Terrorist Attacks, No Ties To Al-Qaeda

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4372.htm

Brent Scowcroft, one of the Republican Party’s most respected foreign policy advisors;

"Don't Attack Saddam. It would undermine our antiterror efforts. There is scant evidence to tie Saddam to terrorist organizations, and even less to the Sept. 11 attacks."

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002133

Allies Find No Links Between Iraq, Al Qaeda

"What I'm asked is if I've seen any evidence of that. (Iraq links to al Qaeda) And the answer is: I haven't.” -British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who supports U.S. invasion & occupation of Iraq.

http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-noqaeda4nov04,0,4538810.story

British Intelligence agencies, MI6 and MI5

A dossier prepared by the two agencies “showed no discernible links between Iraq and al-Qaida,”

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=375403

Richard Kerr, a former deputy CIA director who lead an internal review of the CIA's prewar intelligence;

“the CIA has not found any proof of operational ties between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's regime.”

http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?pid=800

The White House’s own publication, A Decade of Defiance and Deception, makes no mention of Osama bin Laden or al Qaeda.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/decade/sect5.html

The 2002 congressional joint intelligence committee’s report on the Sept. 11 attacks revealed that the Bush administration had no evidence to support its claim that Saddam’s government was supporting al-Qaeda.

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030723-064812-9491r

MSNBC - No proof links Iraq, al-Qaida, Powell says

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ID/3909150/

According to a "top secret British document", quoted by the BBC "there is nothing but enmity between Iraq and Al Qaeda." The BBC said the leak came from intelligence officials upset that their work was being used to justify war." (quoted in Daily News, New York, 6 February 2003).

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO303D.html

Iraq-al Qaeda links weak, say former Bush officials

Three former Bush administration officials who worked on intelligence and national security issues have told National Journal that the prewar evidence tying al Qaeda to Iraq was tenuous, exaggerated, and often at odds with the conclusions of key intelligence agencies.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0803/080803nj2.htm

THREATS AND RESPONSES: TERROR LINKS; Split at C.I.A. and F.B.I. On Iraqi Ties to Al Qaeda

"…analysts at the Central Intelligence Agency have complained that senior administration officials have exaggerated the significance of some intelligence reports about Iraq, particularly about its possible links to terrorism, in order to strengthen their political argument for war, government officials said."

and…

"At the Federal Bureau of Investigation, some investigators said they were baffled by the Bush administration's insistence on a solid link between Iraq and Osama bin Laden|s network. "We've been looking at this hard for more than a year and you know what, we just don't think it's there," a government official said."

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70D1EF83E5C0C718CDDAB0894DB404482

This is consistent with what they were saying back in October.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14056-2002Oct24.html

"There's absolutely no evidence that Iraq was supporting al Qaeda, ever." -Richard Clarke, former terrorism chief under bush.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/19/60minutes/main607356.shtml

Iraq-al Qaeda ties have not been found

Bush administration hyped sketchy and false evidence to push for war
The Bush administration’s claim that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had ties to al Qaeda — one of the administration’s central arguments for a pre-emptive war — appears to have been based on even less solid intelligence than the administration’s claims that Iraq had hidden stocks of chemical and biological weapons.

Nearly a year after U.S. and British troops invaded Iraq, no evidence has turned up to verify allegations of Saddam’s links with al Qaeda, and several key parts of the administration’s case have either proved false or seem increasingly doubtful.

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/2004/03/04/news/nation/8101079.htm

Iraq and al Qaeda: What Evidence?

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=23816

Oops another one! How could we forget bush's own hand-picked Republican rightwingnut weapons hunter, Dr. David Kay!

David Kay was on the ground for months investigating the activities of Hussein|s regime. He concluded "But we simply did not find any evidence of extensive links with Al Qaeda, or for that matter any real links at all."

He called a speech where Cheney made the claim there was a link, as being "evidence free."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/06/16/bush_backs_cheney_on_assertion_linking_hussein_al_qaeda/

Israeli intelligence (the Moussad)

“According to Israeli intelligence, Palestinians are still not connected to the global terror network, and neither is Iraq.”

http://www.haaretz.com/

OFFICIAL VERDICT: WHITE HOUSE MISLED WORLD OVER SADDAM-AL QAEDA TIES

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0617-03.htm

No evidence of Iraq-Al Qaeda ties: 9/11 commission

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/06/cheney.911/

So NO rummy the dummy, there NEVER WAS any "difference" in the intell community; they've ALWAYS SAID NO TIES.

[teryang]

21. Nice review

thanks.

[VOX]

31. Wow. Great links, LTD...

Thanks.

:toast:

[LynnTheDem]

36. welcome.

Amazing isn't it, when you see all the evidence of NO links together in one place, that bushCartel could ever possibly get away with their continued hinting and lying that there were such links.

[coreystone]

15. You're Just figuring that out??????????.......

You, and your colleagues have "WASTED" billions of dollars, destroyed over a thousand American lives and their families, almost 10,000 American casualties have been incurred, only GOD knows how many INNOCENT Iraqi's have been killed or maimed, and, all you care to do is assert that the CIA mislead you "for the way the relationship between Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein was portrayed"!!!!!

I really can't think of a word right now! I might understand if a little old lady "puckered up" because the lemonade was a bit too tart, but, to say, "It may have been something that was not representative of a hard linkage,"????

DUer's Help please..... Have I totally misconstrued the "Great Rummy"????

[goodboy]

16. More Hard Work for Cheney in the debate...(nt)

[54anickel]

17. Isn't it strange that he's coming out with this just before Cheney's

debate with Edwards? This isn't passing the smell test. Something fishy is going on.

[Lerkfish]

26. smells to me, too.

I see no valid advantage to the Bush camp with this timing. And if there is no advantage, then there is no advantage to leaving Rumsfeld unchallenged.

something is up with this.

[BADallas]

18. HUGE!!!l

I consider myself to be an independent that is leaning towards your fine candidate. However, after seeing this (dependent on further due diligence)I am declaring that I am DONE looking for reasons to vote for Bush. This report is huge for me. Even though the 911 report already confirmed what Rummie said today, I still had some hope that there was at least one reason why our troops are being killed in Iraq. Correct me if I am wrong, but hasn't the Bush administration been saying that regardless what the 911 Report states, they have evidence of a link between AQ and Saddam. The sad part about all this is that Dick and Bush will likely continue to state that there is a link and throw Rumsfield and Powell under the bus.

I am pissed off and DONE DONE DONE with W.

[coreystone]

19. I NEVER become "pissed off" on this site, I am totally infuriated!!!...

I am so angry right now!! For all the arrogance that Rumsfeld has portrayed to the American people, with such condescension; for him to actually open up the possibility that there were never any ties to Al Queda; then to shift the responsibility to the CIA, is totally against the Truman Doctrine of the "buck stops here"! Rumsfeld and everyone else who "bolsters" the "BUSH" league administration of the self righteous attitude, which has thrown the whole world community into the absolute turmoil that it has become,totally beleaguers me beyond reproach.

I am so disgusted!!

[leftchick]

32. um, read LynnTheDem's post #14.....

and get really pissed. This is very old news but then our TVs never tell us the truth.

[Buns_of_Fire]

33. Welcome to DU, BADallas

:toast: And believe me, if there's any group capable of performing due diligence, you've found it. :)

[vajraroshana]

22. What a friggin' flip-flopper.....

Cheney is such a tool.

[Jacobin]

23. "Just mushy, fake, fraudulent, made-up evidence"

[mhr]

24. Kick

eom

[Zerex71]

27. This looks like a setup.

As of last week, Colin Powell 'apologized' for the war. Now Strangelove is backing away from the terrorist link claims. Both names have been mentioned as possible ship-jumpers should Bubble Boy steal a second term.

Mike

[pinniped]

29. Well Rummy the Dummy can kiss his pardon goodbye.

n/t

[Sleepless In NY]

30. Between Rumsfield& Bremer

and that article in Sunday's New York Times on the aluminum tubes..how are they getting away with this? Over a 1,000 soldiers dead due to these nitwits..disgraceful... dishonest..incompetent.

[BlueEyedSon]

34. kick kick kick kick kick

[Gingersnapsback]

35. I thought Cheney recently claimed

there was more evidence, but the 911 commission and others didn't have access to it. Does anyone remember that?

[Thor_MN]

37. Hasn't he already retracted this statement claiming he was misunderstood?

???