O'Reilly again made false claim that Hussein "allowed" terrorist group Ans

[sabra]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200508190006

O'Reilly again made false claim that Hussein "allowed" terrorist group Ansar Al-Islam "to exist in Northern Iraq"



On his nationally syndicated radio show, The Radio Factor, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly repeated his previously debunked claim that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had "allowed Ansar Al-Islam, an Al Qaeda affiliate, to exist in northern Iraq." In fact, as Media Matters for America has documented, northeastern Iraq, where Ansar Al-Islam operated, was "outside of Saddam's control before the war" , and the terrorist group's pre-war ties to Al Qaeda were tenuous.

Media Matters has also debunked claims by O'Reilly that Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, who reportedly worked with Ansar al-Islam before the war, was Saddam's link to Al Qaeda (here and here). Zarqawi, who reportedly still has ties with Ansar Al-Islam, has since declared his loyalty to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and calls his group "Al-Qaeda in Iraq."

From the August 16 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:

O'REILLY: Saddam Hussein was an evil dictator. He was Hitler-light. He and his sons slaughtered hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people. There was no freedom in Iraq. And the guy financed terrorism -- worldwide terrorism -- all day, every day. He allowed Ansar Al-Islam, an Al Qaeda affiliate, to exist in northern Iraq. He financed Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad. He paid the families of suicide bombers to kill children. He was an evil tyrant who made the world a far worse place because he lived. We removed him, and that was a good thing. You with me so far? OK. Freedom is good.

[louis-t]

1. ass,ass,ass,ass,ass

ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass, ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,ass,dumbass,ass,ass,ass,ass,
well, you get the message.

[TWiley]

2. The republi-thugs are gearing up for a massive

propaganda campaign this 9/11. Expect lots of lies designed to convince the public that there is a direct relationship between the WTC attack and Saddam Hussein.

A White House spokes lady (common scold, i forget her name) claimed this relationship on Anderson Cooper (CNN) earlier this week. When Anderson pointed out that the 9/11 commission found no link between Iraq and the WTC attacks, she said something to the effect that "The beliefs of the Iraqi insurgents and those of Al Quada are similar" "They are the same thing"

Unbelievable. But expect more of the same from these lying bastards.

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. He paid the families of suicide bombers to kill children.

I keep hearing this one, too.

He didn't pay them to do it. He compensated the families after the fact, in a very political move to gain the favor of the Palestinians at a very low cost to himself. Additionally, those families were usually made homeless within hours because the Israeli response was to bulldoze the homes of the suicide bombers. His payments were an answer to the Israeli policy of penalizing the families of the murderers, not specifically a support for those murderers.

That's too nuanced an argument, however.