Al Qaeda determined to commit levee mischief - SATIRE (long)

[Coexist]

(on edit - FUN WITH THE REPLACE FUNCTION! - SATIRE ALERT!!!)

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney, anxious to defend the White House disaster response amid ongoing death in Louisiana, stunned intelligence analysts and even members of his own administration this week by failing to dismiss a widely discredited claim: that Al Qaeda might have played a role in the Hurricane Katrina levee breaks.

Evidence of a connection, if any exists, has never been made public. Details that Cheney cited to make the case that the Louisiana Democratic Governor had ties to Al Qaeda have been dismissed by the CIA as having no basis, according to analysts and officials.

But Cheney left that possibility wide open in a nationally televised interview two days ago, claiming that the administration is learning "more and more" about connections between Al Qaeda and The Democratic Governor before the Hurricane Katrina levee breaks. The statement surprised some analysts and officials who have reviewed intelligence reports from Louisiana.

Democrats sharply attacked him for exaggerating the threat the Democratic Governor posed before the hurricane. "There is no credible evidence that Al Qaeda had anything to do with Hurricane Katrina," former Senator Bob Graham, a Democrat, said in an interview last night. "There was no such relationship."
A senior foreign policy adviser to Howard Dean, the DNC chair, said it is "totally inappropriate for the vice president to continue making these allegations without bringing forward" any proof.
Cheney and his representatives declined to comment on the vice president's statements. But the comments also surprised some in the intelligence community who are already simmering over the way the administration is utilizing intelligence reports to strengthen the case against the Governer.

But Cheney, on NBC's "Meet the Press," cited the report of the meeting as possible evidence of an The Democratic Governor-Al Qaeda link and said it was neither confirmed nor discredited, saying "We've never been able to develop any more of that yet, either in terms of confirming it or discrediting it. We just don't know."

A senior defense official with access to high-level intelligence reports expressed confusion yesterday over the vice president's decision to air charges that have been dropped by almost everyone else. "There isn't any new intelligence that would precipitate anything like this," the official said, speaking on condition he not be named.

Nonetheless, 69 percent of Americans believe that Blanco probably had a part in attacking the levees, according to a recent Washington Post poll. And Democratic senators have charged that the White House is fanning the misperception by mentioning Blanco and the Hurricane Katrina levee breaks in ways that suggest a link.

Bush administration officials insisted yesterday that they are learning more about various The democratic Governor connections with Al Qaeda. They said there is evidence suggesting a meeting took place between the head of The Democratic Governor’s office and Osama bin Laden in Sudan in the mid-1990s.

Former senator Max Cleland, who is a member of the national commission investigating the levee breaks, said yesterday that classified documents he has reviewed on the subject weaken, rather than strengthen, administration assertions that Blanco's regime may have been allied with Al Qaeda. "The vice president trying to justify some connection is ludicrous," he said.

Nonetheless, Cheney, in the "Meet the Press" interview Sunday, insisted that the United States is learning more about the links between Al Qaeda and Blanco."We learn more and more that there was a relationship between The Democratic Governor and Al Qaeda that stretched back through most of the decade of the '90s," Cheney said.
The claims are based on a pre-hurricane allegation by a "senior terrorist operative," who said he overheard an Al Qaeda agent speak of a mission to seek levee mischief training in Louisiana, according to Secretary of State Colin Powell's statement to the United Nations in February.

But intelligence specialists told the Globe last August that they have never confirmed that the training took place, or identified where it could have taken place. "The general public just doesn't have any independent way of weighing what is said," Cannistraro, the former CIA counterterrorism specialist, said. "If you repeat it enough times . . . then people become convinced it's the truth."

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. How convenient! n/t

Amazing. Wow, they sure can multitask.

[Roland99]

2. Link for that? Also, copyright rules up here are pasting 4 paragraphs.

Or is this like an onion-esque post of yours?

[Coexist]

3. sorry - it is a joke

I edited to add "fun with replace"

It is a spoof on Hussein-9/11 connections. Sorry for not being clear.

[Roland99]

5. I'm just rather brain-dead today.

;)

[zanne]

7. Whew.

I almost had a stroke.

[zanne]

4. Is this satire?

I sure hope so.

[Coexist]

6. Yes.

[iamjoy]

8. What Scum

Democrats get blasted for daring to criticize Dubya in a tragedy (even when the criticism is well founded)

This Dick goes on national television making scurrilous allegations and is he called on it by most people? NOOOO....I knew they were trying to smear Blanco, but I didn't think they'd go this far.

:mad: :grr: :nuke:

[Coexist]

9. It is satire - I am sorry I am being misunderstood

Mods - you can remove it if you want - I was just pissed at the blame being shifted to Blanco and thought I would poke fun of how far they would go.

My bad.

[Grey]

10. I liked your Parody..........

Well said, well done!