NYTimes: President Links Qaeda of Iraq to Qaeda of 9/11 (speech was devised as a “surge of facts”??)

[Kadie]

President Links Qaeda of Iraq to Qaeda of 9/11

BY JIM RUTENBERG and MARK MAZZETTI
Published: July 25, 2007

CHARLESTON, S.C., July 24 — President Bush sought anew on Tuesday to draw connections between the Iraqi group Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and the terrorist network responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, and he sharply criticized those who contend that the groups are independent of each other.

At a time when Mr. Bush is trying to beat back calls for withdrawal from Iraq, the speech at Charleston Air Force Base reflected concern at the White House over criticism that he is focusing on the wrong terrorist threat.

Mr. Bush chose to speak in the city where Democrats held their nationally televised presidential debate on Monday, a forum at which the question was not whether to stay in Iraq but how to go about leaving.

“The facts are that Al Qaeda terrorists killed Americans on 9/11, they’re fighting us in Iraq and across the world and they are plotting to kill Americans here at home again,” Mr. Bush told a contingent of military personnel here. “Those who justify withdrawing our troops from Iraq by denying the threat of Al Qaeda in Iraq and its ties to Osama bin Laden ignore the clear consequences of such a retreat.”

Kevin Sullivan, the White House communications director, said the speech was devised as a “surge of facts” meant to rebut critics who say Mr. Bush is trying rebuild support for the war by linking the Iraq group and the one led by Mr. bin Laden.

more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/washington/25prexy.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[MadMaddie]

1. If you read between the lines it's * same ole playbook...

<snip>
“Those who justify withdrawing our troops from Iraq by denying the threat of Al Qaeda in Iraq and its ties to Osama bin Laden ignore the clear consequences of such a retreat.”
<snip>

...anyone that doesn't agree with me which is 70% of Americans are Traitors

[Double T]

2. desperate people say and do desperate things.............

and bushco is really desperate.

[CatWoman]

3. Bush Can't Make the Sale

President Bush is having no success in getting the American public to support him on Iraq.

White House aides have pulled out all the stops in what may be the last and most important sales job of the Bush presidency. They've assembled friendly audiences in rebuttal-free zones all across the country so that the self-styled " Educator-in-Chief" can "help our fellow citizens understand why I've made some of the decisions I've made" and remind them of this salient fact: "I'm an optimistic person."

Much of the media coverage -- particularly on TV -- dutifully relates his constantly repeated assertions and predictions as if they were new and credible. Still, it doesn't work.

His optimism is falling flat because it's untethered from reality. The public is rejecting his message because it doesn't believe him or what he's selling. In fact, according to the latest polls, an overwhelming majority of Americans have lost faith in both the war and the president's ability to lead it.

And He's a Lousy Salesman

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/07/24/BL2007072400935.html?hpid=topnews

[Kadie]

4. People are waking up.

Finally.