[Ninong]

He also had a relationship with Ted Kaczynski, Timothy McVeigh and even Mohammed Atta!

Shocking, I know, but true! I just realized this while listening to the official White House/Fox News Press Secretary Tony Snow who insists that Saddam Hussein had a "relationship with Abu Musab al-Zarkawi" because al-Zarkawi was "operating in Iraq." No mention of the fact that he was operating in a Kurdish controlled region of Iraq but that's beside the point. He was "operating in Iraq," ipso facto Saddam had a relationship with him.

Last Friday, the Senate Intelligence Committee — chaired by Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), one of the President’s most loyal allies — concluded that there was absolutely no relationship between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

From page 109 of that report:

Saddam Hussein attempted, unsuccessfully, to locate and capture al-Zarqawi and…the regime did not have a relationship with, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi.

Nevertheless, at today’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow insisted that Saddam had a “relationship” because Zarqawi was in the country.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Bush articulated the so-called Bush Doctrine: “We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.” Declassified portions of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Phase II report released Friday make definitively clear that Iraq never qualified for inclusion in the Doctrine.

Al Qaeda was responsible for the 9/11 terrorist acts. Key portions of the new Intel Committee report indicate that Bush attacked an Iraqi regime that not only lacked an operational relationship with al Qaeda, but was hostile toward the terrorist network. By making the strategic mistake of attacking Iraq, Bush’s policy accomplished the goals of the al Qaeda network. Here’s what the report says:

[Bin] Ladin generally opposed collaboration [with Baghdad]. (p. 65)

According to debriefs of multiple detainees — including Saddam Hussein and former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz — and captured documents, Saddam did not trust al-Qa’ida or any other radical Islamist group and did not want to cooperate with them. (p. 67)

Aziz underscored Saddam’s distrust of Islamic extremists like bin Ladin, stating that when the Iraqi regime started to see evidence that Wahabists had come to Iraq, “the Iraqi regime issued a decree aggressively outlawing Wahabism in Iraq and threatening offenders with execution.” (p. 67)

Another senior Iraqi official stated that Saddam did not like bin Ladin because he called Saddam an “unbeliever.” (p.73)

Conclusion 1: … Postwar findings indicate that Saddam Hussein was distrustful of al-Qa’ida and viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime, refusing all requests from al Qa’ida to provide material or operational support. Debriefings of key leaders of the former Iraqi regime indicate that Saddam distrusted Islamic radicals in general, and al Qa’ida in particular… Debriefings also indicate that Saddam issued a general order that Iraq should not deal with al Qa’ida. No postwar information suggests that the Iraqi regime attempted to facilitate a relationship with bin Ladin. (p. 105)

Conclusion 5:… Postwar information indicates that Saddam Hussein attempted, unsuccessfully, to locate and capture al-Zarqawi and that the regime did not have a relationship with, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi. (p. 109)

I was truly shocked to realize that Dick Cheney had all these unsavory relationships!

[WillieM96]

Blasphemy Ninong! How dare you clutter this argument with facts!

[Ninong]

Cheney was on TV again this past Sunday implying that Atta actually met an Iraqi agent in Prague! This claim is false! He knows it's false! He has known this for more than four years now!

I looked through the Senate Intel Committee's Phase II report trying to find anything on this alleged meeting between Atta and an Iraqi agent in Prague but I couldn't find anything. Today I learned why.

The White House redacted portions of the official unclassified report that they considered embarrassing. There are two versions of this report. The classified version is available for senators to review in private in secure quarters in the Senate. The unclassified version, the one linked in my opening post, was the version that the Republican controlled committee decided was safe to publish for public consumption. However, the White House redacted portions of the unclassified version.

In particular, the White House redacted the part about the CIA's final report on the alleged meeting in Prague! It didn't happen. It couldn't have happened. After 9/11, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies tracked down all financial records of Atta and the other 9/11 terrorists. Using VISA card charges, they visited every single store that showed up as a "purchase" and confiscated security camera tapes for the time of the purchase. They even confiscated outside security camera tapes from businesses across the street. They have Atta on tape in the U.S. at the time that he was alleged to have been in Prague!

They also have the tapes of the four terrorists who would hijack United flight 93 at the lap dance club ("Lace" in Wayne, NJ) the night before they went to paradise.

Naturally all of these tapes are now TOP SECRET government property and will likely never be released or possibly even located again.

[WillieM96]

Reading that document is infuriating. War is about defending yourself, not politics and our fearless leader turned this into a political campaign with all the smearing and lying that goes with it.

Did you see the photo of the 100+ taliban solidiers that we couldn't fire on because they were at a cemetary? Not only did they get us into a war but now they're refusing to fight it, leaving our soldiers out there to hang.