Remembering A Day Impossible to Forget

joehand,

He did not “go after the wrong guy”. Where has President Bush ever said Saddam was responsible for 9/11?

I will never forget or forgive…

Its amazing to this how long ago it was, yet it is so fresh in memory.

Wordsmith… here is where Bush in 2003 mislead the american public about Iraq…

from the March 14, 2003

THE IMPACT OF BUSH LINKING 9/11 AND IRAQ
American attitudes about a connection have changed, firming up the case for war.
By Linda Feldmann | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON –
In his prime-time press conference last week, which focused almost solely on Iraq, President Bush mentioned Sept. 11 eight times. He referred to Saddam Hussein many more times than that, often in the same breath with Sept. 11.

Bush never pinned blame for the attacks directly on the Iraqi president. Still, the overall effect was to reinforce an impression that persists among much of the American public: that the Iraqi dictator did play a direct role in the attacks. A New York Times/CBS poll this week shows that 45 percent of Americans believe Mr. Hussein was “personally involved” in Sept. 11, about the same figure as a month ago.

Sources knowledgeable about US intelligence say there is no evidence that Hussein played a role in the Sept. 11 attacks, nor that he has been or is currently aiding Al Qaeda. Yet the White House appears to be encouraging this false impression, as it seeks to maintain American support for a possible war against Iraq and demonstrate seriousness of purpose to Hussein’s regime.
“The administration has succeeded in creating a sense that there is some connection [between Sept. 11 and Saddam Hussein],” says Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland.

THE NUMBERS

Polling data show that right after Sept. 11, 2001, when Americans were asked open-ended questions about who was behind the attacks, only 3 percent mentioned Iraq or Hussein. But by January of this year, attitudes had been transformed. In a Knight Ridder poll, 44 percent of Americans reported that either “most” or “some” of the Sept. 11 hijackers were Iraqi citizens. The answer is zero.

Wordsmith… here is where Bush in 2003 mislead the american public about Iraq…

Real American Patriot,

Interesting. I’ve been examining a WaPo piece which goes a bit more in depth on this same theme. Was thinking about doing a post on this topic.

I’ve been trying to figure out why so many Americans make that sort of connection, and why opponents like to trout out “there is no connection between Saddam and 9/11″, as if President Bush ever said there was. The notion that Saddam might have helped/known about the events of September 11th wasn’t part of the case put forth, as justification for war. Yet the public seems to have this collective amnesia, or brainwash. I think it’s a (mis)perception perpetuated by a lazy media who can’t fact check themselves. When the AP and NYTimes get it wrong, everyone else follows suit, because they are citing from each other.

I see absolutely no contradiction in mentioning 9/11 and Saddam’s Iraq in the same breath, let alone the same paragraph in a speech. And at the same time not implying operational links. Just examine the text of what the president said in his speeches. The threat of Saddam and why people would draw such links on their own, is because throughout the 90’s, the dangers of Saddam was part of our national psyche. That’s not the fault of the Bush Administration. People also need to take responsibility for misleading themselves into false assumptions and drawing wrong conclusions. From the very beginning, I supported the war without thinking Saddam helped to orchestrate 9/11 (although I didn’t rule out the possibility- who knows? Post-war investigations only confirms what we feared at the time: That “secular” Saddam was all too willing to work with Islamic terror groups to achieve common short term goals and interests). Given his love of wmds, his past history of usage, I don’t see much doubt that Saddam posed a growing and gathering threat in a post-9/11 world where terrorism is proven to work. Saddam could achieve the weapons capabilities; and deny culpability in using terrorist proxies to carry out attacks.

Is it time to post the long list of democrats that used the danger of Saddam to sell the war? You know, the ones that faltered when the going got tough. Thank God we have a leader in the White House.

Sky5110,

You’re yet to show any evidence to support your claims that Bush lied.

You keep repeating the same mantra over and over and over but you show no proof.

As to the article and your S-T-R-E-T-C-H-I-N-G of the facts to fit your template, remember that correlation does not establish causation.