Saturday, June 19, 2004
As the cesspool swirls...
The Leaders of 9/11 Panel Ask Cheney for Reports that would support the White House's assertions that there was a close relationship between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. In particular they want access to evidence supporting Mr. Cheney's suggestion that one of the hijackers, Mr. Atta, might have met in Prague in April 2001 with an Iraqi intelligence agent, Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani. Cheney has vociferously objected to the Commissions assertions, based on intelligence reports, that there were no close ties between Saddam's government and al Queda. Naturally the Commission wants something more than bald assertions from the Vice President.
Abu Zubaydah, one of the highest-ranking Qaeda leaders in American custody, told the C.I.A. that Mr. bin Laden rejected the idea of working with Mr. Hussein, a secular leader whom Mr. bin Laden considered corrupt and irredeemable, according to a September 2002 classified intelligence report leaked to The New York Times by a Bush Administration official. Iraqi Agent Denies He Met 9/11 Hijacker in Prague (Sorry, I only have an AOL link for this. The piece is by James Risen of the NYT from late 2003.) Separately, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Al Qaeda's chief of operations until his capture on March 1, 2003, in Pakistan, has also told interrogators that Al Qaeda never agreed to work with Mr. Hussein.
The initial Czech report of the Atta/Ani meeting is considered very weak because it's based on the allegations of a single member of the Prague Arab community who made the allegation only after 9/11, many months after the meeting supposedly took place. And also because American records indicate that Mr. Atta was actually in Virginia Beach, Va. during the period in which he is alleged to have met with Mr. Ani in Prague. Indeed many Czech officials are now skeptical that the meeting ever took place (see AOL link above).
So, we have Cheney making the press circuit insinuating that the 9/11 Commission's report is wrong... that there was a cozy relationship between Saddam and al Queda. What does he offer to back up his assertions? He conceedes that "we just don't know," whether the meeting took place or not. Which begs the question: Show Us the Proof. Which incidentally is a must-read opinion piece!
It seems that at least once a week I read about some assertion by the Bush Administration which reminds me of talkshow host Ed Schultz's 3rd rule about "Righties" : They think you're stupid. I mean think about this for a second. I could assert that the Moon is made of green cheese and that NASA reports to the contrary are wrong. Does that make me right simply because I insinuate that I'm right and that they're wrong? Of course not! Only a fool would blindly accept my assertion in the face of evidence to the contrary. Ditto for Cheney's assertions and insinuations.
Show Us the Proof!
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Abu Zubaydah, one of the highest-ranking Qaeda leaders in American custody, told the C.I.A. that Mr. bin Laden rejected the idea of working with Mr. Hussein, a secular leader whom Mr. bin Laden considered corrupt and irredeemable, according to a September 2002 classified intelligence report leaked to The New York Times by a Bush Administration official. Iraqi Agent Denies He Met 9/11 Hijacker in Prague (Sorry, I only have an AOL link for this. The piece is by James Risen of the NYT from late 2003.) Separately, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Al Qaeda's chief of operations until his capture on March 1, 2003, in Pakistan, has also told interrogators that Al Qaeda never agreed to work with Mr. Hussein.
The initial Czech report of the Atta/Ani meeting is considered very weak because it's based on the allegations of a single member of the Prague Arab community who made the allegation only after 9/11, many months after the meeting supposedly took place. And also because American records indicate that Mr. Atta was actually in Virginia Beach, Va. during the period in which he is alleged to have met with Mr. Ani in Prague. Indeed many Czech officials are now skeptical that the meeting ever took place (see AOL link above).
So, we have Cheney making the press circuit insinuating that the 9/11 Commission's report is wrong... that there was a cozy relationship between Saddam and al Queda. What does he offer to back up his assertions? He conceedes that "we just don't know," whether the meeting took place or not. Which begs the question: Show Us the Proof. Which incidentally is a must-read opinion piece!
It seems that at least once a week I read about some assertion by the Bush Administration which reminds me of talkshow host Ed Schultz's 3rd rule about "Righties" : They think you're stupid. I mean think about this for a second. I could assert that the Moon is made of green cheese and that NASA reports to the contrary are wrong. Does that make me right simply because I insinuate that I'm right and that they're wrong? Of course not! Only a fool would blindly accept my assertion in the face of evidence to the contrary. Ditto for Cheney's assertions and insinuations.
Show Us the Proof!
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