Bush's speech and lies

Melanie Philips has some thoughts about critcisms leveled at Bush's speech, particularly the notion that "there is no relationship between Iraq and terrorism".

Boy, are they mad! The anti-war crowd are wetting themselves over President Bush’s speech because of the number of times he made a link between 9/11 and the war in Iraq. Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader in the House of Representatives, said Mr Bush was trying to 'exploit the sacred ground of 9/11, knowing that there is no connection between 9/11 and the war in Iraq'.

On June 25 2004, the NYT briefly re-entered the land of reality when it spectacularly reversed itself. In a front page story, it said:

'Contacts between Iraqi intelligence agents and Osama bin Laden when he was in Sudan in the mid-1990's were part of a broad effort by Baghdad to work with organizations opposing the Saudi ruling family, according to a newly disclosed document obtained by the Americans in Iraq.

...

*Item: an interview with the interim Iraqi Prime Minister, Ayad Allawi:

'Allawi: 'We know that this [the war in Iraq] is an extension to what has happened in New York. And — the war have been taken out to Iraq by the same terrorists. Saddam was a potential friend and partner and natural ally of terrorism.

'Brokaw: Prime Minister, I’m surprised that you would make the connection between 9/11 and the war in Iraq. The 9/11 commission in America says there is no evidence of a collaborative relationship between Saddam Hussein and those terrorists of al-Qaida.

'Allawi: No. I believe very strongly that Saddam had relations with al-Qaida. And these relations started in Sudan. We know Saddam had relationships with a lot of terrorists and international terrorism. Now, whether he is directly connected to the September — atrocities or not, I can’t — vouch for this. But definitely I know he has connections with extremism and terrorists.' (See post, July 5 2004)

*Item: a report sent by the US defence official Douglas Feith to the Senate Intelligence Committee. This report says that Osama bin Laden and Saddam had a relationship that involved training in explosives and weapons of mass destruction, logistical support for terrorist attacks, al Qaeda training camps and safe haven in Iraq, and Iraqi financial support for al Qaeda...

And it continues. Read the rest of it.