Back To Lie #1 (Iraq & 9/11)

In his weekly radio address yesterday, George W. Bush claimed that the US is at war in Iraq because of the September 11, 2001 attacks:

We went to war because we were attacked, and we are at war today because there are still people out there who want to harm our country and hurt our citizens.

Too damn stupid to keep his lines (and lies) straight, Bush has reverted back to Lie #1. ... Let's review the facts (as expertly compiled and posted by LynnTheDem at Democratic Underground):

Sky News (London): "One question for you both [Blair and Bush]. Do you believe that there is a link between Saddam Hussein, a direct link, and the men who attacked on September the 11th?" ... Bush: "I can't make that claim."

Bush: No Evidence Saddam Hussein Involved in Nine-Eleven Attacks

Rice: US Never Said Saddam Was Behind 9/11

Rumsfeld Sees No Link Between Saddam Hussein, 9/11

Wolfowitz: Iraq Was Not Involved In 9-11 Terrorist Attacks, No Ties To Al-Qaeda

No Proof Links Iraq, al-Qaida, Powell Says

No evidence of Iraq-Al Qaeda ties: 9/11 commission

CIA Review Finds No Evidence Saddam Had Ties to Islamic Terrorists

Brent Scowcroft, Republican foreign policy advisor: "Don't Attack Saddam. It would undermine our antiterror efforts. There is scant evidence to tie Saddam to terrorist organizations, and even less to the Sept. 11 attacks."

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw: "What I'm asked is if I've seen any evidence of that. [Iraq links to al Qaeda] And the answer is: I haven't.”

A dossier prepared by the British Intelligence agencies MI6 and MI5 "showed no discernible links between Iraq and al-Qaida."

Richard Kerr, a former deputy CIA director who lead an internal review of the CIA's prewar intelligence: "The CIA has not found any proof of operational ties between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's regime."

Richard Clarke, former terrorism chief under Bush: "There's absolutely no evidence that Iraq was supporting al Qaeda, ever."

Bush's first hand-picked weapons hunter, Dr. David Kay: "[W]e simply did not find any evidence of extensive links with Al Qaeda, or for that matter any real links at all." Kay called a speech where Cheney made the claim there was a link, as being "evidence free."

Bush's second hand-picked weapons hunter, Dr. Charles Dueffler reported no WMD stockpiles in Iraq, no capability since 1991, no evidence of ties to al Qaeda, no serious threat

The White House’s own publication on Iraq, A Decade of Defiance and Deception, makes no mention of Osama bin Laden or al Qaeda.

The 2002 congressional joint intelligence committee’s report on the 9/11 attacks reported that the Bush administration had no evidence to support its claim that Iraq was supporting al-Qaeda.

According to a top secret document leaked by British intelligence officials, "there is nothing but enmity between Iraq and Al Qaeda."

Three former Bush administration officials who worked on intelligence and national security issues have stated that the prewar evidence tying al Qaeda to Iraq was tenuous, exaggerated, and often at odds with the conclusions of key intelligence agencies.

"[A]nalysts at the Central Intelligence Agency have complained that senior administration officials have exaggerated the significance of some intelligence reports about Iraq, particularly about its possible links to terrorism, in order to strengthen their political argument for war, government officials said. ... [FBI] investigators said they were baffled by the Bush administration's insistence on a solid link between Iraq and Osama bin Laden|s network. "We've been looking at this hard for more than a year and you know what, we just don't think it's there," a government official said."

The Bush administration’s claim that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had ties to al Qaeda — one of the administration’s central arguments for a pre-emptive war — appears to have been based on even less solid intelligence than the administration’s claims that Iraq had hidden stocks of chemical and biological weapons. Nearly a year after U.S. and British troops invaded Iraq, no evidence has turned up to verify allegations of Saddam’s links with al Qaeda, and several key parts of the administration’s case have either proved false or seem increasingly doubtful.

Official Verdict: White House Misled World Over Saddam-Al Qaeda Ties