Turned off, tuned out, dropped out
Forget about what did he know and when did he know it. In apathetic 21st century America the questions are: Does anybody care? Is anybody listening? Is anybody home?
The Washington Post reports that seven in 10 Americans continue to believe that Iraq's Saddam Hussein had a role in the 911 attacks, even though the Bush administration and congressional investigators say they have no evidence of this.
The truth, apparently, is irrelevant:
- 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.
- Muslim-fundamentalistAl Qaeda hated secular-minded Saddam, and the feeling was mutual.
- Cheney said on NBC's "Meet the Press" a while back that it was "pretty well confirmed" that attack mastermind Mohamed Atta met with a senior Iraqi intelligence official in Prague. But the CIA and others have discredited that rumor--finding no evidence that such a meeting took place. They cannot even find evidence that Atta left the US and traveled to Europe during the alleged time period.
-
On several occasions, Bush and others in his administration have intimated or insinuated a connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda. While suited up in his flight gear on May 1, for instance, aboard the Abraham Lincoln, Bush said: "The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11, 2001 -- and still goes on. That terrible morning, 19 evil men -- the shock troops of a hateful ideology -- gave America and the civilized world a glimpse of their ambitions."
Now, however, there is a connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda. We didn't sever it by waging war. . .on the contrary, we created it. In February, as U.S. forces were preparing to invade Iraq, the al Qaeda network apparently launched plans to open a new front in Iraq and pursue the radical Islamic holy war, according to European, American and Arab intelligence sources.
The occupation of Iraq -- once the home of the caliph, or universal leader, of Muslims -- is a galvanizing symbol for radical Islamic groups. On Internet sites and in mosques across the Islamic world, thousands of potential fighters are hearing -- and heeding -- calls to go to Iraq to fight the infidel, according to European and Arab intelligence sources who have tracked some of the movements of the recruits.
12:41:58 AM 
|
|
