Iraqi Officer Tied to Al Qaeda - 9/11 Commissioner

[treefrogjohn]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=615&e=3&u=/nm/20040620/pl_nm/iraq_intelligence_dc

The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks has been told "a very prominent member" of al Qaeda served as an officer in Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s militia, a panel member said on Sunday.

Republican commissioner John Lehman told NBC's "Meet the Press" program that the new intelligence, if proven true, buttresses claims by the Bush administration of ties between Iraq (news - web sites) and the militant network believed responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America.

And so we now see their cover story. Gasp! A Lt. Colonel in Saddam's army was an al Qaeda operative. That doesn't sound to me like a collaborative link. That is like saying that we were collaborating with Russia because Hansen was an FBI agent while spying for them.

[stickdog]

1. What good is a non-partisan commission, if the Repuke's in it keep

doing interviews one-on-one to prop us the administration's bullshit?

[Solly Mack]

2. Yeah? Do they know because this person was one of Saddams men

brought to America for training?

I'm sure this country "debriefed" all of the Saddam officers they brought to America for re-training to work with America...

And I can well imagine the debriefing...

If everyone will recall, a few weeks ago it was confirmed that America brought captured Fedayeen to this country to be trained...and to be sent back to help "control" Iraqi cities.

[leftchick]

3. I smell desperation in the air....

and it smells fucking great!

[DavidFL]

4. So the Commission...

He said the final report would be modified to take any new intelligence into account.

So the Commission is going to rewrite its final report to please the White House and the neocons? /feigned shock off]

Lehman said the information, contained in "captured documents," was obtained after the commission report was written that stated there was no evidence of a "collaborative relationship" between Iraq and al Qaeda.

I wonder if these "captured documents" are like those the coalition was so "lucky" to "discover" after the fall of Baghdad and which oh so conveniently happened to discredit the war's detractors, like Hussein's $10 million "payment" to George Galloway for his opposition to the war. Between Mohammed Atta's indestructible passport and "captured documents" from Iraq, Bush, Blair and the neocons must be the luckiest people on Earth. /sarcasm off]

[mmonk]

5. Hussein was mean as a leader

but not a suicidal idiot.

[creeksneakers2]

6. More phony documents

There has been a long list of phony documents already. The Bush cabal will surely come up with some forgeries that point to Iraqi involvement in 9/11.

[The Night Owl]

7. Timothy McVeigh was a decorated Sargeant.

Does Timothy McVeigh's past as a decorated officer indicate he collaborated with the US government on blowing up the Murrah Building? Of course not.

I never cease to be astonished by how stupid Cheney thinks everyone is.

[0rganism]

8. Unfortunately, Cheney's absolutely correct

I predict the mass media will spare no effort in disseminating this "intelligence windfall" to Americans, most of whom already believe (and WANT to believe) that invading Iraq had something to do with Al Qaeda. This is one of the keys to bush re-election, so I expect a Big Deal to be made of this "link" in upcoming weeks.

And don't rule out the possibility that Saddam himself can be made to sing like a bird, with a little helpful "interrogation".

This is big trouble. I have a sinking feeling of how this is going to turn out.

[The Night Owl]

21. Just for the record...

I said... "I never cease to be astonished by how stupid Cheney thinks everyone is."

Sure, many people truly are as stupid as Cheney thinks they are. Some are even dumber. The ones who Cheney cannot fool, however, are here at DU.

[0rganism]

28. Averaged out over "everyone", it's enough to keep him in power

That's what democracy's all about, according to Plato.

> The ones who Cheney cannot fool, however, are here at DU.

You preach to the converted well, my nocturnal friend. Someday, we will rule the wasteland as Mighty Philosopher Kings!

[keithyboy]

23. And the US had "active" Al-qaeda cells directly linked to 9/11 attacks

so where does that leave us?

[louis c]

20. I hope Cheney 's not correct

Sometimes I'm afraid that the American people are not as knowledgeable as we hope they are. Some people spout some shit they hear from Hannity like it's gospel.

[lucky777]

9. We Can't Beat These People . . . I'm realizing this grim thought

They are better liars than we can ever hope to be.

Just when it looks like the Commission will call Bush/Cheney's bluff, some asshole comes along and creates a bogus 'grey area' where it starts to look like there were connections, perhaps some contacts, etc etc --- this makes the lies look not so bad.

I don't know how we can beat this. They've got the TV and Cable News, the papers, etc etc -- all protecting Bush/Cheney. I'm starting to get very pessimistic, frankly. These people are invulnerable.


edited for grammar.

[Skip Intro]

10. Oh yes we can

Right now they are doing nothing more than they have done since day one, which is blatantly lie, all the time, about everything.

But their lies aren't selling like they used to. I mean, even the most dense, most sleepy of the bushbots have to wonder exactly what it is we invaded Iraq for, and it wasn't because a mysterious aq operative had found his way into saddam's army. I really don't think it would go over too well with the families of those serving, not to mention anyone paying attention, to learn that, after all is said and done, all the death, all the destruction, all the damage, all the sacrifice, all the economic and diplomatic and moral costs to our nation and the world, we did it all just to get this one aq guy. (And not the aq guy ol' tex said he'd get "dead or alive" either)

Is that what we were told we were going to war for?

No, they don't lie well, they just lie a lot. And they now face the same fate that all constant liars face: eventually, people realize they can't believe what is said, so they leave.

Hang in there. And watch.

[uhhuh]

11. Another Point

Even if this is true, and I don't see anything to show that it is, our dear ally, Pakistan has had several high ranking members of the government to be shown to have al qaeda ties.

I haven't heard anything about an attempt to topple that military dictatorship any time soon. If a mid level Iraqi military officer is somehow found to be linked to al qaeda, it doesn't prove anything more than that there might have been "a few bad apples" in the Iraqi military.
After all, isn't that what they want us to believe about the torture of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers?

[daleo]

12. Shouldn't they actually confirm this before spouting off?

"Some of these documents indicate that (there was) at least one officer of Saddam's Fedayeen, a lieutenant colonel, who was a very prominent member of al Qaeda," Lehman said.

"That still has to be confirmed , but the vice president (Dick Cheney (news - web sites)) was right when he said that he may have things that we don't yet have," said Lehman, a former Navy secretary.

I have 100% confidence that this connection, irrelevant as it is, will not stand up to scrutiny.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. Hasn't stopped FratBoy and his sidekick, Dick, has it?

[Woodstock]

17. Then why did Cheney wait until AFTER they issued the statement to tell it?

Why doesn't he ask this question?

[T Bone]

22. Al Franken said on Air America last week

that every time you look into these 'meetings' that occur between an Iraqi and an Al-Qaeda they are to look into a connection and that then nothing ever happens from the contact, usually the Iraqi agent never gets back to Al-Qaeda, so they all appear to be sort of 'like a bad date'. No one from either side ever follows up on the bad date.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

13. Lehman's been working these weird angles throughout the hearings...

...and none of then have borne fruit of any kind.

[The Night Owl]

15. I wish Lehman was working weird angles...

... but, instead, Lehman is throwing the softballs straight and slow.

[rumguy]

16. Every goddmaned country in the ME has Al Queda ties!

Saudi Arabia has more AQ ties than Iraq ever had. Repuke logic is insane...

[keithyboy]

24. Don't forget the "active" Al-qaeda cells in US, Germany, Spain, France,UK

And don't forget that iF Saddam helped Al-qaeda, we helped Saddam help them by supporting, arming, and dealing with Saddam throughout the 1980s.

[Bob3]

18. Note the important phrase "if proven true" - this is just more gibberish.

I'll lay odds it will not be proven true. And say what was this very high officer in Saddam's army doing? Maybe he was driving around that Bio weapons van * always talked about.

Frankly if this intelligence could withstand any scrutiny at all we would have heard about it long ago - but prior to today all we got was them yammering again and again about the non-existent Czech meeting.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

19. Yep...Cheney's chock-full of "informaton" when he's not under oath.

[goforit]

25. Wow...And he kept all this info to himself till.........NOW???????

And all those gop fascist zombies go......
screaming,flag waving and celebrating

VIVA el Cheney (creator of fictional lies that we believe as truth)

[TahitiNut]

26. Yup. It's probably more "intelligence" from Chalabi.

:shrug: Time might tell.

[Virginian]

29. It doesn't have to be anything.

Based on their prior performance, They lie, then have nothing to back it up and weasel out of the lie.
In the meantime, the uninformed catch a small soundbite and start believing that the connection is really there. Many of the swing voters are the uninformed.

[lucky777]

27. Now Safire in NY Times hinting at link . . .

Safire says that the denial of a link came from a junior staffer and not from the Commission itself. THis allows the Commission to find a link, or in their words, a 'connection.'

Weasel -- They can weasel out of everything.

It's total bullshit. We need a forum where we can ask them to lay out flatly what they know -- and then we can judge if there is a sufficient connection.

The 911 Commission always disappoints when the rubber hits the road.


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/21/opinion/21SAFI.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1087790468-H19w2r+c/LmKeUOeu4snbA

[nonbelief]

30. Those efficient Iraqis

Every time the Bush administration finds itself in poop, another amazingly convenient "document" is discovered in an iraqi basement.

Of course a few weeks later it's shown to be a fraud.

[drdtroit]

31. It doesn't even matter if it's true.

The possibility of a suspected unsubstantiated unproven Al Qaeda link w/Saddam is certainly enough info fodder for the brain dead out there to keep on cheering the chimp; Jawol! :grr:

[Swamp Rat]

32. Hmmm...

I expected this. Whether it's a lie or the truth (as Cheney sees it), it still doesn't justify genocide.

The way I see it, if Heil Hannity and all the Bushbots start frothing at the mouth about "SEE, we told you! Heil Bush!" etc., my response will be. "Ah, so you DO agree with genocide and fully comply with your führer."

If they pull this one on us, I think we should be fearless in our response. Look a damn Freeper in the eye and call him a cannibal.

[dArKeR]

33. Which Carlyle Board Member?

http://www.hereinreality.com/carlyle.html

[RamboLiberal]

34. They're not even sure this is the same guy

Even the Moonie Times is refuting some of this info. But you know the misinformation with clarification will be the Wingnut Pundits talking points all week. They'll be screaming "smoking gun" this week.

The Fedayeen were a special unit of volunteers given basic training in irregular warfare. The lieutenant colonel, Ahmed Hikmat Shakir, has the same name as an Iraqi thought to have attended a planning meeting for the Sept. 11 attacks in January 2000, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The meeting was also attended by two of the hijackers, Khalid al Midhar and Nawaf al Hamzi and senior al-Qaida leaders.

Lehman said that commission staff members continued to work on the issue and experts cautioned that the connection might be nothing more than coincidence.

"Shakir is a pretty common name," said terrorism analyst and author Peter Bergen, "and even if the two names refer to the same person, there might be a number of other explanations. Perhaps al-Qaida had penetrated Saddam's security apparatus."

Analysts say the Fedayeen was not an intelligence unit, but an irregular militia recruited from clans loyal to the regime in the capital, in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit and in the surrounding Tigris valley area. Michael Eisenstadt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank set up by the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, described them to United Press International last year as "thugs and bumpkins."

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040620-050700-2315r