Cheney on Atta/Iraq Prague meeting "It's never been refuted."

[underpants]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/18/politics/18DEBA.html
"There have been reports that contacts between Iraq and Al Qaeda also occurred after bin Laden had returned to Afghanistan, but they do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship," the report continued. "Two senior bin Laden associates have adamantly denied that any ties existed between Al Qaeda and Iraq. We have no credible evidence that Iraq and Al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States."

Mr. Cheney expressed a slightly different view last night, saying, "We have never been able to prove that there was a connection there on 9/11." He went on to cite a Czech intelligence service report that Mohammad Atta, one of the lead hijackers, met a senior Iraqi intelligence official in April 2001. "That's never been proven," he said. "It's never been refuted."

The commission report released on Wednesday concluded: "We do not believe that such a meeting occurred," citing phone records and other evidence that Mr. Atta had been in Florida at that time, not Prague.



http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40816FB34590C728EDDA90994DA404482

ABSTRACT - Pres Vaclav Havel of Czech Republic has reportedly told White House that he cannot find evidence to confirm reports that Mohamed Atta met with Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague months before Sept 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington; message was delivered discreetly earlier this year in effort by Havel to avoid publicly embarrassing other prominent officials in his government who had given credibility to reports, including then-Prime Min Milos Zeman and Interior Min Stanislav Gross; Czech officials who have investigated case say Zeman and Gross spoke without adequately vetting information or waiting for Czech internal security service to substantiate initial reports; American intelligence officers have long cast doubt on reports of Prague meeting, and White House has generally been cautious about using reports to help make case for war with Iraq;

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/18/cheney.iraq.al.qaeda/

The uncorroborated Czech report, which has been widely disputed, alleged that 9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta met with an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague before the attacks.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Jeepers, Cheney. Give it a rest already!

[Liberal Veteran]

2. Never been refuted? We have Atta's travel records....

...cell phone usage, credit card records, hotel records.

All those things that placed him in the United States when said meeting in Prague was supposed to occur.

[neoteric lefty]

12. got a link?

I have heard this from many people but haven't been able to find it myself.

[underpants]

13. I have too-FOUND (from MSNBC-if that is a credible source)

While all of Atta's movements cannot be accounted for, enough is known to make it "highly unlikely" that the September 11 ringleader could have flown off to Baghdad for a three-day work program with Iraqi intelligence, a FBI official told NEWSWEEK. For similar reasons, the bureau has long since discounted claims by Czech intelligence—and widely promoted by some Iraq hawks in the Bush administration—that Atta had flown to Prague to meet with an Iraqi intelligence agent around April 8, 2001.

FBI records show Atta and fellow hijacker Marwan Al-Shehhi checking out of the Diplomat Inn in Virginia Beach, Va., and writing a check for cash for $8,000 for a SunTrust account in that city on April 4, 2001. For the rest of that week, Atta's cell phone was used to make repeated calls to Florida. On April 11, Atta rented an apartment in Coral Springs, Fla. While acknowledging that a few days are unaccounted for, the FBI has found no evidence that Atta departed the country overseas during this period, an official said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3741646/

[ShaneGR]

3. The funny thing about all of this is....

We're now about 15 months since the invasion, and these wackjobs still cling to their lies. It's hilarious watching them squirm under the pressure, still desperately trying to tell anyone who will listen that they weren't wrong.

[underpants]

5. BLack and white- The WMD claim is bogus this is all they have to hold onto

"realtionship" "collaboration" "association"

The problem , for them, is that W's image as a tough strong leader is undercut when they are arguing over (forgive me) semantics. It won't sell with their base-though that want change their minds- and in general the guy at the bar is going to say "Come on is it or isn't it".

ON EDIT- They state things in black and white which not only leaves no grey area but sets a precedent that this argument doesn't support.

Cheney is biting the hand that has fed them (the MEDIA) from the getgo as well.

[barbaraann]

4. A lot of Elvis sightings haven't been refuted either.

n/t

[MasonJar]

6. Cheney has definitely done his 1984 homework. The sheeple

never hear the reverse; he is gining the Fox News version.

[MidwestTransplant]

7. George Bush touches Barney in inappropriate places

It has never been confirmed and never been refuted.

[spanone]

8. Will no one in the democratic party challenge this asshole????

No one obviously has the balls in congress or in Kerrys crew to come out and challenge this bloated fuck on his lies. I'm just about sick of this whole thing. If you let these fuckers lie and lie people will believe the lie. Maybe no one gives a shit.

[July]

9. It's never been refuted that I'm the smartest person on earth, either.

However, I refuse to brag.

[July]

10. Also, I look like Raquel Welch.

Hey, it's never been refuted.

[Kinkistyle]

11. Saddam's WMD possession was never "refuted" as well.

Look how that turned out!

[neoteric lefty]

14. To make an assertion true, isn't

it the responsibility of the person(s) making the assertion to provide evidence to support their claim. Not vice versa. It like me saying "I beleive the Sun rotates around the Earth. I have no evidence but it is up to you to refute my statement. Until then, I can walk around and say that it is true."

His logic makes no sense, but much of the Aministration has never made much sense. I can't believe how corrupt and dishonest our leaders are these days. I can't even fathom what the history books will say about these times in America. I am sure it will not be not good.

[underpants]

15. They are trying to shape the argument into proving a negative

He doesn't claim that it is true but that it has not been proven or refuted (then why bring it up?) so now anyone who says that it isn't true gets met with a "PROVE IT!" -prove that it ISN'T true.

ON EDIT-you are right the burden of proof logically should be on him.......usually but then they have gotten away with this before.

[killbotfactory]

16. I hate this asshole

and all the idiots who still believe him and the rancid bullshit he spews. Anyone who still believes a thing he says is a stone cold fucking moron.