Editor
Orlando Sun-Sentinel
Mark Schneider
Associated Press
Your June 15th report of Vice President Cheney's speech at the James Madison Institute in Orlando was an example of perpetuating a myth. In the report, Mr. Cheney was quoted as saying "Saddam Hussein had long-established ties with al Qaida". To me, this is an example of repeating a lie enough times and it becomes the truth -- at least in people's minds.
By not more aggressively challenging Mr. Cheney's assertations in your article, you indeed continue to give credence to the myth and facilitate the grand lie - that there was some nebulous connection between Saddam and Osama bin-Laden. There was none.
Further, the article only serves to continue clouding of the issue regarding connections between the devastating events of September 11, 2001 and Iraq. Again, there was no connection.
Both of these facts have been repudiated at various times by all members of the administration, including Condeleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, and Colin Powell. That Mr. Cheney can continue to trot out the administration's record on terrorism as a strong point, in full light of evidence to the contrary, speaks volumes about the kid gloves with which the media continues to handle the Bush Administration.
The 2003 joint congressional 9/11 inquiry concluded, "U.S. intelligence had no evidence that the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein was involved in the attacks, or that it had supported al-Qaida." Yet the vice president of the United States continues to brazenly perpetuate the lie, even today, and you continue to repeat it without strong challenge.
It's time for the media to quit enabling the big lie.
Richard Cranium
References:
Alex Standish, editor of the UK journal Jane's Intelligence Digest - required reading for war-watchers and war-makers everywhere - thinks US intelligence officials are making 'a big mistake' on Iraq. "They are trying to convince us of something that is highly unlikely", he says. "If they really believe that Saddam is feeding and sustaining bin Laden's men, then they can't possibly understand the fundamental difference between Iraq and al-Qaeda."
New York Times, 2/2/03: At the Federal Bureau of Investigation, some 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.
"Analysts at the Central Intelligence Agency have complained that senior administration officials have exaggerated the significance of some intelligence reports about Iraq [and] at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, some investigators said they were baffled by the Bush administration's insistence on a solid link between Iraq and Osama bin Laden's network."
The report of the joint congressional inquiry into the suicide hijackings on Sept. 11, 2001, to be published Thursday, reveals U.S. intelligence had no evidence that the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein was involved in the attacks, or that it had supported al-Qaida
"Rumsfeld Sees No Link Between Iraq, 9/11." The reporter for the Associated Press, Robert Burns, wrote Defense Secretary Rumsfeld had no reason to believe that Iraq's Saddam Hussein had a hand in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.
At a Pentagon news conference, Rumsfeld was asked about a poll that indicated nearly 70 percent of respondents believed the Iraqi leader probably was personally involved. "I've not seen any indication that would lead me to believe that I could say that," he said.
San Jose Mercury News: "Yet there was no link between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaida or the 9/11 attacks."
