Countdown: al Qaeda Reality Check
(h/t Heather for the vids)
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Keith Olbermann and terrorism analyst Roger Cressey knocks down the lies and spin of Bush's increasingly delusional assertions of al Qaeda in Iraq.
...it's completely misleading. The organization that attacked us on 9/11 is still trying to attack us. That is the group that is primarily on the Afghan/Pakistan border that you've seen all the intelligence community assessments about in the past few days. The group inside Iraq is very indigenous. It's a function of what happened in Iraq after Saddam was overthrown. In effect, we've actually helped create the conditions that allowed al Qaeda to take root in Iraq. It's clear that al Qaeda in Iraq has ideological sympathies with al Qaeda Central that clued there's been some communication between the two, but it is false and misleading for the president to make that direct linkage that he did.
Even WaPo makes the distinction that Bush does not (though, to my dismay, burying the lede deep within the article):
U.S. intelligence analysts, however, have a somewhat different view of al-Qaeda's presence in Iraq, noting that the local branch takes its inspiration but not its orders from bin Laden. Its enemies -- the overwhelming majority of whom are Iraqis -- reside in Baghdad and Shiite-majority areas of Iraq, not in Saudi Arabia or the United States. While intelligence officials have described the Sunni insurgent group calling itself al-Qaeda in Iraq as an "accelerant" for violence, they have cited domestic sectarian divisions as the main impediment to peace.
In a report released yesterday, Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies warned that al-Qaeda is "only one part" of a spectrum of Sunni extremist groups and is far from the largest or most active. Military officials have said in background briefings that al-Qaeda is responsible for about 15 percent of the attacks...
baby jesus is first
Down with frickin' liars!!! Off with their heads!!
The Red Queen is second...
Anybody know where to find the logo for Bush's failed oil company, Arbusto? I know it was pre-internet, but I gotta believe somebody has it online somewhere.
The surge is really working well. Some of our troops are training the Iraqis. 2-3 months ago they had 10 battalions trained and ready to fight without our assistance. Now the have moved up to 6 battalions. Whoops!
Ron @ 5:
Bill Clinton fucks up everything. :)
Bu$hCo.'s view of al-Qaeda is "The Official Conspiracy Theory."
Words to remember!!!!!!!!
"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people." John F. Kennedy
Ron @ 5:
That IS progress - we have 4 less battalions that fight with us during the day and against us at night.
It's this very overt, blatant and obvious intellectual dishonesty that goes largely unscrutinized that is so frustrating. Yet they keep on saying it, and the media treats it as gospel.
The GOP, and the Bush WH in particular, just cannot tell the truth. It's really shameful.
Hate to dump on the US goverment, but ppl here in Europe are pretty much saying,, ´´watch it be a attack that happens justttt before the election come 2008, or better, watch it be a attack of which will impeed bush to inacct martial law´´
and this is from ppl here in eruope folks. I on the other hand think,, ´´watch it happen and wonder who why where and what and more importantly,, why?´´
Dont get an alqaeda guy wet, he will multiply. And dont feed them after 7pm. Oh, wait that was Gremlins... im confused.
Nicole,
Quicktime soon, please! You used a more modern version of WMP than I have and the codec does not deliver sound. I HATE WMP and would far prefer QT anyway.
Thanks, Steve
"...the same folks who are bombing innocent people in iraq were the ones who attacked us in america on september the 11th"
hmmm let me think about this one, how many innocent people have been killed because of shock and awe?
I guess maybe the same folks are the same folks, look within ;)
Bush is completely delusional if he believes what he says and if he isn't he is completely cynical and a liar. There are no other answers.
Al-qaida==All-CIADUH
When you attack a hornets' nest, they tend to spead everywhere, and tend to be very very angry. Taking out Saddam was like uncorking the nest. (Was Saddam a bad guy? I guess so, but so are scores of other dictators, even in the USA.)
apikoros @ 14:
QT is up, Steve. Glad to be of service. ;)
Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Al-Qaida, literally "the database", was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians
Unfortunately, they're still missing the big picture here. We just heard from the LA Times this weekend that a majority of the suicide bombers in Iraq are Saudi nationals. Among those suicide bombings is the Mosul mess tent bombing in December 2004, which to this day is the deadliest single attack against Americans in the Iraq War. The bomber was a Saudi named Said Ahmed al-Ghamdi. Likewise, the gang of insurgents which blew up the Golden Mosque in Samara in February 2006, which promptly sparked the full-blown civil war we see today, was made up of 4 Iraqi Sunnis and 4 Saudi nationals.
Of course, 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudis. But take a second look at what The 9/11 Commission Report said about why that was the case. According to the Commission, Khalid Sheikh Mohamed, the mastermind of the 9/11 plot, has now told U.S. authorities that in the years leading up to the attack he observed that roughly 70% of the recruits in Al Qaeda's Afghan training camps were Saudis.
That's the real link between Al Qaeda and Iraq - Saudi Arabia. The big red flag here is that Pres. Bush won't say a peep about any of this, even though he's being dragged over the coals for all his talk of "Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia". This administration has clearly adopted a policy of covering up and concealing (or at least obfuscating) evidence implicating the Saudis, no matter how many Americans they kill.
For more on the gory details, see: www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com.
[Deleted. Off topic-Sitemonitor]
You POst this is you havs the balls you claim! I insist! We dont blame the victim. I am so insulted!
Saudi
Pakistan
Afganistan
no, lets bomb Iran
you know it's coming.......
Considering that there is in fact thousands of miles of ocean between the United States and Iraq, would somebody please ask the president just how these goat herders are going to get here?
I know its terribly difficult for a capitalist to turn down profit, but just don't sell then a ticket and they can't here.
baby Jesus was OFF TOPIC
I guess its not who you know its who ya blow.
15% Al-Qaeda? They can identify the ideology of dead suicide bombers?
CafeenMan @ 6:
Bah. Jokes about Democrats are never amusing ...
Gekke @ 15:
It's all in the definition. If we killed them, they were al-Qaeda. Remember a few years ago a wedding party looked suspicious, so we bombed it and killed 50 + guests? Al-Qaeda every one.
EXACTLY !!
...and it is a shame that so many people either do not realise, or refuse to realise, that simple yet precise statement.
"The organization that attacked us on 9/11 is still trying to attack us. That is the group that is primarily on the Afghan/Pakistan border..."
The organization that attacked us on 9/11 is still trying to attack us, but I'll bet the farm their not on the Afghan/Pakistan border.
It's a lie, even when you hear it on Olberman.
bush is right the ones killing people in iraq killed americans here, i guess you could call that a confeshion !
Wess @ 31:
Indeed. It's mind boggling. It doesn't take a keen intellect to comprehend that statement. Their claims about "fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here", as well as about a dozen other brazenly false claims, simply do not pass the smell test. It doesn't take the logic skills of a chess grandmaster to see that the assertations made are blatantly wrong. Yet, we still have elected representatives spouting them; news analysts and commentators corroborating them; and 25% of the electorate soaking it all up. It's unreal.
Bic @ 32:
couldn't have said it any better myself.
Nicole Belle @ 19:
Thank you, Nicole. I love Mr. Olberman and I very much appreciate your qquotes of his work. I am something of a techno-luddite. I let some technology, that I feel I need (my Mac, my DSL, and VOIP) into my life, but reject strongly that tech of which I disapprove (Microsoft. cable, etc.).
The 29% who still support Bush have shit for brains!
The 14% who still love Cheney need labotomies!
Keep stalling until the oil agreement gets signed.
Please great spirit, make the evil ones stop saying "Al Kida" and "The War on Terror". I can't hear "Al Kida" again. As the great philosipher Chris Rock once said, "Al Kida, I ain't afraid of no Al Kida, I'm afraid of Al Cracker!"
the media just don't care anymore. Every day is friday to them
You really have to be amazed at the sudden quantity of "Al Qaeda" and "gut feeling terr'rist attack" stories that have been belching out of the White House and MSM. I agree, it IS like every day's a Friday.
What are they covering?
The Prez. of the US of A goes by the handle "Commander-In-Chief". This is a military term that guys like Eisenhower, Kennedy, Reagan and Bush I could honestly call themselves because of their time served in active duty.
This IDIOT is trying to play the role to the max and essentially was a "DODGER".
This is the epitome of hypocrisy and will be his legacy. The phony Commander-In-Chief! A crying shame and a very deadly game he has got the American people into.
I was wondering if our president understands the story about the little boy who cried wolf.
...or the story about the little president who cried al Qaeda.
Gekke @ 15:
I feel sorry for folks who believe this nonsense. I don't know what causes people to deny the facts related to Sept. 11th. Instead of accepting the murderous inclinations of Al Qaieda and some radical fundamentalist Muslims, folks choose to bury their heads in the sand and blame the Bush administration for the attacks. I really didn't want to reply to this but had to due to being so tired of hearing this crap. Maybe folks will accept the facts when another attack occurs...and another...and another. Let's hope that no more attacks occur and that we can defeat Al Qaieda on their turf...not ours. But if we leave it to the Democrats, make no mistake, we are defeated and attacks will continue to occur and escalate.
Batocchio @ 11:
Actually, you can't and handle the truth and choose to blame those you really hate.
majicman @ 43:
dude, this a'int no game. Maybe you be more comfortable in Russia.
[...] where he was Director for Transnational Threats from November 1999 through November 2001. You can watch this clip where he and Keith Olbermann review the business of president saying, over and over and over, that [...]
Bill in Chicago @ 22:
Exactly. I find this infantile that they're dragging out the "Iraqi Al-Qaeda are going to attack the U.S. from Iraq" intelligence the VERY DAY WE'RE HAVING A MAJOR BATTLE IN CONGRESS OVER WHETHER TO PULL OUR TROOPS OUT OR NOT.
Pathetic and patronizing.
Look, if we're serious about taking out Al-Qaeda, we have to be serious about:
1) Attacking Saudi Arabia, whose citizens were behind 9/11.
OR
2) Completely cutting off all petroleum purchases to Saudi Arabia until they create a democracy in Saudi Arabia.
This is ridiculous. It's like knowing the California energy crisis was Enron's fault, but blaming it on Gray Davis.
Paraphrasing Roger Cressey: "Iraq has become a powerful worldwide recruitment tool for Al Qaeda, because of the images showing their successes in the field in Iraq", or something along those lines.
Let's split some hairs here: The illegal invasion and occupation of a sovereign country, as well as the salivating presence of the Halliburtons and the Unocals, are the items that have become a powerful worldwide recruitment tool for Al Qaeda. In the eighties, middle eastern citizens volunteered to fight the soviets in Afghanistan not because the Muhajedeen were winning, but because (all together now) Afghanistan was being occupied by a foreign power. Thank you.
Why not just say the emperor has no clothes and blame his vanity already, instead of dodging the issue by commenting about the dubious motives of the tailor?
Mickey @ 47:
The Bush administration does bear some of the responsibility.
Let's look back to when Bush first came to office in 2000. He completely dropped the ball on continuing middle-east talks . . . wasn't a priority. George Tenet had some evidence of Al-Qaida activity and brought his concerns up to both Cheney and Rice. Cheney was supposed to create a terrorism task force but didn't hold any meetings. At the time he was more interested in his Energy Task Force which was held in secret as you recall. Rice was more concerned about the missile defense plan Bush had wanted.
After numerous tries to get anyone in the Administration to listen it wasn't until a month before 9/11 that Rice decided to discuss the matter.
Talk about burying their head in the sand, it was the Bush administration that had their heads buried in the sand.
And you talk about fighting Al-Qaida. Well, Al-Qaida wasn't in Iraq till we occupied the country. Now it's a breeding ground for training terrorists and Al-Qaida operatives. By our invasion we have created more terrorists in training and strengthened Al-Qaida.
And by focusing on Iraq, we didn't get the job finished in Afghanistan.
The Bush administration bears sole responsibility for this mess and getting both Republicans and some Democrats to buy into his neo-con agenda.
And you all keep talking about an impending attack like you want it to happen. So I suppose you are for killing Americans to prove your point. Well killing seems to be easy for Bush and his cronies. By the time he leaves office he will have the blood of 1 million innocent Iraqis on his hand. So you kill off several hundred thousand people and run off several hundred thousand more to liberate a country? That's your idea of spreading Democracy?
I'm going to say it right here. You and the rest of the MINORITY are complete fools. The blood of thousands of innocent people are on yours and Bush's hands.
Bombarding a country into Democracy and killing off thousands of innocent Citizens is not going to fight terrorism. Cooperation and sharing intelligence among other international police and investigative agencies is the way to root out terrorism.
Reality Checker @ 44:
Quite!
I wish some reporter would ask mr president: "Why should we believe your assessment of the situation? You've been wrong about... hmmm... everything related to this sorry endeavour to Iraq and all the rest of it." We are just too complacent and in love with our own idealistic view of the precidency to realize that he actually works for us and we are the ones he is accountable to. Impeach the a**hole and all of his puppet masters.
Mickey @ 47:
I feel sorry for folks who believe this nonsense. I don’t know what causes people to deny the facts related to Sept. 11th. Instead of accepting the murderous inclinations of Al Qaieda and some radical fundamentalist Muslims, folks choose to bury their heads in the sand and blame the Bush administration for the attacks. I really didn’t want to reply to this but had to due to being so tired of hearing this crap. Maybe folks will accept the facts when another attack occurs…and another…and another. Let’s hope that no more attacks occur and that we can defeat Al Qaieda on their turf…not ours. But if we leave it to the Democrats, make no mistake, we are defeated and attacks will continue to occur and escalate.
No one disputes that Al Qaieda is dangerous and wants to do us harm. The problem is that Bush's strategy has been a failure, and in fact made the situation worse. Iraq had NOTHING to do with 9/11. Attacking a sovereign country that did not attack us and was not an immediate threat has made far more enemies for America and distanced us from our allies. In fact, it's been a rallying cry for jihadist everywhere who are outraged by what we've done to the Iraqi people. Richard Engel, the foreign correspondent over there, was able to interview a few Al Qaieda members. He asked what motivates them. They said it's all about Iraq.
"Maybe folks will accept the facts when another attack occurs…and another…and another."
Another Republican longing for event that will 'save' his political Party from oblivion.
Re: Bush & The New Al Qaeda Bamboozle
In Arabic, "Al-Qaeda" has a different meanings (among them “Base", "Ground", "Norm", "Rule")
In ‘American’ it simply means “a political Mafia”, and like our domestic Mafia it has a few ‘families’.
Sometimes they might work together a bit, mostly they’re in competition.
They were sold to Harken Energy in 1990. A quick internet search doesn't turn up any Arbusto logos, but there's a logo on this page for Harken.
Gee can't we let al-Qaeda into the US for just a little while! It would be just like calling the exterminator! You leave while they work and you came back and take care of the exterminator!
I mean surely we can solve the above using al-Qaeda?
Olberman is trying to make a distinction between "Al Qaeda in Iraq" vs. "Al Qaeda who attacked us on 9/11". Why call the group in Iraq "Al Qaeda" at all? What is the justification for calling them "Al Qaeda"? Someone please explain. It sounds like B.S. terminology to me.
In Arabic, “Al-Qaeda” has a different meanings (among them “Base”, “Ground”, “Norm”, “Rule”)
In ‘American’ it simply means “a political Mafia”, and like our domestic Mafia it has a few ‘families’.
junior already alluded to his base years ago....the only thing they like more is killing innocents, stealing money, and taking food from babies..
kristol-meth probably told president retard to say that. bush = biggest dipshit ever born
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