Lies, damned lies, and the mythical relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda

A Senate Intelligence Committee report released today shows that there were no "pre-war ties between Saddam Hussein's government and the Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab Al Zarqawi". A separate report also "sharply criticized the administration for its reliance on the Iraqi National Congress during the run-up to the war in Iraq". Overall, the reports "serve to undercut the [Bush] administration’s assertions, made before the war and since, that ties between Mr. Zarqawi and Mr. Hussein’s government provided evidence of a close relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda".

The Senate Intelligence Committee is controlled by Republicans.

President Bush continues to assert publicly that there were pre-war ties between Iraq and al Qaeda. He makes that assertion to tie his misadventure in Iraq into the larger war on terror.

President Bush is willfully deceiving the American people.

President Bush is lying to the American people.

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For more, see Steve Benen's analysis of the report at The Carpetbagger Report. The Senate Intelligence Committee doesn't address "how the White House used/misused/abused the available information," but "today's conclusions are yet another embarrassment for an administration that can hardly afford to look more foolish on national security matters".

See also True Blue Liberal, The Heretik, Firedoglake, and Linkmeister.