John King, I want to play you something that Senator Barack Obama said today in the hearings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I think that we should not have had this discussion on 9/11 or 9/10 or 9/12, because I think it perpetuates this notion that, somehow, the original decision to go into Iraq was directly related to the attacks on 9/11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Who was responsible for -- for the timing of this, the fact there's testimony about Iraq on the anniversary of 9/11?
KING: Well, Anderson, if Senator Obama is frustrated, he has only his own Democratic leadership to blame. The September 15th deadline for a report from the administration was actually recommended by a Republican, but that -- Senator John Warner -- but that was passed, of course, with the blessing of the Democrats. Now, September 15 is this coming weekend, so they wanted to have the testimony in advance of that deadline. But the latter half of this week is the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, and the House and the Senate will not be in session. So, they were left with September 10 and September 11 to have this testimony. So, it is the Democrats, by not paying close enough to the calendar a few months ago, who put themselves in this position. But Senator Obama, in that hearing, bringing back the constant criticism of this administration. There are many -- especially Democrats -- who believe the president has always tried to make this war about more than toppling Saddam Hussein and about more than those weapons of mass destruction, that, of course, were never found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): After 9/11, the mood in the country was, simply put, payback. And, to this day, the president can make it all sound pretty straightforward.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th, and that's why what happens in Iraq matters to the security here at home. KING: But it's not that simple. The organization al Qaeda in Iraq did not exist on or before 9/11. And its main recruiting tool is fighting the U.S. invasion there.
JON ALTERMAN, MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: The Iraq war has helped terrorists network. So, on the one hand, after 9/11, we have made a lot of progress understanding al Qaeda 1.1. Al Qaeda 2.0 has been given birth on the ashes of our initial efforts in Iraq. KING: It's hardly the first time the administration has suggested a link between Iraq and the 9/11. More often than not, it's what you might call the guilt-by-association strategy. This was making the case for the Iraq war nearly five years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, OCTOBER 7, 2002)
BUSH: We know that Iraq and the al Qaeda terrorist network share a common enemy, the United States of America. We know that Iraq and al Qaeda have had high-level contacts that go back a decade.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: And this was in the now infamous speech declaring major combat in Iraq over more than four years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BUSH: We have removed an ally of al Qaeda and cut off -- cut off a source of terrorist funding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: The vice president has repeatedly suggested more direct links. Just three months after the 9/11 attacks, Mr. Cheney appeared on "Meet the Press" and suggested hijacker Mohamed Atta met with a top Saddam Hussein deputy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MEET THE PRESS")
RICHARD B. CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's been pretty well confirmed that he did go to Prague, and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April, several months before the attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: But administration and other government sources say the intelligence was never conclusive and has since been discredited.
ALTERMAN: Intelligence is never as good as you want it to be. And there are still a lot of people in the administration who said, well, I can't prove it, but I still know it's true. And there was a lot more of that right after 9/11.
KING: Two years later, the vice president again stirred controversy by framing the stakes in Iraq this way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MEET THE PRESS")
CHENEY: Now, we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the -- the -- the base, if you will, the geographic base, of the terrorists who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Days later, the president bristled when asked about his critics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, SEPTEMBER 17, 2003)
KING: Your critics say that this is some effort, deliberate effort, to blur the line...
BUSH: Yes.
KING: ... or to confuse people. How would you answer that? BUSH: No, we have had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the -- September the 11th. No, what the vice president said was, is that he has been involved with al Qaeda and Zarqawi, an al-Qaeda operative, in Baghdad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: In Iraq, yes. But, again, "Keeping Them Honest," the al Qaeda in the Iraq organization did not exist on 9/11, and U.S. intelligence officials concede, they have no evidence that Zarqawi received any support from the Saddam Hussein regime.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: But, looking back, the administration continues to insist that Saddam Hussein did have firm links with al Qaeda.And, Anderson, they continue to insist now that Iraq is central to winning the global war on terrorism, including the battle against al Qaeda, an argument you will hear the president make later this week, when he also does embrace General Petraeus' plan to bring home most of the surge -- the troops involved in the surge by next summer -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, no surprise there. John King, thanks for the reporting. Though it had nothing to do with 9/11, al Qaeda in Iraq, the organization, is still a very real threat here. But they are suffering some sustained, serious defeats. Through one act of brutality after another, they have made enemies of Sunni sheiks who have now decided to work with the Americans against their former allies. We have been talking about this with Michael Ware just a few moments ago. As you know, it started in al Anbar Province. But, as I saw today, the so-called Sunni awakening is spreading. And, for American forces, it is more than welcome.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLONEL MICHAEL KERSHAW, 2ND BRIGADE, 10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION: Salaam alaikum. Good to see you.UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alaikum salaam.
COOPER (voice-over): What you're seeing is extraordinary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I think that we should not have had this discussion on 9/11 or 9/10 or 9/12, because I think it perpetuates this notion that, somehow, the original decision to go into Iraq was directly related to the attacks on 9/11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Who was responsible for -- for the timing of this, the fact there's testimony about Iraq on the anniversary of 9/11?
KING: Well, Anderson, if Senator Obama is frustrated, he has only his own Democratic leadership to blame. The September 15th deadline for a report from the administration was actually recommended by a Republican, but that -- Senator John Warner -- but that was passed, of course, with the blessing of the Democrats. Now, September 15 is this coming weekend, so they wanted to have the testimony in advance of that deadline. But the latter half of this week is the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, and the House and the Senate will not be in session. So, they were left with September 10 and September 11 to have this testimony. So, it is the Democrats, by not paying close enough to the calendar a few months ago, who put themselves in this position. But Senator Obama, in that hearing, bringing back the constant criticism of this administration. There are many -- especially Democrats -- who believe the president has always tried to make this war about more than toppling Saddam Hussein and about more than those weapons of mass destruction, that, of course, were never found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): After 9/11, the mood in the country was, simply put, payback. And, to this day, the president can make it all sound pretty straightforward.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th, and that's why what happens in Iraq matters to the security here at home. KING: But it's not that simple. The organization al Qaeda in Iraq did not exist on or before 9/11. And its main recruiting tool is fighting the U.S. invasion there.
JON ALTERMAN, MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: The Iraq war has helped terrorists network. So, on the one hand, after 9/11, we have made a lot of progress understanding al Qaeda 1.1. Al Qaeda 2.0 has been given birth on the ashes of our initial efforts in Iraq. KING: It's hardly the first time the administration has suggested a link between Iraq and the 9/11. More often than not, it's what you might call the guilt-by-association strategy. This was making the case for the Iraq war nearly five years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, OCTOBER 7, 2002)
BUSH: We know that Iraq and the al Qaeda terrorist network share a common enemy, the United States of America. We know that Iraq and al Qaeda have had high-level contacts that go back a decade.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: And this was in the now infamous speech declaring major combat in Iraq over more than four years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BUSH: We have removed an ally of al Qaeda and cut off -- cut off a source of terrorist funding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: The vice president has repeatedly suggested more direct links. Just three months after the 9/11 attacks, Mr. Cheney appeared on "Meet the Press" and suggested hijacker Mohamed Atta met with a top Saddam Hussein deputy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MEET THE PRESS")
RICHARD B. CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's been pretty well confirmed that he did go to Prague, and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April, several months before the attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: But administration and other government sources say the intelligence was never conclusive and has since been discredited.
ALTERMAN: Intelligence is never as good as you want it to be. And there are still a lot of people in the administration who said, well, I can't prove it, but I still know it's true. And there was a lot more of that right after 9/11.
KING: Two years later, the vice president again stirred controversy by framing the stakes in Iraq this way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MEET THE PRESS")
CHENEY: Now, we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the -- the -- the base, if you will, the geographic base, of the terrorists who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Days later, the president bristled when asked about his critics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, SEPTEMBER 17, 2003)
KING: Your critics say that this is some effort, deliberate effort, to blur the line...
BUSH: Yes.
KING: ... or to confuse people. How would you answer that? BUSH: No, we have had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the -- September the 11th. No, what the vice president said was, is that he has been involved with al Qaeda and Zarqawi, an al-Qaeda operative, in Baghdad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: In Iraq, yes. But, again, "Keeping Them Honest," the al Qaeda in the Iraq organization did not exist on 9/11, and U.S. intelligence officials concede, they have no evidence that Zarqawi received any support from the Saddam Hussein regime.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: But, looking back, the administration continues to insist that Saddam Hussein did have firm links with al Qaeda.And, Anderson, they continue to insist now that Iraq is central to winning the global war on terrorism, including the battle against al Qaeda, an argument you will hear the president make later this week, when he also does embrace General Petraeus' plan to bring home most of the surge -- the troops involved in the surge by next summer -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, no surprise there. John King, thanks for the reporting. Though it had nothing to do with 9/11, al Qaeda in Iraq, the organization, is still a very real threat here. But they are suffering some sustained, serious defeats. Through one act of brutality after another, they have made enemies of Sunni sheiks who have now decided to work with the Americans against their former allies. We have been talking about this with Michael Ware just a few moments ago. As you know, it started in al Anbar Province. But, as I saw today, the so-called Sunni awakening is spreading. And, for American forces, it is more than welcome.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLONEL MICHAEL KERSHAW, 2ND BRIGADE, 10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION: Salaam alaikum. Good to see you.UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alaikum salaam.
COOPER (voice-over): What you're seeing is extraordinary.
posted by The Revolt and Revolting at 11:00 PM
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