Was George W. Bush Aiding Al Qaeda?

[G_j]

http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/08/09/was-george-w-bush-aiding-al-qaeda/

Was George W. Bush Aiding Al Qaeda?

Posted by Peter Hart


A New York Times story (8/9/13) about the sentencing phase of the trial of Army whistleblower Bradley Manning caught my eye with this headline: Witness in Manning Case Says Leaks Could Help Al Qaeda

What the Times reported was this:

A prosecution witness in the sentencing phase of the court-martial of Pfc. Bradley Manning told a military judge on Thursday that Al Qaeda could have used WikiLeaks disclosures, including classified United States government materials provided by Private Manning, to encourage attacks in the West, in testimony meant to show the harm done by his actions.

So what was the evidence? The Times explains:

The witness, Cmdr. Youssef Aboul-Enein, an adviser to the Pentagon's Joint Intelligence Task Force for Combating Terrorism, said that WikiLeaks materials showing that the United States had killed civilians, for instance, could help Al Qaeda. "Perception is important because it provides a good environment for recruitment, for fund-raising and for support for Al Qaeda’s wider audience and objectives," he said.

So the potentially most damaging part of Manning's disclosures was that the war kills civilians–and that U.S. enemies could use that fact to recruit others.

If that's the standard– that the killing of civilians might rally people behind the cause of Al Qaeda–then shouldn't someone be talking to George W. Bush about ordering the invasion that caused all the killing? Of course not–the only person facing punishment is the person who thought the rest of the world should know about it.

We–and certainly many others–have made the point that the prosecution of Manning should be treated seriously by journalists and press freedom advocates– especially now that the government is laying out its case about what it considers to be the harm done by WikiLeaks.

[PowerToThePeople]

1. Are drones aiding Al Qaeda? Is Obama aiding Al Qaeda? n/t

[msongs]

2. according the logic in testimony quoted above, yes nt

[G_j]

3. no doubt they are

maybe we'd be better off if that logic was applied across the board.

[Lonr]

5. Sadly,

it would seem so...

[Cleita]

4. Whether he did or not, the ratcheting of fear of Al Qaeda

was an excellent distraction from the failures of his administration and probably gave him a second term.

[Lonr]

6. Our country needed a common enemy

after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in order to justify maintaining the bloated military/industrial/intelligence complex that has taken over our democratic process.

However, the problem goes MUCH deeper than simply supplying Al Qaeda with angry young recruits.

Here's 4min 50sec of video that might well turn your view of the U. S. government upside down:

[Flatulo]

8. Warning: this links to a 'no 757s hit the WTC towers on 9/11' video. Unless you want to lose a

few IQ points, don't waste your time with this woo.

[ConcernedCanuk]

9. Are you telling us the video is a fake, or staged?

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.
.

CC

[Flatulo]

11. No, just incredibly stupid. Typical CT woo. The author finds a few people who for one

reason or another did not see the markings on Flight 175. I mean, it was only going 500 mph, right? So despite the multiple pictures, videos, eyewitness accounts, piles of 757 debris, missing airplanes and passengers, he breathlessly concludes that no 757s hot the towers.

This is typical 9/11 CT tactics. Ignore mountains of evidence in favor of a few inconsistencies to toss out the entire narrative and replace it with... Something.

[ryan_cats]

13. They're correct no 757s hit the towers...

They're correct no 757s hit the towers...

They were 767s.

Don't forget the spoooooky music.

They still sound like kooks.

[ConcernedCanuk]

10. Sorta like when prohibition ended, the spooks needed a new "cause" to stay employed.

.
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That's when the "War on Drugs" started.

CC

[Spitfire of ATJ]

7. Invading Iraq did that. So did the torture....

Do you honestly believe people didn't already know civilians were being killed?

[G_j]

12. I know, it is ludicrous

I suppose the defense dept. being forced to investigate itself aided the enemy also..