White House assertion of terror network in Iraq may undermine own case for

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Fri, Nov. 28, 2003

White House assertion of terror network in Iraq may undermine own case for war
BY WILLIAM DOUGLAS
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - Vice President Dick Cheney, speaking at fund-raisers on Monday, offered his rationale for the American presence in Iraq.

"Iraq has now become the central front in the war on terror," he said at a Bush-Cheney fund-raiser in Cleveland and at a fund-raising reception for Rep. Anne Northrup in Louisville, Ky. "We are aggressively striking the terrorists in Iraq, defeating them there, so we do not have to face them on the streets of our own cities."

It's a line that generates applause. It's also a line that makes several military and intelligence analysts cringe. They say it gives the impression that those carrying out terrorists acts against United States and allied forces are internationally organized with the power and reach to wage war on America's shores.

As Cheney and President Bush use the rhetoric, some experts say the White House is giving Americans a false impression of who the terrorists in Iraq are and their reasons for conducting deadly attacks.

"Militarily, their statements are almost absurd," said Anthony Cordesman, a national security and military intelligence expert for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "There is no evidence of activity … by extremist terrorist groups affiliated with al-Qaida." (snip/...)

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/politics/7368151.htm

[rfranklin]

1. Thus, if there is ever another terrorist attack in the United States...

Cheney/Bush have screwed up again. (Of course, if Osama doesn't receive orders from them, it's unlikely to happen.)

[radfringe]

2. "Iraq has now become the central front in the war on terror,"

ummmm...I thought Turkey was the front? no-wait Turkey is the NEW FRONT, Iraq is the CENTRAL FRONT, Afghanistan is the OLD FRONT, Syria and Iran will be the NEW-IMPROVED FRONT

sounds like we're surrounded by fronts on all sides


FDR: You have nothing to fear but fear itself

GWB: Terra-terra-terra. Be afraid, be very afraid. But don't worry-go shopping

[Gman]

3. Militarily absurd statements?

It doesn't matter as long as it keeps bringing in the bucks and sounds great with W in his faux flight suit in Iraq.

[remfan]

4. Whaaaaat??? The WH giving a false impression?

Say it isn't so!

"It's a line that generates applause." And it probably generates campaign donations which, after all, is all they're interested in.

If your only concern is the political, if your only concern is appearance, and if you don't know how to govern...then get yourself a good PR machine. If you've got the right "applause lines", you'll go pretty far in this country.

You know, if we could get the public to see through the PR, to see it for what it is, and what it's DONE, we might be able to kick this bunch to the curb. It's sad that so many americans are willing to blindly accept things like this - we need to become better consumers of government.