by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
June 25, 2004
a 16th interim report was issued in mid-June by the National Commission on Terrorist attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission. Part of the findings of that report was that there were no links found between the regime of Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda regarding the terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001.
The anti-Bush media had a field day with the report’s release that "proved" that the american administration had lied when they blamed Saddam Hussein for the terrorist attacks and therefore the premise of why the United States went to war against Iraq was wrong.
The only problem with the media’s analysis is that neither George W. Bush nor Dick Cheney nor anyone in the administration ever accused Iraq of co-operating with al-Qaeda to prepare and carry out the attacks on 9/11. They merely claimed that there were links between the two. Not only that, but the 9/11 Commission that was investigating the events of that day, found connections between Saddam and the terrorist organization although those connections had nothing to do with the attacks upon the U.S.
This distinction was lost on the liberal media. The headline that appeared in the NewYork Times read "Panel finds no Qaeda-Iraq Tie: Describes Wider Plot for 9/11". The headline in the Orlando Sentinel was "Saddam didn’t help al-Qaeda". Both of these headlines say or imply that absolutely no connection between the two groups. and both headlines were misleading.
There was no difference between the way the Canadian and american media on the way the report’s findings were reported. Writing in the Toronto Star, Tim Harpur said that "The Commision’s report debunks claims by the Bush administration--repeated as recently as Tuesday by President George W. Bush--that Saddam Hussein has ties to al-Qaeda.
Contrary to what was said in Harpur’s column and others like it, the Commission did find connections between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. For example, a lieutenant colonel in Saddam’s elite military unit, Fedayeen was a high ranking member of al-Qaeda and had attended a high level meeting where plans for terrorist attacks against the United States were discussed. according to Lee Hamilton, the Vice Chairman of the Commission, they found several connections between the terrorist group and Saddam’s regime. Hamilton took the unusual step of giving an interview to associated Press to complain about the misleading coverage. Hamilton further stated that he could see little difference between what the Commission found and Bush’s previous statements.
The media seemed to enjoy attributing statements to Bush that he never made and then saying "Gotcha" when the report came out. The anti-Bush media believed what it wanted to believe.