Rice: ‘No One Was Arguing That Saddam Hussein Somehow Had Something To Do With 9/11′
Rice: ‘No One Was Arguing That Saddam Hussein Somehow Had Something To Do With 9/11′
On PBS’s Charlie Rose yesterday — six years after the eve of the Iraq invasion — former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice discussed the decision to invade Iraq. Rice said she has had no “second thoughts” about striking the country, and when pressed by Rose on whether Saddam Hussein had connections to 9/11, Rice blankly said that “no one” believed in such a link:
ROSE: But you didn’t believe it had anything to do with 9/11.
RICE: No. No one was arguing that Saddam Hussein somehow had something to do with 9/11.
ROSE: No one.
RICE: I was certainly not. The President was certainly not. … That’s right. We were not arguing that.
Rose also tried to press Rice on whether Cheney pushed the link, but she didn’t answer. Watch it:
Of course, there was no link between Saddam and 9/11. But these supposed ties formed the basis of the administration’s causus belli. A letter from the White House to the House Speaker on March 18, 2003, read:
“(2) acting pursuant to the Constitution and Public Law 107-243 is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.”
In his book, Bush At War, Bob Woodward noted that Bush said after 9/11, “I believe Iraq was involved, but I’m not going to strike them now.” Rice was no exception either. On Sept. 15, 2002, she said that Saddam had “links to terrorism [that] would include al-Qaeda.” As late as September 2006, she remarked, “there were ties going on between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s regime going back for a decade.” Cheney still believes there was a link between Iraq and al Qaeda.
In recent weeks, former Bush administration officials have continued to push the link. Bush maintains that he was right to make a false link between Iraq and 9/11. Former press secretary Ari Fleischer said last week, “But after September 11th, having been being hit once, how could we take a chance that Saddam Hussein might not strike again?”
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Rice: “Lying has worked so well for us in the past, there is no reason to stop now.”
PEACE
March 19th, 2009 at 11:23 amSo of course, Charlie Rose, being the consummate journalist that he is, immediately presented Condi Rice with quotes from the Bush Administration which totally undercut Rice’s denial.
No wait, that would be in a world where mainstream journalist remember what they’re supposed to be doing…
March 19th, 2009 at 11:23 amThe hash did not taste good or sit well in the gut.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:25 amThe rehash is worse.
Waitaminnit — I believe Ari Fleischer was just repeating that meme recently when he was talking about “Saddam Hussein not attacking the United States AGAIN.” And there’s been plenty of conflation of Saddam Hussein and 9/11 coming from Cheney over the years.
Don’t these people consult with each other to get their lies coordinated? Or has Rice been lying so much that she just can’t stop herself?
March 19th, 2009 at 11:25 amEVERY LAST ONE OF THESE LIARS IS GOING TO JAIL AND GOING TO BE SWINGING ON THE END OF A ROPE.
SOONER IS BETTER THAN LATER.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:27 amWingers lie a bunch. Wingers have never figured out the technology well enough to understand that whatever they say can be played back over and over and over. Wingers think we are all as stupid as they are.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:30 amWHIG/ White House Iraq Group.
This group was active BEFORE Bush took office.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:30 amI wait in vain for the day when some interviewer in the national tv media will say, in response to crap like this from Bush admin people, “You lying sack of sh*t!” Neither Mr. Rose nor any other media personality seems to have the integrity or the courage to state the obvious. It isn’t just Fox News that shills for the war criminals, it’s the entire tv media….with the partial exception of Bill Moyers.
And then N Kristof comes out and blames “bloggers” for lacking the editorial discipline that the msm has! Call Judith MIller and Wolf Blitzer and gag me with a spoon!!
March 19th, 2009 at 11:32 amZimzone Says:
WHIG/ White House Iraq Group.
This group was active BEFORE Bush took office.
That was Bush’s transition team. He had no other priorities.
PEACE
March 19th, 2009 at 11:34 amI’ve been giving this A LOT of thought and, considering all of the horrible things done in our name under the Bush Administration, the worst thing of all would be to allow them to alter history and change the record of what actually happened. We can not allow this to happen, no matter what.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:35 amFormer press secretary Ari Fleischer said last week, “But after September 11th, having been being hit once, how could we take a chance that Saddam Hussein might not strike again?”
Vivid illustration of the way this meme is pushed up against the very limits of “deniability” by BushCo.
The implication is clear — that Saddam struck us on 9/11. But Fleischer can try (and I believe has tried) to claim that when he said “again” he was referring to Saddam’s attack on Kuwait in ‘91.
Sure, it’s ridiculous, but it’s not like these guys have any self-respect to maintain.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:38 amLiar liar pants on fire. Ms Rice and the rest were pushing AQ links like crack dealers.
Congress, continue the push for full investigations. We need to scrub this country clean of the filfth the last adminstration has covered us with.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:38 amCondi is going to learn that lying eventually fails to cover up the truth, in this case that she conspired with others to launch an illegal war, and that she herself is a war criminal.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:38 am.
Con-da-Liar Rice said what?
.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:38 amNot enough scorn has been placed on Condi. She’s a big part of what went wrong.
http://www.pufferfishblog.com/
March 19th, 2009 at 11:39 amGlad to see that Ari qoute is here. That was such a blatant attempt to keep the lie alive.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:39 amRICE: No. No one was arguing that Saddam Hussein somehow had something to do with 9/11.
No one was arguing because no one was allowed to argue! If you argued, you were labeled anti-American and a terrorist supporter. If you questioned any of bush’s changing reasons for invading Iraq, you were labeled a bush hater. And, the so called liberal media went right along with bush administration lies.
The bush criminals are madly spinning and trying to rewrite history.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:39 amConda-sleeza can go to hell, she can go straight to hell, do not pass go, go straight to hell.
I Fu&$ing hate these people.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:41 amI still have to inform Conservatives that Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11 (didn’t they notice ZERO Iraqis involved in the attacks)?
March 19th, 2009 at 11:42 amand when pressed by Rose on whether Saddam Hussein had connections to 9/11, Rice blankly said that “no one” believed in such a link:
I have no doubt that that was very true.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:42 amIt is further proof that all of the references to that connection, and the story of WMDs striking in 45 minutes, were pure premeditated lies.
Have the non-existent independent prosecutor take a look at that please.
So I hear Ms. Mushroom Cloud wanted to stabalize Middle East. But I don’t think killing 100,000 Iraqis and empowering Iran is the way to go about doing that.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:43 amUnfortunately for her the facts do NOT back her up!
March 19th, 2009 at 11:43 amralph the wonder llama Says:
The implication is clear — that Saddam struck us on 9/11. But Fleischer can try (and I believe has tried) to claim that when he said “again” he was referring to Saddam’s attack on Kuwait in ‘91.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:38 am
____________
Ah yes – the attack on Kuwait. The one Saddam wrote to Jim Baker about beforehand, in order to ask permission.
Fleischer has a point – given the Bush Administration’s lack of concern for the American people, they probably would’ve given Saddam permission to attack the U.S. as well, had Saddam repeated the gesture.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:44 amRice is a complicit war criminal and should be in jail along with all the rest of the Bush criminal cabal. She KNOWS well what she did and she knows that Bush & Cheney kept tying Saddam to 911 for years. **Cheney still is, in fact.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:45 amUh, YouTube.com anyone ?
If I can disclose her lies on YouTube, what could I do with LexisNexis and a thorough search of the news feeds ?
I DO HOPE THAT JOHN STEWART HAS FUN WITH THIS ONE TONIGHT.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:45 amA Liar to the very end.
How does this woman sleep at night?
March 19th, 2009 at 11:46 amFrankly, I believe that Bush’s criminal activities mirror Saddam’s against his own people and he should suffer the same fate as Saddam. If we’re talking torture and genocide here, it’s the same ole/same ole for Bush as it was for Saddam.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:46 amBush’s Genocide numbers: 5,000 american soldiers plus thousands impaired for life for an illegal war based on lies.
Then you have to factor in those innocent Iraqis to the tune of 100,000 and you’ve probably got numbers higher (in terms of genocide) than Saddam’s. And this guy is still waltzing around making speeches?? With his evil henchman going on television to make treasonous tirades against the sitting president?
Where the hell is the Patriot Act? Why are these known criminals not being picked up and thrown in jail? Rove, Rice, Bush, Cheney, Rummy, Wolfie, Perle, etc.??
March 19th, 2009 at 11:48 amIf France or another country arrests Bush before we bring him to justice, it’s just more down the $hithole we descend for looking complicit and a country of immorality.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:49 amThe only mushroom cloud that was delivered to the USA came directly from Bushco, a mushroom cloud of lies, law breaking, greed and corruption.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:51 amNow, now, we can`t have Mr.Rose asking hard questions muchless use the facts against Condi because that we be Gotcha jornalism ……………..or good investigative liberal journalism.I would love to see her up against Greg Palast or the Big Red Head Ed.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:55 amThere’s a very good Iraq War anniversary thread over at DailyKos. Lots of great quotes from the criminals from Bushco:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/19/710244/-Cheers-and-Jeers:-Thursday
My favorite piece from the link:
“Look, I know you have a lot to do and all…but I want you, as soon as you can, to go back over everything, everything. See if Saddam did this. See if he’s linked in any way.”
March 19th, 2009 at 11:59 am“But, Mr. President, al Qaeda did this.”
“I know, I know, but…see if Saddam was involved. Just look. I want to know any shred…
“Absolutely, we will look…again. But you know, we have looked several times for state sponsorship of al Qaeda and not found any real linkages to Iraq. Iran plays a little, as does Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, Yemen.”
“Look into Iraq, Saddam.”
—George W. Bush issuing orders to counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke on September 12, 2001, as recounted in Clarke’s book, Against All Enemies
Rice has perfected SPINNING. She spins so fast, her thoughts come out sounding like they’ve been through a centrifuge.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:01 pmRICE: “No. No one was arguing that Saddam Hussein somehow had something to do with 9/11.”
REAL JOURNALIST: But when Dick Cheney falsely claimed on numerous TV appearances, and still falsely claims, that Mohammed Atta met with Iraqi intelligence in Prague just weeks before the attack, THAT is at least one link given plenty of media exposure, between 9-11 and Saddam Hussein—and it is one the White House neither you nor Bush, nor Rumsfeld nor Fleischer nor Powell ever corrected him on.
So where do you suppose 50% of he US public got the idea that Saddam was linked to 9-11?
RICE: I’d like to answer that by saying…did you know that I can play the piano?
March 19th, 2009 at 12:09 pmis *ANYONE* ever gonna call her on her sh*t?!?
March 19th, 2009 at 12:12 pmis *ANYONE* gonna call her on her @%#@&*&^?!?!?!?!
March 19th, 2009 at 12:13 pmUmm..Condi..you’re heard of video and audio recording right?
March 19th, 2009 at 12:17 pmWowsie wowsie wow wow. Wonderful performance there Condi. However, bringing up the fact that Al Queda has its roots in Saudi Arabia probably won’t sit well with your other friends that also reside in that wonderland you live in. It’s the little chips in the wall like that that are bringing down your foundation, You ignorant [insert expletive here].
March 19th, 2009 at 12:19 pmCue fckup and Archie the Scientologist child molestor to tell us how Condi didn’t and no one in the Bush cabal conflated Iraq and 9/11.
Damn the facts! Full speed ahead!
March 19th, 2009 at 12:23 pmLaughs Hysterically
March 19th, 2009 at 12:28 pmIt’s amazing anyone still has any respect for her. She’s as guilty as the rest and needs to do her time at the Hague.
Maybe if everyone who thinks they should be prosecuted could send $5. to the Arrest Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld & Rove et al Fund, some government (obviously not our own) would grow a pair and arrest them.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:35 pmWell, she ain’t called “Condiliesalot” for nothin’ folks.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:53 pmOh my. How shrill to criticize people who got us into the Iraq quagmire.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:00 pmA Symphony of Lies
March 19th, 2009 at 1:10 pmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7xyd_IRgGs
March 12th, in the comments about Ari’s bullsh!t, I pointed out the hole in that post.
Bush officials got away with baldfaced lying so often and for so long that they’re still convinced they can issue a steady stream of b.s. and get away with it.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:14 pmWhy are we surprised? They keep lying and believe that if they repeat their lies often enough, people will start believing. It’s the Karl Rove strategy: you lie and place the burden of proof on the opposition.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:46 pmBush I in effect gave Sadaam a green light to go into Kawait, then went to war over the “invasion”. Bush II is still looking for the weapons of mass destruction and the link between Osama Bin Ladin and Sadaam. This is also the same bunch who said to the nation and the world that “no one could have possibly guessed” that an attack like 9/11 could happen. This after our own intelligence told Bush II that “Obama is determined to strike in U.S.” ONE MONTH before 9/11. And they wonder why they have no credibility? Priceless.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:50 pmMarch 19th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
“Won’t you come in MISS LIAR” (Gene Wilder)
March 19th, 2009 at 2:45 pmToo bad Charlie Rose isn’t someone to hit them over the heads with their lies and evasions. As for me, I have long since given up the idea that most reporters or interviewers actually do the job right. After all, if they ask the hard questions, the guests might get angry and won’t come on again.
And come to that, if you don’t hold their lies to the fire, then you do a half assed job. So he let her off the hook and didn’t point out how often the Bush administration said exactly
March 19th, 2009 at 3:55 pmthat.
The reasn we have a Middle East problem is because we have been stealing from them and crushing their own efforts to build stable governments for a hundred years! Oil, oil, oil.
In honor of the 100,000s of Iraqis and our very own 5,000+ Soldiers, Sailors, Sarines, and Air Force personnel who gave all they had to give for this ill-conceived, illegal invasion, we must hold those responsible responsible. They must serve prison time for their capricious actions.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:57 pmCondi also admitted that she believed in the Easter Bunny.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:06 pmI wonder where 2/3rds of the American public would get that idea then, eh, Ms. Rice? Care to postulate an answer?
March 19th, 2009 at 4:15 pmSo another Republican has said on record that the Bush administration knew Saddam was not behind the 9/11 attack. They’ve admitted there were no WMDs. Brings us down to the reason for the invasion was ‘to free the Iraqi people’.
Last I checked there is no clause in any of our laws that says we can invade a sovereign nation because we don’t agree with their government. If we were the morality police of the world, which we obviously aren’t, how come we don’t invade all of the other despotic countries?
By the Bush doctrine, we should declare war on the world (except our allies, except maybe France) and teach them all a lesson.
If there is any justice the Hague is going to get very busy real soon.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:51 pmIf the media did its job, Chalabi and Curveball would have become household names a long time ago. Something needs to be done to make sure our intelligence agencies are competent and immune to political pressure.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:52 pm935 recorded lies taking us into the fiasco:
http://projects.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/
March 19th, 2009 at 5:15 pmZogby Feb 2006 poll of our troops in Iraq said 85% believe their main mission was retaliation for Iraq’s part in 9/11.
Still, 72% said they should be completely out by end of 2006.
http://www.zogby.com/news/readnews.cfm?ID=1075
March 19th, 2009 at 5:25 pmZogby Feb 2006 poll of our troops in Iraq said 85% believe their main mission was retaliation for Iraq’s part in 9/11.
I wonder who on God’s green Earth led them to believe that?
March 19th, 2009 at 5:27 pmDecide for yourself.
Bush:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SUBGtRIiXo&feature=related
Cheney:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJiNtpIpD6k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RytxVNM0llQ
Various Neoturds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg_lQNv6onw
March 19th, 2009 at 10:53 pmRice, following the leads of Cheney and Perino, is apparently writing a volume for the future Bush Library which will be known as “The Center for Revisionist History”.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:21 amThe more she lies the better, since if she ever goes on trial her credibility will be zero. This dreadful woman has a lot to answer for.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:33 amOnce again, Colin Powell gets a free pass at TP.
From your own link, reporting on the BS Saddam/alQaeda connection being established before a court:
Contrary to the entire premise of this article you’ve written attacking Rice, she didn’t link Saddam to 9/11, as your own quotes from her confirm.
Powell on the other hand… well who cares what the golden boy did. He can’t shake enough anthrax vials to make you stop loving him.
March 20th, 2009 at 5:01 amMy dear Cundi, You have wasted 8 years of your life running errands for the moron and the evil genius. Are you going to spend the next 8 years lying for them and disgracing yourself? You could very well have put your intelligence and privileged position to serve humanity … but you chose not to. It is never too late to serve humanity, you know. Should you change your mind, the first step would be to come clean.
March 20th, 2009 at 5:52 amARREST THAT GAP-TOOTHER BEOTCH, TRY HER ASS, AND THEN HANG HER.
March 20th, 2009 at 8:37 amThis is why I have absolutely no respect for Condi Rice. She is the consummate liar. i watched her performance when she testified at the 911 commission. That’s when I realized she is as my mother used to say:” the biggest liar in 6 counties and 7 states”.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:38 amWhere’s Jon Stewart when we need him?
March 20th, 2009 at 1:30 pmAs a child still in possession of the bulk of my innocence, and the clear cut moral certainty that accompanies same, I distinctly remember two things that stood out above all others as being particularly evil; American Slavery and Nazi Germany under Hitler. I could not then understand how two things so evil could be allowed to develop to fruition by the Citizenry of the respective countries in which they took place. In my mind, the Citizenry were then largely culpable for the disgraces that occurred during those times.
Since George Bush TOOK office, I’ve watched as both phenomena have found rebirth in the forms of illegal immigration aided by deliberate inaction by the Bush Administration and by the invasion of Iraq by the Bush Administration. Once again I am at a loss to understand how these disgraces could have taken place under the direct watchful eye of the Citizenry. And then I realize that I am a part of that Citizenry and that people all over the world, or at least those with innocent minds still intact, probably think of me the way that I thought of the Citizenry that existed during those original atrocities. And I wonder why I have become evil without intending to be so because, after all, I did nothing. And then I remember, evil flourishes when good men do nothing. And if they do enough of nothing, that evil will consume them.
If you find evil, don’t observe it or discuss it or worry about it; attack it with all your might because if you do not vanquish it, you will become it, whether you desire to be it or not.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:46 pmIs Jon Stewart the only media person in America with the balls to ask follow-ups? Rice, Cheney and Fleischer have been all over the news lately spouting the most transparent lies imagineable, with hubris dripping from every word, and yet not one MSM hack has rolled the tape that directly contradicts EVERYTHING these people are saying. They are criminal, but the MSM is criminal in its negligence as well. Why even have freedom of the press is the press is either too frightened, too biased or too lazy to press the issues?
March 20th, 2009 at 11:23 pmAnyone else notice the backpedal in there?
“No one was arguing that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11. Well . . . I wasn’t arguing that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11.”
Sorry, Condi, no one is buying anything you guys say anymore.
March 21st, 2009 at 9:12 pm