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Analyzing a Piece From the "Stack of Stuff" Rush Limbaugh lies about Iraq, Sadam, Ossama and Al Queda tiesWith support running out for the invasion of Iraq, George W. Bush felt compelled to take to the airwaves on June 28 in an effort to stop his slide in the polls. Predictably, the right wing noise machine was in full blare to support the Bush sales pitch and keep the followers in line. Rush Limbaugh as per ususal, used his radio program to provide the GOP faithful who tune in with talking points and downright propaganda. Such are the downright lies employed by Rush to "hypnotize" listeners into a continued belief of the falsehood propagated by the right which holds, "Sadam and Ossama were linked". Rush repeatedly made reference to his web site which he asserts contains the evidence that ties Sadam and Ossama together in a close bond, one worthy of over 1700 American lives (still counting) and at a cost to the taxpayers of over 1 billion dollars per week. Limbaugh even made available content usually only for the eyes of paying "Rush 24/7" subscribers. It is that content we analyze here (see references for a copy). In a pdf piece entitled, "Iraq-Al Qaeda Links", Limbaugh gathers what he insists is the rock solid proof of the link. The content of the document is merely a collection of snippets from statements of George Tenet, Colin Powell along with two excerpts from the 9/11 Commission and multiple entries from the opinion columns of various newspapers. For perspective, we begin with some context about Sadam and Al Queda. The Background and Goals of Sadam & Al Queda Ossama Bin Laden is the essence of the idea, "funamentalist". With an organization that is mobile, the goal of Ossama and his followers is to restore the regional caliphate and a return to Wahabbi Islam. Sadam Hussein was a secular leader of a Muslim country. Sadam was not mobile, instead he had a very reachable address and could therefore be held accountable. Sadam was in a great position monetarily from illegal oil sales and had the respect (fear) for having taken on the west and survived. Sadam was not a practicing Muslim and ruled without any regard for Sharia law. Limbaugh's Reference to the 9/11 Commission in "Iraq-Al Qaeda Links" The Limbaugh piece first offers two excerpts under the heading, "Ignoring the Commission". The first begins with,
This passage repeats common knowledge and proves no operational ties between Osssama and Sadam. Bin Laden sought to coordinate with other terrorist groups such as those operating in Saudi Arabia. Does that mean the Saud was working with Al Queda? Hardly. The same goes for Iraq. The second excerpt from the 9/11 Commission is as follows.....
In Rush's piece, he failed to provide the key portion of the last sentence in the second passage. Here is the complete one.....
So here we have a commission comprising 5 republicans and 5 democrats operating under Public Law 107-306 established by the Congress and the President. The Commission reviewed more than 2.5 million pages of documents and interviewed more than 1200 individuals, most under oath (with the exception of the President and Vice President). The Commission found Turabi of Sudan attempted to broker a deal between Sadam and Ossama, who was a fundamental foe of Hussein. While contacts occured, no arrangement was ever reached. The closest thing to cooperation was Sadam tolerating Ansar Al Islam which operated in the Kuridsh controlled northern Iraq. It certainly makes sense that Sadam would have no interest in joining "forces" with Al Queda. The fundamentalist movement would mean Sadam could no longer retain power such as it would be with a regional caliphate and a return to Sharia law. Sadam also had an address. Sadam clearly was vulnerable to repraisal from the west. It made no logical or practical sense for Sadam to to subject his position of power to the consequences of joining Al Queda. Too bad Rush chose to "give" his readers and listeners a partial sentence as opposed to the whole picture. Limbaugh's Reference to "Reporting" in Iraq-Al Qaeda Links" Limbaugh goes on to provide a series of statements culled from the opinion pages of the New York Times, The Guardian, Glasgow Herald, The Telegraph, Jane's and the Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately, these quotes are based on heresay and/or taken out of context. Here is an example of a statement which came from Ian Bruce, Geopolitics editor for The Herald of Glasgow....
The problem here is the utter lack of sources. If such a credible source existed, it is no doubt the Bush administration would refer to it and the Commission would have had it somewhere in the 2.5 million pages of documents. You think someone in the Bush administration or even George Tenet wouldn't have seen to that? The entire rest of the "reporting" is just like this one... defying logic, what is known and without proof. Two of the passages also refer to the "cache of documents" found in Baghdad reported on by The London Telegraph and the Toronto Star and later picked up by "mainstream" news outlets and right wing outfits such as FrontPage Mag. The problem is the authenticity of these documents is questionable. The best the two originating papers offered was, "an unidentified Western intelligence official as saying the find was "sensational." Limbaugh's Reference to Colin Powell Quotes in "Iraq-Al Qaeda Links" Limbaugh's alleged body of proof contains a set of statements by Colin Powell, then Secretary of State. Unfortunately as a high level Bush administration official, Powell made quite a number of statements that were misleading or simply wrong. Here is a Powell quote provided by Limbaugh...
Powell was being misleading by implying Sadam was horboring Zarqawi. His cell was operating in northeastern Iraq, beyond the control of Sadam. It was inaccurate of Powell to insist Iraq was "harboring" Zarqawi. Powell also insisted we had satellite pictures showing the training camp. If this was so, why was it not promptly bombed? Allied fighter planes routinely patrolled the northern "no fly zone". It would have been a very siple matter to bomb the training camp. It is a wonder the administration would brag about the satellite photos as it shows a clear dereliction of duty.. that is if they existed. Among the set of Powell's statements is....
Here Powell says that "Iraq offered" weapons training. However he does so without evidence of any offer or even any training having had actually occured. And did he mean Sadam offered the training? If so, why did he not state it? Clearly, Powell is speaking ex cathedra or something would have been included in the record. Limbaugh's Reference to George Tenet Quotes in "Iraq-Al Qaeda Links" George Tenet has been quite a reliable soldier of the administration, even ultimately taking the fall for the "intelligence failure". Rush includes some quotes from Tenet, each of which is about the same...
Tenet failed to cite what makes this information "credible", when it was obtained and from whom. That Al Queda members where in Iraq is not surprising. Al Queda members have been found to be in over 60 countries, even ours. Tenet, the CIA and the administration relied heavily on the Iraqi defectors led by Ahmed Chalabi. Even a cursory analysis makes their claims suspect given their obvious goal of bringing an invasion. It is beyond unfortunate that credibility would be bestowed on questionable people making questionable claims. Limbaugh's Reference to "Current Reporting" in "Iraq-Al Qaeda Links" Limbaugh includes 7 bulleted snippets copied from the opinion columns in the New York Times. Unfortunately, these all rely on statements and events that either have been refuted or had no verifiable sources. They refer to claims made by the defectors, the unsubstantiated "postwar documents" of the Toronto Star which even the administration avoided, baseless claims made by Tenet, heresay such as that from Miniter, etc. In Summary Sadam is not a stupid man. As a dictator of a secular Muslim country whose goal was to retain power, risking military accountability from the west for supplying weapons he did not have and providing comfort to a group whose goal was to bring down apostate governments such as his was a bad deal. Based on the voluminous investigations and the failure of the administration to provide any sound proof, this was a deal Sadam did not take. But the administration was clearly willing to mislead the post 9/11 public with an alleged Sadam Al Queda link to remain popular during the Iraq invasion. LImbaugh is an opportunist who will tell his audience virtually anything they wish to hear and provide cover for the Bush administration. So Limbaugh completely misinformed his listening and reading audience through the piece entitled "Iraq-Al Qaeda Links" published in the Limbaugh letter and later released on his web site. He is disrespecting his audience and exploiting the troops serving in Iraq. If it were not for opportunists such as Limbaugh, perhaps the administration might not have expected to enjoy cover for their faulty claims made to the post 9/11 public. Limbaugh Letter : Iraq Al Queda Links (part 1 *.pdf) Limbaugh Letter : Iraq Al Queda Links (part 2 *.pdf) U.S. agencies may have relied on fabricators and Saddam’s own spies for intelligence on Iraq The Weakest Link CBS Report: Papers Show Iraq-Al Qaeda Link The sins and omissions committed before the United Nations Bush, Powell Made Leaps in Logic in Rush to War Al Qaeda-Hussein Link Is Dismissed C.I.A. Warning to the U.S. Senate Regarding War with Iraq CIA Intelligence Refutes Bush's War Rhetoric |
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