Posted on 10/06/2004 12:41:57 AM PDT by ToughLogic
After the debate: Brian Williams, NBC, did a "fact check" on Cheney where he said he never claimed Iraq was directly responsible for 9-11. Williams then played a Meet the Press clip, Sept. 14, 2003 where Cheney seemed to contradict this. Williams (and Chris Matthews) claimed that Cheney didn't have his facts right (possibly implying he lied).
CHENEY EXCERPT PLAYED BY WILLIAMS "...now we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11."
HOWEVER THIS IS THE CONTEXT OF THAT QUOTE
VICE PRES. CHENEY: ...if we can stand up a good representative government in Iraq, that secures the region so that it never again becomes a threat to its neighbors or to the United States, so it’s not pursuing weapons of mass destruction, so that it’s not a safe haven for terrorists, now we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11. They understand what’s at stake here. That’s one of the reasons they’re putting up as much of a struggle as they have, is because they know if we succeed here, that that’s going to strike a major blow at their capabilities.
MR. RUSSERT: So the resistance in Iraq is coming from those who were responsible for 9/11?
VICE PRES. CHENEY: No, I was careful not to say that.
SO, CHENEY DID NOT SAY IRAQ WAS DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR 9-11!! HE EVEN DENIED KNOWING OF A SPECIFIC IRAQ CONNECTION TO 9-11 EARLIER IN THE INTERVIEW!
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
What Vice President Cheney was saying was this: TERRORISTS have been attacking us for years. TERRORISTS attacked us on 9-11. NOT IRAQ. He said IRAQ has been the heart of the geographical base of terrorists. The 9-11 Report clearly documents Iraq's support for these terrorist groups in general for many years (see below for Cheney's own list of evidence of that earlier in interview which Brian Williams neglected to play back). HE DID NOT SAY that Iraq was the ONLY supporter of these terrorists. NOR did he say that Iraq supported ALL the attacks these terrorists made. BUT that Iraq was in general one key base for the terrorists who have assaulted the U.S. for years. And those Terrorists were responsible for many attacks on the U.S. Those terrorists were responsible for what we saw on 9-11. HOWEVER, he did NOT categorically say that Iraq was responsible specifically for the 9-11 attack - but in general for supporting the same terrorist groups or the same type of terrorist groups that ultimately carried out 9-11. There is a difference for long term general support of these groups, and specific support in a specific instance. If he wanted to say that Iraq planned and funded 9-11 with those terrorists he could have said it very clearly - but he didn't. (again see his remarks below from earlier in the interview). He left open the possibility that Iraq may have had a part in 9-11 but he did not categorically state that they did. NO ONE KNEW FOR SURE AT THE TIME OF THIS INTERVIEW IF IRAQ WAS INVOLVED IN 9-11 OR NOT.
It seems that the "fact checkers" need to have their own facts checked. Perhaps the same sort of blog pressure that forced the recalcitrant Dan Rather to finally confess that there may have been errors in his reports needs to now be brought to bear on NBC, MSNBC, Brian Williams, Chris Matthews, Ron Reagan, Mike Barnicle, and most of all Tom Brokaw who hosted the segment that initially introduced Brian Williams "fact check".
ToughLogic (Los Angeles)
CHENEY ON THE TERRORIST AND IRAQ CONNECTION EARLIER IN MEET THE PRESS INTERVIEW:
MR. RUSSERT: The Washington Post asked the American people about Saddam Hussein, and this is what they said: 69 percent said he was involved in the September 11 attacks. Are you surprised by that?
VICE PRES. CHENEY: No. I think it’s not surprising that people make that connection.
MR. RUSSERT: But is there a connection?
VICE PRES. CHENEY: We don’t know. You and I talked about this two years ago. I can remember you asking me this question just a few days after the original attack. At the time I said no, we didn’t have any evidence of that. Subsequent to that, we’ve learned a couple of things. We learned more and more that there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda that stretched back through most of the decade of the ’90s, that it involved training, for example, on BW and CW, that al-Qaeda sent personnel to Baghdad to get trained on the systems that are involved. The Iraqis providing bomb-making expertise and advice to the al-Qaeda organization.
We know, for example, in connection with the original World Trade Center bombing in ’93 that one of the bombers was Iraqi, returned to Iraq after the attack of ’93. And we’ve learned subsequent to that, since we went into Baghdad and got into the intelligence files, that this individual probably also received financing from the Iraqi government as well as safe haven.
Now, is there a connection between the Iraqi government and the original World Trade Center bombing in ’93? We know, as I say, that one of the perpetrators of that act did, in fact, receive support from the Iraqi government after the fact. With respect to 9/11, of course, we’ve had the story that’s been public out there. The Czechs alleged that Mohamed Atta, the lead attacker, met in Prague with a senior Iraqi intelligence official five months before the attack, but we’ve never been able to develop anymore of that yet either in terms of confirming it or discrediting it. We just don’t know.
MR. RUSSERT: We could establish a direct link between the hijackers of September 11 and Saudi Arabia.
VICE PRES. CHENEY: We know that many of the attackers were Saudi. There was also an Egyptian in the bunch. It doesn’t mean those governments had anything to do with that attack. That’s a different proposition than saying the Iraqi government and the Iraqi intelligent service has a relationship with al-Qaeda that developed throughout the decade of the ’90s. That was clearly official policy.
And you would be who?
Brave newbie posting on his first day???????
I took the comment in the context to the greater war on terrorism, of which Al Qaeda is just one entity and 9/11 was just one -- though significant -- event.
Even out of context, it didn't sound to me like he was trying to link Saddam directly to 9/11, but instead linking Saddam and the geography of Iraq in particular to global terrorist networks in general.
ToughLogic, of course.
NOW let's see how tough he is! ; )
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1220448/posts
Possible Saddam-Al Qaeda Link
FOX NEWS ^ | Friday, September 17, 2004 | Claudia Rosett and George Russell
What say you, Tough?
Go easy there. Nothing wrong with the post.
I think most people sign up when they have something they need to say. There is only some 5,000 members here, I believe. It's not like every legitimate conservative is already a member and only people who have been long time members have a valid opinion or a clue about the world of politics.
I got the same sort of thing when I first showed up. It was ridiculous. Some people acted as if I was born yesterday and had no right to an informed opinion. You don't have to be an existing member of FR to follow politics or share a particular world view.
VICE PRES. CHENEY: No, I was careful not to say that.
Good dig for a Newbie
I'm Shocked!
That a Left-justifed media organ like NBC would stoop to such levels!
Welcome aboard soldier.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1229608/posts
1999 ABC News Report : The Osama - Hussein Connection
Radio America ^ | January 1999 | ABC News
This is a good post, c'mon and talk to us!
Just askin a simple question! Goin easy, but careful!
There's at least 155,000 members here LOL
The problem you had, and he has, is that you came in here starting threads selfishly to self promote yourselves. And you're really not that talented and impressive as Freepers go.
That was your problem, and that remains your problem.
We need to let another network know about this, you know how they like to slam each other...let Fox know....I sent msnbc a nasty email for what it's worth, we all need to.
How long did it take you?
Actually, I think there are well over 100,000 members. The new person who started this thread has done a good job, perhaps he/she lurked for a time before joining. Or they got here and felt at home. Doesn't seem trollish to me at this point.....
Do you have a history with these Freepers? Or did you have an extra bowl of wheaties? :)
Welcome to FR.
Is there anything in particular about the post seemed suspicious to you?
I see a post exposing the false spin from the MSM (as fed to them by the DNC), giving the full context of the remarks and illustrating clearly how it was taken out of context. I see an good faith effort that succeeds in blowing the MSM partisan "gotcha" spin right out of the water.
I thought it was a good post.
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