Bush Administration's Self-Delusions on Iraq-al Qaeda 'Contacts' Harmful for National Security

If President Bush and Vice President Cheney spent as much time tracking down the real al Qaeda as they did justifying the phantom al Qaeda-Saddam collaboration they insist existed before the Iraq war, America would be a much safer place. As it stands, the administration's mincing of words, bashing of the media, and ongoing misinformation campaign proves that it has failed to recognize and attack the real al Qaeda threat and is incapable of keeping Americans safe over the long term.

• The 9/11 commission, the president's own Iraq weapons inspector, and the U.N. Security Council all deny any meaningful collaboration between al Qaeda and Saddam prior to the war. The bipartisan 9/11 commission ("We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated,"); David Kay ("[W]e simply did not find any evidence of extensive links with al Qaeda,); and the U.N. Security Council ("no evidence of a link between the terrorist organization and the former Iraqi government,") have all concluded similarly—there was no substantial collaboration between al Qaeda and Iraq prior to the war.
• The Bush administration repeatedly asserted extensive collaboration—not just contacts—between al Qaeda and Saddam as a justification for war in Iraq. Bush and Cheney have repeatedly painted a picture of substantial operational collaboration between al Qaeda and Saddam. As their web of deception is further exposed, they are now trying to revise their characterizations of the link as mere "contacts" and play word games with the truth.
• If you are living in a fantasy world, you'll never get the real terrorists who threaten us most. The Bush administration must stop lying to the American public about the phantom al Qaeda-Saddam connection before the war and prove to Americans that it understands the nature of the real al Qaeda threat across the globe.

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