What a moron!!!

[Derek Grey]

Is he trying to fool the world or is he a fool himself...?

[Paul McKenna]

You've got proof otherwise???

[Warren Dew]

It looks to me like CNN et al are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

Both Bush and the 9/11 commission agree there were numerous contacts between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's government officials. Neither is claiming that Saddam Hussein planned the 9/11 attacks.

Bush says the contacts constituted a "relationship". The 9/11 commission says they didn't constitute a "collaborative relationship". These do not contradict each other; not all relationships are collaborative.

Here's an article with more facts and less spin, once you get past the first paragraph:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50679-2004Jun17.html
[ June 17, 2004: Message edited by: Warren Dew ]

[Joe King]

Whatever else the article says, it contains a fantastic example of logical reasoning from Bush:

Originally said by George Bush:
The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda, because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda.

Like many other political issues that are hard to prove, this one will probably be argued back and forwards for a long time. Well, at least until after the election anyway. The key problem will be the difference between these statements:

Originally said by 9/11 Commission:

Osama bin Laden explored possible cooperation with Iraq during his time in Sudan, despite his opposition to (Saddam) Hussein's secular regime....Iraq apparently never responded.

There have been reports that contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda also occurred after bin Laden had returned to Afghanistan, but they do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship.

and

Originally said by George Bush in October 2002:

Iraq has trained al Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases.

[ June 18, 2004: Message edited by: Joe King ]

[Jason Menard]

Personally I find these inane anti-Bush posts tiring. My own position, which I have stated previously and I know others in this country share, is that I don't even remotely care what people outside of the US think of our President. If anything, the fact that so many outside the US dislike the man personally only provides further motivation for me to vote for him this November. That said, I found the following article interesting and relevant:

Putin: Russia Gave Bush Iraq Intelligence

Russia gave the Bush administration intelligence after the September 11 attacks that suggested Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq was preparing attacks in the United States, President Vladimir Putin said Friday.

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Time out.

I see the words "moron" and "fool" in the first post in this thread, and, definitely more troubling, I see the word "inane" in Jason's post. We're not here to fight, guys. Calling the president a moron and a fool is trolling, but calling another Rancher's writing "inane" is an insult, and definitely breaks the prime directive. Jason, be nice.

Some of us hate the guy, some of us love him. Let's just leave it at that.