"And, more importantly, we've stopped a mass murderer in Saddam Hussein. Nobody denies that he was supporting al-Qaida."
In a clear attack on Democrats, [Sen Orrin] Hatch added, "Well, I shouldn't say nobody. Nobody with brains."
That was in an invitation-only event last Saturday in Cedar City covered by The Spectrum of St George.
First, the Spectrum misspelled the name. It's al-Qaeda.
But, that's not the problem here:
The 9/11 Commission concluded that there was no evidence of a "collaborative relationship" between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks. [2] [3] This was also the conclusion of various U.S. government agencies that investigated the issue, including the CIA, DIA, FBI, and NSA. The Senate Report of Pre-war Intelligence on Iraq also reviewed the intelligence community's conclusions and found that they were justifiable.
In addition, President Bush received on 21 September 2001 a classified Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB), indicating the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the September 11th attacks. Furthermore, there was no evidence of any collaborative relationship between the Iraqi leader and al-Qaeda.[4] (Source: wikipedia)
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Interviewer, 31 January 2003: "Do you believe that there is a link between Saddam Hussein, a direct link, and the men who attacked on September the 11th?" President Bush: "I can't make that claim." (source: whitehouse.com
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"I have not seen one.... I have never seen any evidence to suggest there was one." Colin Powell, when asked whether there had been a "connection between Saddam Hussein and the terrorist attack of 9/11". 20/20 interview, September 9, 2005.
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So, Orrin Hatch just called President Bush and Collin Powell brainless.
What a nutcake.
Oh, and annother golden Hatch quote from Saturday:
"They're moaning and groaning in Congress because he didn't abide by what's called the FISA Act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. That act is very important, but it was enacted in 1978 and it is not applicable to today's world,"
It's good to know that I don't have to abide by laws that were passed in 1978. I wonder what else I don't have to keep obeying. Oh, and may I point out what Hatch was doing in 1978: He was serving in the U.S. Senate that passed the law.
-Bob
3 comments:
First, it can be spelled as "al-Qaida". Since you seem to accept Wikipedia as an authoritative source (for better or worse), check out the "Notes on Naming" section of the al-Qaeda article.
Second, the Bush and Powell quotes specifically invoke September 11 and the "men who attacked", not necessarily the group al-Qaeda. Although the men were undoubtedly part of al-Qaeda, Bush and Powell may have been referring to Saddam's lack of involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks, which is different from supporting al-Qaeda in general. Thus, the Hatch quote is not directly refuted by the Bush and Powell quotes.
Lastly, who cares if Hatch was in the Senate when FISA was passed? As his quote clearly states, he believes the act is "very important" (i.e. was needed in 1978) but thinks that it doesn't reflect the current post-9/11 world. He is not saying that it was a mistake to pass FISA in the first place.
As much as I agree with the determination that Hatch is a "nutcake", using these quotes against him isn't going to weaken him.
Sen Hatch must seem to think that he's weakened by the wuotes, given the "what I meant to say..." article in today's Trib.
-Bob
Its slander,your all trying to slander my buddy Borin Orrin!
Just Kidding.
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