Did anyone see Condi's nose grow a little bit on Sunday? I swear I saw it get just a little bit longer when she was a guest on Meet The Press and discussed the "connection" between Iraq and terrorism. You have to give the Bush administration credit for putting a new twist on a story already proven to be a fairy tale of their own making. And as always, Tim Russert was the model of journalitic practices when he failed to follow up on the lies, innuendoes and made up stories that came spouting out of her mouth.
Here's an excerpt of their conversation:
MR. RUSSERT:?? But having not found the kind of stockpiles of chemical and biological and potential nuclear that we thought he had, you have no second thoughts that the war was not necessary?
DR. RICE:?? Absolutely not.?? Because Saddam Hussein had been a threat for 12 years, ever since he invaded Kuwait and set the Middle East on a course of instability.?? Somebody had to take care of Saddam Hussein and set the Middle East on a different course.?? This president is not confused about this point. He knows that this was the right thing to do.?? And now we have an opportunity--and let me just say, Tim, every sacrifice of an American soldier is felt deeply by us all, because this is a great sacrifice for the men and women in uniform, for their families and for the American people.?? But nothing of value is ever won without sacrifice.?? On September the 11th, we were brutally attacked by people who had an ideology of hatred so great that they, with a few people, threatened to try and bring down our way of life.
MR. RUSSERT:?? But there's no linkage between September 11 and Iraq?
DR. RICE:?? There is no linkage between the plot of September 11 and Saddam Hussein's regime that we see.?? But I think it would be wrong to say that there is no linkage between what happened to us on September 11 and the instability and lack of hope and lack of freedom in the Middle East.?? And Saddam Hussein's regime was one of the prime elements in that kind of Middle East.?? Now, we have a chance to build a different kind of Middle East.
Ok, so now let me see if I get this right. Hussein's regime indirectly fostered the feelings of lack of hope and instability for the terrorists (it had nothing to do with America's own treatment of their countries and people) and so they attacked us. It all makes sense now. I can't believe that we missed these factual connections before.
Or, for the real truth we can all turn to
Tracy Van Slyke, a former publisher of In These Times, is the project director for The Media Consortium.