Bayou Buzz:
On Thursday, Mr Cheney told radio host Rush Limbaugh, “… after we went into Afghanistan and shut [Abu Musab al Zarqawi] down there, he went to Baghdad, took up residence there before we ever launched into Iraq, organized the al Qaeda operations inside Iraq before we even arrived on the scene. And then, of course, led the charge for Iraq until we killed him last June. He’s the guy who arranged the bombing of the Samarra Mosque that precipitated the sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni. This is al Qaeda operating in Iraq. And as I say, they were present before we invaded Iraq.”
Yet the Pentagon report released yesterday provides evidence that discounts the claim that Mr Hussein’s government collaborated with al Qaeda or allowed the group to operate in Iraq. The report, first released in summary form in February, concluded that the ‘alternative intelligence assessments’ prepared for the Bush administration by former Pentagon policy chief Douglas Feith contained statements that had been rejected by the US Intelligence Community, including the finding that Mr Hussein had a ‘mature and symbiotic relationship’ with al Qaeda. This was one of the major claims used by the Bush administration to make the case for invading Iraq.
Give it up, Dick. It's over. No one -- other than the root vegetables who listen to Rush Limbaugh -- is buying it anymore. You've turned yourself into a walking punchline. You might as well walk around with a sandwichboard that reads, 'Lie Machine, Please Insert Nickel.'
How about a nice little change of pace? Why don't you, for once in your life, say something that's freakin' true? That'd be a refreshing change...
