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Sailing Off The Edge.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
Bias: Some in the media have become downright comical in their attempts to deny reality -- as if merely saying over and over, "there are no ties between Iraq and al-Qaida" is enough to convince us.
Perhaps you've never heard of the Flat-Earth Society. That hardy band believes all of geography since Christopher Columbus has been a hoax -- that the Earth, contrary to all experience and evidence to the contrary, really is flat.
There's a similar phenomenon in the media right now. For lack of a better term, it could be called the "no Iraq links to al-Qaida" society. They look nearly as foolish as the flat-earthers.
Take this June 29 exchange between NBC anchor Tom Brokaw and Iraq's Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. It came after Allawi said Iraq's woes are fueled by the "same terrorists" that planned 9-11:
Brokaw: Prime Minister, I'm surprised that you would make the connection between 9-11 and the war in Iraq. The 9-11 commission in America says there is no evidence of a collaborative relationship between Saddam Hussein and those terrorists of al-Qaida.
Allawi: No, I believe very strongly that Saddam had relations with al-Qaida. And these relations started in Sudan. We know Saddam had relationships with a lot of terrorists and international terrorism. Now, whether he is directly connected to the September atrocities or not, I can't vouch for this. But definitely I know that he has connections with extremism and terrorists.
Allawi is right. Brokaw is wrong. And so are the other major TV networks, along with most major American newspapers, that have repeatedly trumpeted the same pathetic falsehood as if it were a proven truth -- that the 9-11 commission's report found no link between ...
- Bush administration revives allegations of ties between Iraq, al-Qaida.(Chicago...
- News wire article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Hedges, Stephen J. Kemper, Bob September 26, 2002 700+ words
...organizations, and there are al-Qaida terrorists inside Iraq," Bush said Thursday after...clearly coordinated assertions of Iraq-al-Qaida ties come as lawmakers on Capitol...officials' de-emphasizing the Iraq-al-Qaida link in recent weeks _ so much...
- Bush administration revives allegations of ties between Iraq, al-Qaida.
- Newspaper article from: Chicago Tribune (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service) September 26, 2002 700+ words
...organizations, and there are al-Qaida terrorists inside Iraq," Bush said Thursday after...clearly coordinated assertions of Iraq-al-Qaida ties come as lawmakers on Capitol...officials' de-emphasizing the Iraq-al-Qaida link in recent weeks _ so much...
- Eye on Iraq: Al-Qaida alive and kicking.
- News wire article from: UPI Security & Terrorism July 3, 2006 700+ words
...attrition inflicted upon al-Qaida in Iraq, the Iraq insurgency's...remain confident that al-Qaida in Iraq is a broken force following...report issued Monday that al-Qaida was still successfully using the Iraq insurgency as a training ground...
- IRAQ : AL-QAIDA RECORDS REVEAL EXTENSIVE RECRUITMENT NETWORK.
- News wire article from: Interpress Service January 28, 2008 700+ words
...goals to the immediate context of insurgency in Iraq. Recently, al-Qaida in Iraq fabricated an imaginary emir for the creation of the Islamic State of Iraq, replacing the al-Qaida in Iraq "brand name" to appeal to different constituencies...
- U.S. officials try to revive claim of links between Iraq, al-Qaida.(St. Louis...
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Sawyer, Jon November 29, 2003 700+ words
...Case Closed." Proof of an Iraq-al-Qaida tie, especially of any evidence...changes his conclusion that no Iraq/al-Qaida link exists. "I have heard...issued to Atta. Contacts between Iraq and al-Qaida persisted even after the 9...
- U.S. officials try to revive claim of links between Iraq, al-Qaida.
- Newspaper article from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service) November 28, 2003 700+ words
...Case Closed." Proof of an Iraq-al-Qaida tie, especially of any evidence...changes his conclusion that no Iraq/al-Qaida link exists. "I have heard...issued to Atta. Contacts between Iraq and al-Qaida persisted even after the 9...
- Negotiations on war resolutions continue; Bush highlights Iraq, al-Qaida...
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Hutcheson, Ron Kuhnhenn, James September 26, 2002 700+ words
...continued to highlight possible links between Iraq and al-Qaida terrorists, but terrorism experts and even some...interrogators about chemical weapons training in Iraq. "Al-Qaida and Iraq are too close for comfort," White House spokesman...
- Negotiations on war resolutions continue; Bush highlights Iraq, al-Qaida links.
- News wire article from: Knight Ridder Washington Bureau (Washington, DC) September 26, 2002 700+ words
...continued to highlight possible links between Iraq and al-Qaida terrorists, but terrorism experts and even some...interrogators about chemical weapons training in Iraq. "Al-Qaida and Iraq are too close for comfort," White House spokesman...
- White House defends Iraq-al-Qaida link.
- News wire article from: UPI Perspectives Horrigan, Marie June 17, 2004 700+ words
...insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al-Qaida (is) because there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida," President Bush said. "There's numerous...
- U. N. committee finds no connection between Iraq, al-Qaida.
- News wire article from: Knight Ridder Washington Bureau (Washington, DC) June 26, 2003 700+ words
...would indicate links between Iraq and al-Qaida," Michael Chandler, the...committee's mandate is not Iraq but the global al-Qaida network, and therefore it...repeated their position that Iraq had ties with al-Qaida. A U.S. official said...