WORST...ARGUMENT...EVER!
No Iraqi 'Control' of Qaeda

This has got to be the absolute, worst argument I have ever heard in my entire life. Worse than "separate but equal." Worse than "ketchup is a vegetable." Worse than the definition of "is." Worse, even, than the infamous high school debate "beef disadvantage" brief. And the woman who made it holds a doctorate, Condoleeza Rice, Bush's National Security Advisor. From Reuters via Eschaton:

"What I believe the 9-11 commission was opining on was operational control, an operational relationship between al Qaeda and Iraq which we never alleged," Rice said in an interview with National Public Radio.

"The president simply outlined what we knew about what al Qaeda and Iraq had done together. Operational control to me would mean that he (Saddam) was, perhaps, directing what al Qaeda would do."

Intelligence reports of links between Saddam and the group blamed for the 2001 attacks formed a cornerstone of Bush's rationale for the invasion and occupation of the turbulent Arab country, where 833 U.S. soldiers have died after 14 months of violence.

The chairman and vice chairman of the Sept. 11 commission differed with Rice's characterization of their panel's findings in separate interviews with Reuters.

"We don't think there was any relationship whatsoever having to do with 9/11. Whether al Qaeda and Saddam were cooperating on other things against the United States, we don't know," Commission Chairman Thomas Kean said.

Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton said he was unaware of anyone ever claiming that Saddam had directed al Qaeda.

"The word 'control' is new," Hamilton said.

Click here for the rest.

So, according to Rice, the 9/11 Commission was speaking in...what? Poetic metaphor? What kind of crazy, F'ed up theory is that? I'd almost be insulted if it weren't so damned funny. "What I believe the 9-11 commission was opining on was operational control..." That's great. That's just too rich.

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