Condi Rice - Spinning Badly

Now it doesn't surprise me that Dick Cheney would continue his delusional deceptive spin it's not even worth commenting on anymore. It does surprise me a little that Condi Rice would try but try she did on FOX today and not even they were buying it.
Rice: ‘There Were Ties Going On Between Al Qaeda And Saddam Hussein’

Today on Fox News Sunday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice repeated the false assertion that Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda had a relationship before the 2003 invasion, despite the recent Senate Intelligence Report that found U.S. intelligence analysts strongly dispute that claim.

Rice tried to pin the blame on then CIA Director George Tenet, saying he said, “there were ties going on between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s regime going back for a decade.” But in July, Tenet told the Senate Intelligence Committee that “the White House pressured him and that he agreed to back up the administration’s case for war despite his own agents’ doubts about the intelligence it was based on.”

Rice also tried to dismiss the Senate report as being after-the fact, stating, “Now, are we learning more now that we have access to people like Saddam Hussein’s intelligence services? Of course.” But as Wallace pointed out, a Defense Intelligence Agency report from Feb. 2002 — before the U.S. invasion — also concluded that Iraq and Al Qaeda had no relationship: “Iraq is unlikely to have provided bin Laden any useful CB, that’s chemical or biological, knowledge or assistance.” Rice said she did not remember seeing that report.

Even FOX's Chris Wallace was not giving her the usual free ride.

WALLACE: And in March 2003, just before the invasion, you said, talking about Iraq, “a very strong link to training Al Qaeda in chemical and biological techniques.” Secretary Rice, a Senate committee has just revealed that in February of 2002, months before the President spoke, more than a year, 13 months before you spoke, that the Defense Intelligence Agency concluded this, and let’s put it up on the screen: “Iraq is unlikely to have provided bin Laden any useful CB, that’s chemical or biological, knowledge or assistance.” Didn’t you and the President ignore intelligence that contradicted your case?
RICE: What the President and I and other administration officials relied on and — you simply rely on the Director of Central Intelligence. George Tenet gave that very testimony, that there were ties going on between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s regime going back for a decade. Indeed, the 9/11 Commission talked about contacts between the two. We know that Zarqawi was running a poisons network in Iraq. We know that Zarqawi ordered the killing of an American diplomat in Jordan from Iraq. There were ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda. Now, are we learning more now that we have access to people like Saddam Hussein’s intelligence services? Of course. We’re going to learn more.

WALLACE: Secretary Rice, this report — if I may, this report isn’t now. This isn’t after the fact. This was a Defense Intelligence Agency report in 2002. Two questions. First of all, did you know about that report before you made your statement?
RICE: Chris, we relied on the reports of the National Intelligence Office, the NIO, and of the DCI. That’s what the President and his central decisionmakers rely on.

WALLACE: Did you know about this report?

RICE: There are conflicting intelligence reports all the time. That’s why we have an intelligence system that brings those together into a unified assessment by the intelligence committee of what — community of what we’re looking at. That particular report I don’t remember seeing.

Of course this is the same old story. They knew they were going to war and shelved any intelligence that didn't support that decision. Even FOX news is pointing that out now. Pat Robert's stonewalling may have hurt the administration. A couple of years ago Bush and company still had some credibility; they might have been able to spin it. Not now - even FOX is asking questions. Talk about kicking you when your down.

[Illustration © 2006 by Ben Heine , used with permission]







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