GOP rivals embrace unproven Iraq-9/11 tie

[babylonsister]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/05/27/gop_rivals_embrace_unproven_iraq_911_tie/

GOP rivals embrace unproven Iraq-9/11 tie

By Peter S. Canellos, Globe Staff | May 27, 2007

snip//

Assertions of connections between bin Laden and terrorists in Iraq have heated up over the last month, as Congress has debated the war funding resolution. Romney, McCain, and Giuliani have endorsed -- and expanded on -- Bush's much-debated contention that Al Qaeda is the main cause of instability in Iraq.

Spokespeople for McCain and Romney say the candidates were expressing their deep-seated convictions that terrorists would benefit if the United States were to withdraw from Iraq. The spokesmen say that even if Iraq had no connection to the Sept. 11 attacks, Al Qaeda-inspired terrorists have infiltrated Iraq as security has deteriorated since the invasion, and now pose a direct threat to the United States.

But critics, including some former CIA officials, said those statements could mislead voters into believing that the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks are now fighting the United States in Iraq .

Michael Scheuer , the CIA's former chief of operations against bin Laden in the late 1990s, said the comments of some GOP candidates seem to suggest that bin Laden is controlling the insurgency in Iraq, which he is not.

"There are at least 41 groups that have announced their allegiance to Osama bin Laden -- and I will bet that none of them are directed by Osama bin Laden," Scheuer said, pointing out that Al Qaeda in Iraq is not overseen by bin Laden.Continued...

Nonetheless, many GOP candidates have recently echoed Bush's longstanding assertion that Iraq is the "central battlefront" in the worldwide war against Al Qaeda and have declared that Al Qaeda would make Iraq its base of operations if the United States withdraws -- notions that Scheuer said do not withstand scrutiny.

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[LynnTheDem]

1. Dear US "media"; it is not an "unproven link". It is, in fact, a DEBUNKED LIE.

How come ONLY AMERICANS ever thought Iraq was involved in 911?

How come ONLY AMERICANS still think Iraq was involved in 911?

America; #1 in ignorance. #47 in freedom of the press.

[aquart]

2. "Unproven"???? How about "Untrue"?

And how do we know they're all al qaida? They send out announcements on letterhead?