Wednesday, October 06, 2004
"TELL A LIE LOUD ENOUGH AND LONG ENOUGH, IT BECOMES THE TRUTH" - JOSEF GOEBBELS
Cheney persists in seeing Qaeda-Saddam link
Wed 6 October, 2004 05:14
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney has linked prewar Iraq with al Qaeda in the vice-presidential debate, despite assessments from the CIA and the September 11 Commission that have found no conclusive tie.
Cheney, often criticised for saying Iraq and Al Qaeda were allies to justify last year's invasion of Iraq, said of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein: "He had an established relationship with Al Qaeda."
Cheney's opponent, Democrat John Edwards, repeatedly said the vice president was trying to mislead the public because there were no definitive links established between al Qaeda and Saddam or Iraq and the September 11, 2001, attacks.
"You've gone around the country suggesting that there is some connection. There is not," Edwards said. "And in fact the CIA is now about to report that the connection between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein is tenuous at best."
A CIA report found no conclusive evidence that Saddam's regime had harboured Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, now the most wanted man in Iraq and an al Qaeda ally.
Before the U.S.-led invasion, the Bush administration had said Zarqawi's presence in Baghdad was evidence that Iraq was helping him. Polls show many Americans believe Iraq was behind the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
"There's no conclusive evidence the Saddam Hussein regime had harboured Zarqawi," a U.S. official said on Tuesday about the CIA report.
But the official stressed that the report did not make any final judgements. "To suggest the case is closed on this would not be correct," the official said.
Cheney said the report also points out that when some of Zarqawi's people were arrested, "Saddam personally intervened to have them released, supposedly at the request of Zarqawi."
"What we did in Iraq was exactly the right thing to do. If I had it to recommend all over again, I would recommend exactly the same course of action," Cheney said.
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Monday said he knew of no "strong, hard evidence" linking Saddam's Iraq and al Qaeda.
But on Tuesday, in a statement, Rumsfeld said he was misunderstood. "I have acknowledged since September 2002 that there were ties between al Qaeda and Iraq," Rumsfeld said.
The September 11 Commission report in July said there was no evidence of a "collaborative operational relationship" between Iraq and al Qaeda or an Iraqi role in attacking the United States.Wednesday, October 06, 2004
WHAT'S THAT YOU SAY?
Tonight, the one and only veep debate was on TV. Online polls (and anyone with more than just half a brain) say John Edwards beat the crap out of Dick Vader, errr, Dick Cheney.
The debate by the numbers.
There were 20 questions tonight—5 about Iraq, 3 about al Qaeda or Homeland Security, 2 on gay marriage, 2 about lawsuit reform, 2 on VP experience, 1 on Iraq, 1 on poverty, 1 on fiscal responsibility, 1 on aids, and 1 on unity.
Here is a sampling of the words repeated:
VP Cheney
Terrorists—31
John Kerry—15
Wrong—12
Taxes—9
Security—8
Sen. John Edwards
Truth—11
Pres. Bush—7
Halliburton—6
Iraq—25
Plan—13
Health Care—14Tuesday, October 05, 2004
OFFICER, I'VE BEEN A B-A-A-A-A-A-D BOY....
Stockings, High Heels for Women Riot Police
KABUL (Reuters) - Fishnet stockings and high heels are not the norm for riot police, but this is Afghanistan.
Masouma was one of five women being trained by U.S. forces early on Sunday to cope with civil disturbances during the country's first ever presidential vote on Oct. 9.
Surrounded by nearly 200 men in dark blue uniforms, matching caps and black military-style boots, the small female contingent stood out with their colorful headscarves, lipstick, silver fingernails and gold earrings dangling under headscarves.
"We have asked our American friends to give us boots and hats so we have proper uniforms," Masouma told reporters during a break in training. All the women wore a blouse and a long skirt, but some had on stockings and high-heeled shoes underneath.
"They (the men) are well equipped, so we must be too." In an apparent breakdown in communications, U.S. Sergeant Damian George did not believe there was a major problem.
"The women expressed that they have been in high heels their whole life, and they feel they can accomplish the mission in those."
High heels or no high heels, there is a serious point to including women in the fledgling police force in this conservative Muslim country.
Men are not allowed to search women, and females are still under-represented despite new freedoms enjoyed since the fall of the hardline Islamic Taliban militia late in 2001. "We're trying to incorporate females into the police," George said on a field in central Kabul, as recruits in the background learned to handle their new plastic riot shields and batons. "We're trying to force the issue and get more females out there."