Even a broken clock...

"One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror" -- George W. Bush in the 09.06.06 interview with CBS' Katie Couric

You don't say...

Senate: Saddam saw al-Qaida as threat

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer
09.08.06

WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein regarded al-Qaida as a threat rather than a possible ally, a Senate report says, contradicting assertions President Bush has used to build support for the war in Iraq.

Released Friday, the report discloses for the first time an October 2005 CIA assessment that before the war, Saddam's government "did not have a relationship, harbor or turn a blind eye toward" al-Qaida operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi or his associates.

...As recently as an Aug. 21 news conference, Bush said people should "imagine a world in which you had Saddam Hussein" with the capacity to make weapons of mass destruction and "who had relations with Zarqawi."

...According to the report, postwar findings indicate that Saddam "was distrustful of al-Qaida and viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime."

It said al-Zarqawi was in Baghdad from May until late November 2002. But "postwar information indicates that Saddam Hussein attempted, unsuccessfully, to locate and capture al-Zarqawi and that the regime did not have a relationship with, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi."

In June 2004, Bush defended Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion that Saddam had "long-established ties" with al-Qaida. "Zarqawi is the best evidence of connection to al-Qaida affiliates and al-Qaida," the president said.

The Iraq/terror connection was a hard part of El Presidente's job, alright.

As it stands tonight, in addition to $300,000,000,000 (and counting), it has taken 2,700 U.S. soldiers killed, 20,000 wounded, and the lives of over 40,000 civilians in order to connect Iraq to the war on terror.