After missing Friday, I’m afraid I’m too far behind to really delve into the details of how many times White House officials have deceived the public about the non-existent connection between al Queda and Saddam Hussein’s regime. By this point, you’ve probably read/seen it all.
But just the fun of it, here are a couple of the more entertaining White House lies I’ve come across.
First up is an example of Dick Cheney lying about his lying. From an interview with CNBC’s Gloria Borger on June 17:
Borger: “Well, let’s go to Mohamed Atta for a minute, because you mentioned him as well. You have said in the past that it was, quote, ‘pretty well confirmed.’ ”
Cheney: “No, I never said that.”
Borger: “Okay.”
Cheney: “Never said that.”
Borger: “I think that is . . . ”
Cheney: “Absolutely not. What I said was the Czech intelligence service reported after 9/11 that Atta had been in Prague on April 9th of 2001, where he allegedly met with an Iraqi intelligence official. We have never been able to confirm that nor have we been able to knock it down.”
From a Meet the Press interview on Dec. 9, 2001:
Cheney: “Well, what we now have that’s developed since you and I last talked, Tim, of course, was that report that — it’s been pretty well confirmed that [Atta] did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April, several months before the attack. Now, what the purpose of that was, what transpired between them, we simply don’t know at this point, but that’s clearly an avenue that we want to pursue.” (emphasis added)
The man just can’t help himself. It’s as if Cheney has some kind of nervous tick that causes him to lie uncontrollably.
Slate’s Tim Noah, meanwhile, noticed the same deception my friends at Demagogue did.
Bush, last Thursday:
“This administration never said that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and al Qaeda.”
Bush, in a letter to Congress on March 18, 2003, explaining the justification for war in Iraq:
[A]cting pursuant to the Constitution and [the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002] is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. (emphasis added)
Now raise your hand if you believe six years from now 60 Minutes will be doing an hour-long interview with Bush and will spend 20 minutes asking him why he lied about this. I didn’t think so.