July 20, 2007 6:47 AM

Another DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener

Townsend: ‚Äö√Ñ√≤I Don’t Know’ If Al Qaeda Was In Iraq Before The War

DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener #621: Frances Fragos Townsend

[I]n an interview with NPR, Homeland Security Advisor Frances Fragos Townsend argued that the NIE’s findings strengthen the administration’s argument to stay the course. “Al Qaeda’s resources are focused in Iraq because that’s where we are capturing and killing them every single day, so it drains their resources there,” she said. “[T]hey are very much tied down because we are keeping them tied down fighting them in Iraq.”…. NPR host Steve Inskeep challenged Townsend, pointing out that al Qaeda had “no capability in Iraq before the war.” Townsend refused to answer the question, stating, “I don’t know ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ I wasn’t at that briefing.” She then added, “I’m going to rely on the intelligence community. ‚Äö√Ѭ∂ I would refer you to them.”

It’s amazing how much this Administration’s dwindling to the point of being virtually nonexistent credibility is tied in with reinforcing the propaganda that the war in Iraq is all about defeating Al Qaeda. It’s as if the talking heads know that once the American sheeple realize once and for all that Al Qaeda is only part of the problem and the “we must fight them there so that we don’t have to fight them here” canard is a house of cards, they’re in BIG trouble.

Townsend, second in pandering and propaganda skills only the the God of Talking Points and Dissembling Himself, Tony Snow, has been furiously attempting to spin reality into a form that mirrors the Administration’s propaganda. The problem, though, is that Townsend is no idiot. She knows full well that there was no Al Qaeda presence in Iraq prior to 9.11. She also knows that there’s no way that even someone as skilled at the art of dissembling as she is can spin this truth. All that’s left for her is to play the “that’s above my pay grade” card…and not very believably at that.

It is widely known that al Qaeda was not operating in Iraq before 9/11. The Senate Intelligence Committee found that Saddam “did not trust al-Qa’ida or any other radical Islamist group and did not want to cooperate with them.”

Rather than tying down and draining al Qaeda’s resources in Iraq as Townsend said, the war has lured the the network to that country. The last NIE found that the “Iraq conflict has become the ¬¨√¨cause celebre¬¨√Æ for jihadists,” “shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives.” Additionally, a new government threat assessment concludes that “Al-Qaeda has rebuilt its operating capability to a level not seen since the summer of 2001,” and with strengthened capabilities to attack the United States.

No matter how well Townsend does her job, there’s simply no credibility to twist reality. There was no terrorist threat in Iraq prior to 9.11. There may have been members of Al Qaeda in Iraq prior to 9.11, but there certainly was no organized, credible threat posed by Al Qaeda. This war has never been about Al Qaeda…until Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © and his apologists figured out that hammering a non-existent Al Qaeda connection was one way to get and prosecute a war against Iraq. Now that non-existent connection is being used to justify continuing a wasteful, pointless, and immoral war that never had anything to do with terrorism to begin with- and certainly doesn’t now.

So when does a DUMB@$$ turn into a war criminal? How about when Townsend stands behind a podium and begins spouting meaningless, inaccurate, and dangerous propaganda?

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on July 20, 2007 6:47 AM.

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