In the category of more venom spewed from a liberal, effete, nattering pinko
press, the AP is reporting George "W.M.D." Bush as saying today that Saddam
had no link to 9/11 -- after leading 70% of the American public for two years to
believe that he did. In a similar vein, Hans Blix, the UN weapons inspector,
also said today that Iraq almost certainly destroyed its weapons of mass
destruction 10 years ago. And a few days ago the former chief of Central Command,
Gen. Anthony Zinni, compared the current Iraq situation to the "lies and
garbage" of Vietnam.

As for the stated reasons for the war, well, nevermind. None of them turned
out to be true. But it was a good war nonetheless and it's only going to cost
us a couple hundred billion more dollars. But we've got Saddam and Osama right
where we want them.

But the bottom line is that none of this matters now. We now have no choice
but to stay for at least a year or two more and see this through to the end. If
we were to leave now, we will leave a failed state that truly will be a
breeding ground for anti-Western terrorism.

Wirt Atmar

======================================

Bush Says No of Evidence Saddam, 9/11 Link
By TERENCE HUNT, AP

WASHINGTON (Sept. 17) - President Bush said Wednesday there was no evidence
that Saddam Hussein was involved in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 -
disputing an idea held by many Americans...

Yet, a new poll found that nearly 70 percent of respondents believed the
Iraqi leader probably was personally involved. Rumsfeld said, "I've not seen any
indication that would lead me to believe that I could say that."

=======================================

Blix Says Iraq Probably Destroyed WMDs

The Associated Press

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix
believes that Iraq destroyed most of its weapons of mass destruction 10 years ago,
but kept up the appearance that it had them to deter a military attack.

In an interview with an Australian radio station broadcast Wednesday, Blix
said it was unlikely that the U.S and British teams now searching for weapons in
Iraq would find more than some ``documents of interest.''

``I'm certainly more and more to the conclusion that Iraq has, as they
maintained, destroyed all, almost, of what they had in the summer of 1991,'' Blix
told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

``The more time that has passed, the more I think it's unlikely that anything
will be found.''

Blix indicated he thought the U.S.-led coalition had backtracked on the issue
of Iraq's weapons.

``In the beginning they talked about weapons concretely, and later on they
talked about weapons programs. Maybe they'll find some documents of interest,''
he said.

=======================================

Ret. General Zinni Criticizes Bush's Postwar Policy
Washington Post

By: Thomas Ricks

Date: 09/05/2003

A former U.S. commander for the Middle East who still consults for the State
Department yesterday blasted the Bush administration's handling of postwar
Iraq, saying it lacked a coherent strategy, a serious plan and sufficient
resources.
"There is no strategy or mechanism for putting the pieces together," said
retired Marine Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, and so, he said, "we're in danger of
failing."

In an impassioned speech to several hundred Marine and Navy officers and
others, Zinni invoked the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War in the 1960s and
'70s. "My contemporaries, our feelings and sensitivities were forged on the
battlefields of Vietnam, where we heard the garbage and the lies, and we saw the
sacrifice," said Zinni, who was severely wounded while serving as an infantry
officer in that conflict. "I ask you, is it happening again?"

Zinni's comments were especially striking because he endorsed President Bush
in the 2000 campaign, shortly after retiring from active duty, and serves as
an adviser to the State Department on anti-terror initiatives in Indonesia and
the Philippines. He preceded Army Gen. Tommy R. Franks as chief of the U.S.
Central Command, the headquarters for U.S. military operations in Iraq and
elsewhere in the Middle East.

This was not the first time he has broken with the administration. He was
publicly skeptical last winter of the decision to attack Iraq.

Underscoring how much his views have changed since 2000, he implied that the
Bush administration is now damaging the U.S. military in the way that Bush and
Vice President Cheney during that campaign charged that the Clinton
administration had done. "We can't go on breaking our military and doing things like
we're doing now," he said.

He also questioned the Bush administration's decision in January to have the
Pentagon oversee postwar efforts in Iraq. "Why the hell would the Department
of Defense be the organization in our government that deals with the
reconstruction of Iraq?" he asked. "Doesn't make sense."

In addition, he criticized the administration for not working earlier and
harder to win a U.N. resolution that several nations have indicated is a
prerequisite to their contributing peacekeeping troops to help in Iraq. "We certainly
blew past the U.N.," he said. "Why, I don't know. Now we're going back hat in
hand."

Zinni's comments to the joint meeting in Arlington of the U.S. Naval
Institute and the Marine Corps Association, two professional groups for officers, were
greeted warmly by his audience, with prolonged applause at the end. Some
officers bought tapes and compact discs of the speech to give to others.

=======================================

* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *