As war toll climbs, Bush still deceives

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DERRICK Z. JACKSON

As war toll climbs, Bush still deceives

 

By Derrick Z. Jackson | September 10, 2004

 

AS THE 1,000th American soldier perished in Iraq,

President Bush dispatched his emergency crews to

repair the downed wires that connect Saddam Hussein to

Sept. 11 in the minds of many Americans. Deputy

Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz compared the

ideologies behind Sept. 11 to Nazism, where " the two

central fronts of course are Afghanistan and Iraq. "

 

n the speech where he said a John Kerry presidency may

mean " we'll get hit again, " Vice President Dick Cheney

said Saddam " had a relationship with Al Qaeda " and

" had been a sponsor of terror. " Defense Secretary

Donald Rumsfeld said at a briefing, " As we commemorate

the third anniversary of the attacks of September

11th, it's appropriate to honor the fallen and to

reflect on how far we have come and to determine what

more might be done. Consider three years ago Osama bin

Laden was the co-conspirator of the Taliban regime in

Afghanistan. . . . Three years ago, Saddam Hussein and

his regime were making a mockery of the United

Nations. . . . The president faced a choice between

confronting Saddam then or facing an even graver

threat in the future. "

 

Just to make sure the light of Sept. 11 continues to

shine brightly on Saddam, Bush put on his political

galoshes and waded out into streets awash in his

deception. Hammering in what he said at the Republican

convention, he said in Missouri, " Do I forget the

lessons of September 11th and take the word of a

madman, or do I take action to defend this country?

Given that choice, I will defend America every time.

Because we acted to defend ourself, because we took

action to make America a safer place, more than 50

million people in Afghanistan and Iraq are now free. "

 

As the 1,000th soldier died, it matters less than ever

to Bush -- if that was possible -- that the Senate

Intelligence Committee said there were no weapons of

mass destruction in Iraq at the time of the invasion.

It still does not matter that the bipartisan 9/11

Commission looked at past contacts between Iraq and Al

Qaeda and found " no evidence that these or the earlier

contacts ever developed into a collaborative

operational relationship. Nor have we seen evidence

that Iraq cooperated with Al Qaeda in developing or

carrying out any attacks against the United States. "

 

Most of all, it does not matter that it has been a

year since Bush was forced to admit, " We've had no

evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with

September the 11th. " He continues to electrify crowds

with sizzling juxtapositions. If you say " Sept. 11, "

" madman " and " defend this country " enough, it clearly

is enough to drive Americans mad.

 

Thirteen months ago, a Washington Post poll found that

69 percent of Americans believed that Saddam was

" personally involved " in Sept. 11 and 82 percent

thought Saddam " provided assistance to Osama bin Laden

and his terrorist network. " This overwhelming

agreement was a natural result of an overwhelming

public relations assault by the White House.

 

The assault was most noted by Cheney's televised

assertion back then that Iraq is part of the

" continuing operation on the war on terror. " Cheney

said victory in Iraq " will have struck a major blow

right at the heart of the base, if you will, the

geographic base of the terrorists who had us under

assault now for many years, but most especially on

9/11. "

 

The assault is still working. Despite the findings of

the 9/11 Commission and a general decline in support

for the war, the percentage of Americans who still

believe that Saddam was involved in Sept. 11 or

provided aid to Al Qaeda remains significant. In a

Newsweek poll last week, 42 percent of Americans still

think Saddam was " directly involved in planning,

financing, or carrying out the terrorist attacks. "

Only 44 percent say he was not directly involved, and

14 percent remain unsure. That is virtually unchanged

from a June New York Times/CBS poll that found 41

percent of Americans still thought Saddam was tied to

9/11.

 

Despite the facts, America remains roughly split over

whether the war was just, which Bush hopes will be

just enough in November. All his reasons for invading

Iraq are dead. The 1,000th soldier is dead. The downed

cables of Iraq sizzle in the street. The Bush

presidency hangs on whether he can keep Saddam a live

wire, avoiding the fatal shock of truth.

 

Derrick Z. Jackson's e-mail address is

jackson.

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