"The facts are," insisted Bush to his captive audience, "that al-Qaida terrorists killed Americans on 9/11, they're fighting us in Iraq and across the world, and they are plotting to kill Americans here at home again."
Right! But where are they, Mr President? What's really going on?
How did it happen that al-Qaida in Iraq, sworn enemy of Saddam Hussein and his secularism, operating in isolation prior to 9/11, though almost certainly with the connivance and protection of Kurdish leader and current Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, has come to thrive under the U.S. occupation? And since AQI represents perhaps 1 percent or less of the insurgent strength, how can it be depicted as the main foe, capable of seizing state power? The other Sunni insurgent groups increasingly view it as an impediment to their own ambitions and have marked it for elimination. Rather than address these problematic complexities, Bush points the finger of blame at U.S. senators who dare to question his policy. "Those who justify withdrawing our troops from Iraq by denying the threat of al-Qaida in Iraq and its ties to Osama bin Laden ignore the clear consequences of such a retreat."
O-o-o-o-h! I finally get it! The real al Qaida is the US Senate itself. Senators: be very, very careful, okay? Even though you're less than 1% of the entire population.
As for that 1%: we know how Cheney feels about 1%. Let's not forget Ron Suskind's revelation about Cheney's 1% doctrine.
Even if there's just a 1 percent chance of the unimaginable coming due, act as if it is a certainty. It's not about "our analysis," as Cheney said. It's about "our response."… Justified or not, fact-based or not, "our response" is what matters. As to '"evidence," the bar was set so low that the word itself almost didn't apply." .... from Ron Suskind in "The One Percent Doctrine"
