Posted 12:36 PM by Steve
CONNECTIONS

Bush has presided over a solid, growing economy (despite the Clinton recession and the terrorist attacks of 9/11) and Bush’s policies have led to important victories in the Middle East in Iraq and Afghanistan. The unfortunate fact is that absurd claims by the left make good copy.

I suppose the media can only report so much good economic news. Important, strategic military victories quickly bore a public with a miniscule attention span. The vast improvement in human rights conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan made maybe a few DAYS of headlines? Contrast that to the weeks and months the media spent fussing over Abu-Graib. The news, like any other commodity, is market-driven and new lows in content are a fact of life. Without absurd claims, there is no controversy. Without controversy, there is no story. Without a story there is no drama. Without drama there is no race.

We hear from the extremists that the War in Iraq was a “mistake”, based on lies or false intelligence. Despite what the senate panel says a preponderance of evidence exists that shows a connection between Saddam’s regime and al-Qaeda. President Bush made very clear in his speech after the 9/11 attacks that we would make no differentiation between terrorists and the regimes that support them. Bush received bipartisan support for his speech.
State sponsorship of terrorism includes refuge, weapons, training, logistical support and intelligence. We have definitive proof that BOTH Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan provided al-Qaeda with ALL of these things.



The following facts are undisputed and among the evidence presented to the 9/11 commission:

1985: The mastermind behind the hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship, Abu Abbas, was harbored and welcomed by the Iraqi regime.

1988: More than 5,000 Kurdish men, women and children are massacred in the village of Halabja by Saddam Hussein’s forces using weapons of mass destruction. (Similar weapons have since been discovered in Iraq since Operation Iraqi Freedom)

1992: Iraqi intelligence documents list Osama Bin Laden as an Iraqi intelligence asset.

1993: A non aggression pact between Iraq and al-Qaeda is formed. The rift between secular and
Islamic extremists in the Middle East has all but disappeared.

1994: Deputy Director of Iraqi intelligence confirms that Osama Bin Laden requested arms and training from Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime.

1995: Abu Hajer al Iraqi, a senior al-Qaeda leader, met with Iraqi intelligence officials.

1996: A phone call between al-Qaeda-supported Sudanese military officials and the head of Iraq’s chemical weapons program was intercepted by the NSA.

1997:Abu Abdallah al Iraqi, a member of al-Qaeda, went to Iraq to help in obtaining weapons of mass destruction.

1998: The Clinton administration’s justice department indicted Iraq for providing “assistance” to al-Qaeda’s weapons development program.

1999: A senior Clinton administration counter terrorism official said that the U.S. government was “sure” Iraq had supported al-Qaeda chemical weapons programs in 1999.

2000: September 11th hijacker Khalid al Mihdhar was photographed with an Iraqi intelligence agent in Kuala Lumpur en route to a meeting at which the terrorist attacks of the USS Cole and the World Trade Center were planned and discussed.

2001: Satellite images show al-Qaeda members traveling to a compound in Iraq, a compound financed in part, by the Iraqi regime.

September 11th, 2001: The World Trade Centers in Manhattan, in the heart of New York City become ground zero for the worst terror attacks in American history. Attacks were carried out by members of al-Qaeda.

2002: Senior al Qaeda member, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, operated openly in Baghdad and received medical attention with the knowledge and approval of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.

2003: Prior to the war in Iraq, it was suspected that Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq harbored and supported Abdul Rahman Yasin, the Iraqi weapons expert who mixed the chemicals for the
1993 World Trade Center attack. This was confirmed in documents found in postwar Iraq.




Until recently, the belief that Iraq and al-Qaeda had connections was not a partisan matter. President Clinton was among the most vocal critics of Saddam Hussein’s regime saying in 1998 that , “outlaw nations and an unholy axis of terrorists, drug traffickers, and organized international criminals” would be “more lethal if we allow them to build arsenals of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them.” He went on to say that “there is no more clear example of this threat than Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.” President Clinton also reiterated the Iraqi regime’s role with in the botched attempt to assassinate President Bush while he was visiting Kuwait.

FLIP FLOPS:
The most egregious flip-flop was that of counter terrorism official Richard Clarke. Yes, this same man who said that the U.S. government was “sure” Iraq had supported al-Qaeda chemical weapons programs in 1999, later said, in 2004, “There’s absolutely no evidence that Iraq was supporting al-Qaeda, ever.” This bold-faced lie is all the more stunning considering that Mr. Clarke isn’t refuting the veracity of the intelligence he is denying it’s very existence!
Al Gore: During the 1992 Presidential campaign, Gore attacked the first Bush administration for disregarding Saddam Hussein‘s “brutal terrorism” and of ignoring Saddam’s “murderous ambitions”. Gore went on to make over a dozen specific references to Iraq-sponsored terrorism while citing a RAND corporation study that concluded that “an estimated 1,400 terrorists were operating openly out of Iraq.”
Again, in 1992, Gore said that Saddam Hussein was a “major danger to the region and to U.S. interests.” and that he was “seeking technologies for weapons of mass destruction” in addition to offering “state payments to terrorists.”
Now, comically, Gore rails against the Bush administration saying that “The evidence now shows clearly that Saddam did not want to work with Osama Bin Laden at all, much less give him weapons of mass destruction.”
A notorious Democrat flip-flopper, Wesley Clark said “Certainly there’s a connection between Iraq and al-Qaeda.” in 2002. Then as a candidate for President, Clark stated, “there is no connection on that.”
John Kerry, who voted to authorize the war in Iraq now says that the war in Iraq has made us “less safe” saying the “global war on terrorism has actually been set back.” So… WHY did you vote for it Mr. Kerry?
Senator Hillary Clinton said during a speech on the senate floor that Saddam Hussein has given “aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al-Qaeda members.”
Later, Sen. Clinton would criticize the war in Iraq and question President Bush’s veracity in a speech on the senate floor demanding to know “what the president knew and when he knew it.”

Posted 12:26 PM by Steve
I think it's time that we revisit the responses in Iraq after the Iraqi people were liberated from under Saddam Hussein's tyranny:

Voices of freedom are rising across Iraq. News accounts show liberated Iraqis welcoming American and coalition troops. Their voices have been silenced for too long, but now they are beginning to be heard inside Iraq and around the world.
VOICES OF FREEDOM

“Smiling citizens crowded every street around the American positions. There was a constant stream of people willing to give information and loudly condemn Saddam. American soldiers who a day before had been in close combat were now basking in the cheers and applause, their arms tired from returning friendly waves.” Time, 4-14-03

“There were women and children in the crowds, but only the men did any talking. They would say the word Saddam and spit. Or run up to U.S. soldiers and shout 'George Bush good.'” Time, 4-14-03

“The American people, particularly the movie stars against us being here, need to see this. These people need us. Look how happy they are.” Sergeant Reuben Rivera in Iraq, Time, 4-14-03

“It confirms why we're here. This regime, all it does is honor itself. They build these huge lavish living quarters for the select few, but the rest of the country lives dirt-poor.” Lt. Col. Rock Marcone, USA Today, 4-8-03

“The unit's interpreter, Khuder al-Emiri, is a local hero, a guerrilla leader who was forced to flee… in April 1991 after leading a failed uprising against Saddam Hussein. Word of Mr. Emiri's arrival spread through town by way of children's feet. Their hero was with the Americans and the crowd believed the marines' intentions were good. They began to chant in English. 'Stay! Stay! U.S.A.!'” New York Times, 4-8-03

“The euphoria nearly spilled over into a riot. Children pulled at the marines, jumped on their trucks, wanting to shake their hands, touch their cheeks. A single chicken hung in the butcher's window and still the residents wanted to give the Americans something, anything. Cigarette? Money?” New York Times, 4-8-03

“You are owed a favor from the Iraqis. We dedicate our loyalty to the Americans and the British. We are friends." Iraqi Ibrahim Shouqyk to Marines, New York Times, 4-8-03

“For years we have lived oppressed lives here. Sunday was a day we had prayed for and now we are free of Saddam’s rule.” Qusay Rawah, a student in Basra, Daily Mirror, 4-8-03

“The whole Iraq will be happy if the news about Saddam’s death is confirmed.” Hussein Al-Rekabi, Iraqi exile of 30 years now in Kuwait, Arab News, 4-8-03

“For some, it was a day to hand flowers to British soldiers stationed in armored vehicles at a traffic circle or to gawk at British troops patrolling the city on foot beside their armored vehicles. For others, it was a day to vent rage at icons of the former authority.” Washington Post, 4-8-03

"'Ameericaah?' a little girl asked a Marine who had entered her village and taken a defensive position as others began to search homes. The streets were deserted. People peered around their gates. The Marine smiled, wiggled his fingers in the girl's direction and her fear - and that of the rest of the townspeople - melted. Within minutes people had left their houses and began to shake hands with the Marines. Liberation from the strictures of the regime of...Saddam Hussein had come for a nameless village just a few miles from downtown Baghdad." United Press International, 4-7-03

"The reception that we received by the Iraqis have been mainly positive. Many children have come up to me wanting to hold my hand. Many of the British troops have been kissed by the children as they’ve gone by. Now, a few people have motioned to go back or to leave but they’re certainly in the minority." Travis Fox, washingtonpost.com, 4-7-03

“The Marines here are still concerned some Iraqi fighters remain. ‘Keep away from the area,’ scream the loud speakers in Arabic. ‘It is for your security. The coalition forces will not hesitate to shoot you.’ But hundreds ignored that, surging forward to greet the Marines with an emotional celebration in this predominantly Shia Muslim town.” CNN Correspondent Bob Franken, 4-7-03

"The closer the marines got to Baghdad, the warmer their reception. Troops soon encountered cheering crowds, with some people giving the thumbs-up sign. ‘You go to Baghdad, and then I am free,’ an Iraqi man told one soldier." U.S. News and World Report, 4-14-03

"We shall never forget what the coalition has done for our people. A free Iraq shall be a living monument to our people's friendship with its liberators." Hojat al-Islam Abdel Majid al-Khoi, Wall Street Journal, 4-7-03

“When some (Iraqi paramilitaries) fled, civilians from the nearby Shia Flats slum poured onto the streets in support of the British attack. Some shouted and cheered, greeting the British soldiers with waves, thumbs up and smiles. Other surrounded and attacked the fleeing Fedayeen Saddam forces.” Washington Times, 4-7-03

“Believers (should) not to hinder the forces of liberation, and help bring this war against the tyrant to a successful end for the Iraqi people…. Our people need freedom more than air (to breathe). Iraq has suffered, and it deserves better government." Ayatollah Ali Mohammed Sistani, Wall Street Journal, 4-7-03

“The cool, cement walls were welcome relief from the blistering afternoon heat. The colonel walked across a worn rug and sat at the far end of the room, next to the community patriarch, an old man who stayed mostly silent. The patriarch's eldest son, 63-year-old Said Brahim, served as ambassador. ‘We are so happy to see the Americans forces,’ Mr. Brahim told a Marine translator.” Detroit News, 4-7-03

“Hundreds of people poured out to welcome and shake hands with the soldiers. Women in chadors hovered in the background, as soldiers talked and joked with civilians and let some boys look through their gunsights. A jubilant crowd of about 100 Iraqis surrounded two British tanks near a Saddam mural and cheered the soldiers inside, giving one soldier a small bunch of yellow flowers.” Associated Press, 4-7-03 "

Ayatollah Ali Mohammed Sistani is...the undisputed A'alam al-ulema (the most learned of the learned) of the mullahs who minister to the religious needs of Shiites, 60 percent of Iraq's population. This week he will resume lectures, banned by the Saddam regime for seven years, at the oldest Shiite seminary. "As dusk fell yesterday evening, only a small girl dressed in rags could be seen on the streets of Jazirah al-Hari. She approached a [British] tank standing guard at one end of the village, and said: 'My parents will not come, but we need water.' The tank driver leant down and gave her a bottle of water. 'This is why we've come, isn't it?' he said." The Daily Telegraph (UK), 4-1-03

"U.S. troops [are] getting a very warm welcome from the local Shia population. Now naturally, the Shiites...have no love lost for the Iraqi leader President Saddam Hussein. They have been very repressed by him in the past. And obviously...what they believe to be a continuous presence that they can count on, interest from the U.S. troops is something that they are quite happy to see." Ryan Chilcote, CNN correspondent, 4-2-03

"Hundreds of Iraqis shouting 'Welcome to Iraq' greeted U.S. Marines who entered the town of Shatra....'There's no problem here. We are happy to see Americans,' one young man shouted. The welcome was a tonic for soldiers who have not always received a warm reception despite the confidence of U.S. and British leaders that the Iraqi people were waiting to be freed from Saddam Hussein's repression. 'It's not every day you get to liberate people,' said one delighted Marine." The Independent (UK), 4-1-03

"Saddam has given us nothing, only suffering,' said Khalid Juwad, with his cousin, Raad, nodding in assent. Mr. Juwad said he had four uncles who were in Hussein's jails, and he said he had deserted from the Iraqi Army three times in recent years. 'If the Americans want to get rid of Saddam, that's O.K. with me,' he said. 'The only thing that would bother me is if they don't finish the job. Then Saddam will come back, like he did in 1991.'" New York Times, 3-31-03

We've been waiting for you for 10 years. What took you so long?’ said an Iraqi man who, along with more than 500 others, surrendered near the Rumaila oil fields. Many had written such phrases as ‘U.S.A. O.K.’ on their arms or hands. Some even tried to kiss the hands of the nervous young Marines guarding them.”Newsday, 3-24-03

“Ajami Saadoun Khlis, whose son and brother were executed under the Saddam regime, sobbed like a child on the shoulder of the Guardian’s Egyptian translator. He mopped the tears but they kept coming. ‘You just arrived,’ he said. ‘You're late. What took you so long? God help you become victorious. I want to say hello to Bush, to shake his hand. We came out of the grave.’”The Guardian, 3-22-03

“As Iraqi Americans reach out to their relatives in Baghdad and Basra, in Kirkuk and Irbil, some are hearing words they never thought possible: Iraqis are speaking ill of Saddam Hussein. They're criticizing him out loud, on the telephone, seemingly undeterred by fear of the Iraqi intelligence service and its tactics of torture for those disloyal to the Baath Party regime. ‘I was shocked,’ said Zainab Al-Suwaij, executive director of the American Islamic Congress, a nonprofit group in Cambridge, Mass., that promotes interfaith and interethnic understanding. ‘It's very dangerous. All the phones are tapped. But they are so excited.’”Los Angeles Times, 3-24-03

“’Me and my husband, an old man, have to stay at home because we are afraid. We want the American government to remove Saddam Hussein from power and kick these soldiers out of these hills.’”Fatma Omar, San Francisco Chronicle, 3-24-03

“‘We're very happy. Saddam Hussein is no good. Saddam Hussein a butcher.’” Abdullah (only identification available), as he welcomed U.S. troops in IraqAssociated Press, 3-21-03“I have been waiting for this for 13 years. I hate him more than American government because I told you the Iraq government killed many people from Iraq. They just put (my brother) in jail for a year. After this, they killed him because he don't want to go to the army because his brother is American citizen, and his brother lives in United State.”Ayid Alsultani, WFIE-14 television station in Evansville, Indiana, 3-24-03

“‘(The trip) had shocked me back to reality.’ (Some Iraqis) told me they would commit suicide if American bombing didn't start. They were willing to see their homes demolished to gain their freedom from Saddam's bloody tyranny. They convinced me that Saddam was a monster the likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and Hitler. He and his sons are sick sadists. Their tales of slow torture and killing made me ill, such as people put in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet first so they could hear their screams as bodies got chewed up from foot to head.”Kenneth Joseph, anti-war demonstrator who traveled to Iraq with Japanese human shield volunteers, UPI, 3-21-03

“I was shocked when I first met a pro-war Iraqi in Baghdad - a taxi driver taking me back to my hotel late at night. ‘Don't you listen to Powell on Voice of America radio?’ he said. ‘Of course the Americans don't want to bomb civilians. They want to bomb government and Saddam's palaces. We want America to bomb Saddam.’ … The driver's most emphatic statement was: ‘All Iraqi people want this war.’… Perhaps the most crushing thing we learned was that most ordinary Iraqis thought Saddam Hussein had paid us to come to protest in Iraq. Although we explained that this was categorically not the case, I don't think he believed us. Later he asked me: ‘Really, how much did Saddam pay you to come?’” Daniel Pepper in an article “I was a naive fool to be a human shield for Saddam,” Sunday Telegraph, 3-23-2003

“As US forces push deep into Iraq, farmers and remote villagers are greeting them with white flags and waves. But the ground forces, backed by massive artillery and air support, are encountering pockets of resistance from Iraq's military. One man, about 30, yesterday ran from a field towards a US convoy shouting insults about Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Other men and boys stood in fields waving white flags. In keeping with the local Muslim custom, no girls or women appeared from their houses.” Lindsay Murdoch in southern Iraq, The Sun-Herald, 3-23-2003

“….The return of the Americans to Safwan was also an occasion for hope, even if mixed with wariness. ‘Saddam finished!’ shouted another young [Iraqi] man, who gave his name as Fares. ‘Americans are here now.’ His friend, Shebah, added, in broken English, ‘Saddam killed people.’” Washington Post, 3-23-03 “Coming into Basra as part of a massive military convoy, I encountered a stream of young men, dressed in what appeared to be Iraqi army uniforms, applauding the US marines as they swept past in tanks.” BBC reporter, 3-22-03

"Ajami Saadoun Khlis, whose son and brother were executed under the Saddam regime, sobbed like a child on the shoulder of the Guardian's Egyptian translator. He mopped the tears but they kept coming. 'You just arrived,' he said. 'You're late. What took you so long? God help you become victorious. I want to say hello to Bush, to shake his hand. We came out of the grave.'" The Guadian, 3-22-03

“As hundreds of coalition troops swept in just after dawn, the heartache of a town that felt the hardest edges of Saddam Hussein's rule seemed to burst forth, with villagers running into the streets to celebrate in a kind of grim ecstasy, laughing and weeping in long guttural cries. “‘Oooooo, peace be upon you, peace be upon you, peace you, oooooo,’ Zahra Khafi, a 68-year-old mother of five, cried to a group of American and British visitors who came to the town shortly after Mr. Hussein's army appeared to melt away. ‘I'm not afraid of Saddam anymore.’” New York Times, 3-22-03

"We've been driving since dawn today in southern Iraq, and so far we've come across scores of Bedouin herdsmen. We've been greeted by friendly greetings of ‘inshallah’ and ‘salaam aleikum’…we've seen both women and men waving greetings and shouting greeting to the U.S. troops.” Radio Free Europe correspondent Ron Synovitz, 3-21-03

"They told me that Saddam Hussein is not allowing anyone to leave Baghdad. I don't fear the Americans. I was in Baghdad in the war in 1991 and I saw how surgical an operation it was. Saddam Hussein has persecuted everyone except his own family. Kurds, Arab Shiites, Turkoman - everybody has suffered. But our country was a rich country and we can be rich again.'” Financial Times Information, 3-21-03

"These are US Marines being greeted if not with garlands, with hand shakes by residents of the town in the deep-south corner of Iraq.” CBS News, 3-21-03

"One little boy, who had chocolate melted all over his face after a soldier gave him some treats from his ration kit, kept pointing at the sky, saying 'Ameriki, Ameriki.'" Associated Press, 3-21-03

"Milling crowds of men and boys watched as the Marines attached ropes on the front of their Jeeps to one portrait and then backed up, peeling the Iraqi leader's black-and-white metal image off a frame. Some locals briefly joined Maj. David 'Bull' Gurfein in a new cheer. 'Iraqis! Iraqis! Iraqis!' Gurfein yelled, pumping his fist in the air... "....A few men and boys ventured out, putting makeshift white flags on their pickup trucks or waving white T-shirts out truck windows....'Americans very good,' Ali Khemy said. 'Iraq wants to be free. Some chanted, 'Ameriki! Ameriki!' "Gurfein playfully traded pats with a disabled man and turned down a dinner invitation from townspeople. 'Friend, friend,' he told them in Arabic learned in the first Gulf War. "'No Saddam Hussein!' one young man in headscarf told Gurfein. 'Bush!'" Associated Press, 3-21-03

"Iraqi citizens were shown 'tearing down a poster of Saddam Hussein' and Dexter Filkins of The New York Times was interviewed, saying that Iraqis he had seen were 'hugging and kissing every American they could find.'" NBC Nightly News, 3-21-03

"Here was a chance to stop and I clambered down, eager to get a first word from an Iraqi of what he thought of this whole affair. 'As salaam alekum,' I said in the traditional greeting, then ran out of Arabic and quickly added, 'Do you speak English?' No go. But with a fumbled exchange of gestures we slowly managed to communicate. Thumbs up for the American tanks, thumbs down for Saddam Hussein. Then he pointed north into the distance and said 'Baghdad.'" Reuters, 3-21-03

"A line of dancing Kurdish men, staring directly into the mouth of the Iraqi guns less than a mile away, defiantly burned tires, sang traditional new years songs and chanted, 'Topple Saddam.' "March 21 is the Kurdish New Year....And bonfires have long been a symbol of liberation in this part of the world. 'We're celebrating [Nawroz] a national holiday,' said Samad Abdulla Rahim, 22. 'But today we also celebrate the attack on Saddam.' "Many expressed hope that deadly fire would light the night sky over Baghdad in the days ahead, bringing an end to the Kurd's epic 30-year struggle against Hussein and his Baath Party. 'I can't wait for the U.S. planes to come and liberate Kirkuk,' said Shahab Ahmed Sherif, a 33-year-old Kurd who had fled the oil-rich city four days earlier." Copley News Service, 3-21-03 Unidentified Iraqi man: "Help us live better than this life. Let us have freedom." ABC World News Tonight, 3-21-03

Posted 12:09 PM by Steve
Victories in the war against Islamo-fascism

- In 2002, officials disrupted a plot by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, to crash hijacked airplanes into targets on the U.S. West Coast.

-In mid-2004, officials discovered a plan to bomb urban targets in the United Kingdom.

-Terrorists involved in a well-advanced plot to attack targets in Karachi, Pakistan, were detained in the spring of 2003.

-A plan to use hijacked commercial airplanes to attack London's Heathrow Airport was disrupted in 2003.

-A plot to attack ships in the Persian Gulf was foiled in late 2002 and early 2003.

-One of the plotters involved in the plan to attack ships in the Gulf was also part of a foiled plot to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

-After a plan to blow up tall buildings in the U.S. was disrupted, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said he directed his operatives to attack the buildings because they were too tall for victims to jump out of, ensuring they would die by smoke inhalation.

-In early 2004, a captured al-Qaida facilitator revealed a plan to send suicide truck bombers into Camp Lemonier, a Marine Corps base in the African nation of Djibouti. This information caused security at the base to be enhanced.

- In his speech, Bush said Mohammed and a terrorist named Yazid provided vital information on al-Qaida's efforts to obtain biological weapons that allowed officials to capture two other terrorists involved in producing anthrax for al-Qaida.

Each one of these incidents demonstrates how dealing with Islamo-fascist terrorism as a serious threat has led to a safer world.

Each time a terrorist plot is foiled, the resources, training and personnel of the terrorist groups is depleted. Each time they grow weaker while we as a society grow stronger. Each time we defeat them, we increase our understanding of the depraved and perverted mind of the terrorist.