Home > NY Times calls on Bush to apologize for waging war on Iraq
NY Times calls on Bush to apologize for waging war on Iraq
by Open-Publishing - Friday 18 June 20042 comments
Middle east online
NY Times calls on Bush to apologize for waging war on Iraq
American daily accuses Bush of selling false link between al-Qaeda and Iraq in 9/11 attacks to Americans.
WASHINGTON - The New York Times on Thursday called on President George W. Bush to apologize to the American people for going to war on Iraq after an official probe into the September 11 attacks found no evidence linking Iraq and al-Qaeda.
"Now President Bush should apologize to the American people, who were led to believe something different," the Times editorial said.
"Of all the ways Mr. Bush persuaded Americans to back the invasion of Iraq last year, the most plainly dishonest was his effort to link his war of choice with the battle against terrorists worldwide."
A panel investigating the 11 September, 2001 attacks said Wednesday there was no "credible evidence" Iraq had helped Osama bin Laden’s extremist al-Qaeda network to attack the United States and no sign of any "collaborative relationship" between Baghdad and the group.
The conclusions of the independent panel dealt another blow to Bush’s justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein’s regime, which was also charged with possessing as yet undiscovered weapons of mass destruction.
"This is not just a matter of the president’s diminishing credibility, although that’s disturbing enough," The New York Times said.
"The war on terror has actually suffered as the conflict in Iraq has diverted military and intelligence resources from places like Afghanistan, where there could really be Qaeda forces, including Mr. bin Laden."
Bush, the daily added, is responsible for his government’s actions since September 11. "That includes, inexcusably, selling the false Iraq-Qaeda claim to Americans.
"There are two unpleasant alternatives: either Mr. Bush knew he was not telling the truth, or he has a capacity for politically motivated self-deception that is terrifying in the post-9/11 world," concluded the Times.
But the Washington Post pointed out that the 9/11 panel’s report "has not denied there were contacts" between Saddam’s regime and al-Qaeda, shoring up the Bush administration’s contention that it never suggested Iraq was behind September 11 but that it did have long-established ties with the group.
It criticized Bush administration foes for seizing on the commission’s sentence that it found "no credible evidence" linking Iraq to September 11 to claim the White House has been lying.
"The accusation is nearly as irresponsible as the Bush administration’s rhetoric has been," the Washington Post editorial said.
Forum posts
18 June 2004, 21:52
Believe in the New York times and belive in the left wing media that is prevelent, not only in the United States but around the world. The media will brain wash the population, the fanatical barbaric low lifes will also and history will show that our softness was overpowered by those with greater hatred and will.
8 July 2004, 07:20
SADDAM OUSSAIN not only helped terrorists in Afganistan before the war but also sent money to the Palestinian terrorists telling their families that their sons would go straight to paradise for killing innocent people and children and that Saddam would give the families of the suicide bombers a PENSION.Twenty (20) Iraqui engines were recently found in Jordan. The dictator of Iraq had plenty of time to hide and scatter his weapons of Mass destruction that even the United Nations said he had.These are just some of the facts which you will of course neither print nor accept.Thank you anyway.