Cheney Sticks To His Guns

The Skinny: Vice President Continues To Assert Saddam-Al Qaeda Link

(CBS)  The Skinny is Joel Roberts' take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.

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A declassified Pentagon report released Thursday concludes that there was no direct cooperation between Saddam Hussein's regime and al Qeada. But Dick Cheney, apparently, remains convinced there was.

The Washington Post on Friday said the report, which had been issued in summary form in February, drew on "captured Iraqi documents" and "interrogations of Saddam Hussein and two former aides" which "all confirmed" that Saddam and al Qaeda were not working together prior to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The Los Angeles Times said the report also sheds new light on the concerted effort within the Defense Department to establish a Saddam-al Qaeda link, despite a consensus in the intelligence community that Iraq and al Qaeda had only limited contacts – and that claims of deeper ties were based on dubious or unconfirmed data.

Not so, says Cheney. The same day the declassified report was released, the Post says, the vice president went on Rush Limbaugh's radio show to repeat his assertion that al Qaeda was operating inside Iraq "before we ever launched" the war, under the leadership of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the terrorist killed last June.

Cheney used the claim to bolster his argument that pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq would "play right into the hands of al Qaeda."

The Post points out, however, that Zarqawi was not a member of al Qaeda before the war, but "was the leader of an unaffiliated terrorist group." He didn’t publicly ally himself with al Qaeda until early 2004, after the U.S. invasion.


An SOS For 911

There's a major problem with the nation's 911-emergency telephone system, the New York Times reports Friday.

Although the technology has been available for years, the Times says many areas of the country lack the ability to pinpoint the location of cell phone calls – which is delaying the response to some emergencies, sometimes with life-threatening consequences.

Like the case of 911 operators in eastern Oklahoma who listened for more than 27 minutes to the harrowing screams of a woman who was being brutally beaten by an intruder, but were unable to do anything, since they could not identify where she was calling from. She had managed to dial 911 and kick her phone under the sofa, hoping she would be rescued. Fortunately, her attacker fled and she survived.

Others were not so lucky. A 4-year-old girl, also in Oklahoma, died in a house fire last year after a 911 operator misheard the address a cell-phone caller had given her and was unable to trace the location.

The Times says efforts are underway to upgrade 911 systems around the country, but the costs can be prohibitive, especially for the rural counties most in need of the technology boosts.

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[inventagod]

...and I continue to assert a Cheney-al Qaeda link...

[bobnjersey]

[Let us never forget that these things all started with a single person with a plan to take over the World ... it could happen again]

did he live in a cave? you gotta really watch out for those evil-doers that live in caves!

[homespunlady]

..."The enemy today hides in civilian clothes and plots and plans for our destruction. They are a dedicated group of people with no rules of engagement. Anyone who is an American is a Target and anyone who hates us is a friend. We must take the fight to his backyard or he most certainly will bring it to us. This is a new type of enemy the likes we have not seen before. How do you fight an enemy you cannot find..."
Posted by gwalsh3rd at 08:35 AM : Apr 08, 2007

I found this excerpt especially ironic since there's a growing number of Americans that suspect they're looking in the wrong country for the "enemy" he's described. Try in the US at the highest levels. The White House maybe??

[homespunlady]

gwalsh3rd:
Sadam's dead, there's a new 500 page book out by a top Iraqi outlining our mistakes, the Iraqis are holding massive demonstrations in the street (ironically Shiite and Sunni both in thowse demonsrations) demanding we leave, BIN LADEN is some somewhere in northern Pakistan saying our U-TURN to Iraq was his best recruiting tool EVER, and "Cheney's Chickenhawks" just keep emptying out our treasury and shipping it to Dubai, and other parts unknown. Interesting trip George took to South America recently. Wasn't that the area some Top Nazi's escaped to after WWII? Hmmm...
The rats are deserting the ship and from what I'm seeng the next few days may open a lot more eyes in spite of the media censorship.
Picking a fight with Iran seems to be the next step and I suspect George hasn't hesitated in setting it up. He needs a dose of reality outside his bubble - and soon.

[houser123]

Perhaps a more fitting headlinr should read
"VP Cheney, Sticks To His Lies". The only conclusion one can glean from this story is that the VP is delusional, in a state of denial, or just outright incompetent. How can he continue to defend his position when every intellingent agency in this country says the opposite? This is truly an administration that is in a State of Denial.

God Bless our great nation. Januaury 09 can not come soon enough for me.

[j0hnwi11iams]

Yes, *** Cheney IS insane. We knew that, but now it has been confirmed beyond all reasonable doubt. He knows the truth in his heart and can't be bothered with details like "facts". How sad it is that the right is led by the ravings of lunatics like Cheney and Limbaugh.

[randalds]

Dec 7 1941 a day that was supposed to live in infamy. A time when Americans rallied to support our troops. A time when they werent dropping lemmings from the sky but bombs and they killed thousands of Americans. People back then never thought an enemy so far away could ever be threat to us.In Germany there was an evil person named Adolph Hitler who some Americans actually thought was no threat either. 6 million Jews were killed without anyone knowing untill it was to late.Let us never forget that these things all started with a single person with a plan to take over the World.Lets us never forget that we live in a time when bombs can take out a single city.Let us never forget...it could happen again
Posted by gwalsh3rd at 10:21 PM : Apr 08, 2007

The biggest difference between WWII and Bush's filthy little war is that in WWII we were the good guys. Now, thanks to the fact that Bush invaded Iraq for no good reason, but for profit only and also because he not only condones but approves of torture, we're not the good guys anymore. Bush has changed America from the good guys to being one of the bad guys and that is unforgivable. That is what he needs to be impeached for the most.

[randalds]

Come on, gw, al Qaida WANTS us in Iraq. it's called "We're sending American kids to Iraq and putting targets on their backs, Bring it On!"

can't you see how W & D!ck have HELPED al Qaida?
Posted by actornaught at 11:51 PM : Apr 08, 2007

He can't. He really can't. He still thinks were fighting WWII when this filthy little war of Bush's has nothing to do with that noble cause. Bush's war is just a grab for money and power by a man who's been the joke of his family all of his life since he's screwed up everything he's touched. Because of this he was easily manipulated by others of a more evil bent, like Di*ck Cheney, who care only about war for profit. They whispered in his ear that if he was successful then dear old daddy wouldn't love Jeb best any longer. Of course, just like everything else in his pathetic life, he fu*cked this up too. I'd pity the little bas***** if he didn't have so much blood on his hands.

[randalds]

Let us never forget that these things all started with a single person with a plan to take over the World.Lets us never forget that we live in a time when bombs can take out a single city.Let us never forget...it could happen again
Posted by gwalsh3rd at 10:21 PM : Apr 08, 2007

I agree 100%! Which is exactly why I'm so opposed to the constant appeasement of that sawed off little Napoleon want to be, that idiotic bas*****, George W. Bush. This little pipsqueak of a future dictator wants to colonize the entire middle-east at the cost of trillions of dollars and tens of thousands of our troops lives and if Congress doesn't stop him, then I hope the rest of the world bands together against him. Not against America, because he no longer speaks for us, just against his regime. Remember at one time Hitler was just a little prick of joke too, so let's keep an eye on this as*shole Bush before he gets too big to stop easily.

[actornaught]

Come on, gw, al Qaida WANTS us in Iraq. it's called "We're sending American kids to Iraq and putting targets on their backs, Bring it On!"

can't you see how W & D!ck have HELPED al Qaida?

[gwalsh3rd]

Dec 7 1941 a day that was supposed to live in infamy. A time when Americans rallied to support our troops. A time when they werent dropping lemmings from the sky but bombs and they killed thousands of Americans. People back then never thought an enemy so far away could ever be threat to us.In Germany there was an evil person named Adolph Hitler who some Americans actually thought was no threat either. 6 million Jews were killed without anyone knowing untill it was to late.Let us never forget that these things all started with a single person with a plan to take over the World.Lets us never forget that we live in a time when bombs can take out a single city.Let us never forget...it could happen again

[randalds]

Yea, that's right, a silent majority that supports idiot boy......just don't wish to stand up for fear of being known as Traitors and Criminal Supporters......or is it they like War and killing, but don't want anyone asking THEM to go do it.......what a cowardly POS you and your kind are.....
Posted by veteran71 at 05:40 PM : Apr 08, 2007

Forget it man. gwalsh3rd is washed and dried in the blood of the lamb (George W. Bush). He has his ears so full of the bullsh*it from this administration that he can no longer hear the truth. It is an object to be pitied. A sad lemming headed over the same cliff as his master. Eyes tightly closed and grimly determined to do nothing but to follow the as*s of the lemming in front of him, all the while screaming that the existence of the cliff is nothing more then left wing propaganda. Like the rest of his herd he's going to be shocked as all hell when suddenly there's nothing by air under his furry paws and he and the rest are free-falling to the rocks and sea below. Run lemming! Run! Don't think for yourself! Don't question the government! Just do as you're told like a good little lemming and run for no other reason then the other lemmings are.

[gwalsh3rd]

Theres no way i believe either one of you Veteran 71 or randalds are Americans in the true sense I have a feeling your both a couple of disgruntled (and i use the term loosely) americans.Typically its the losers in life who can only express themselves by saying negative things of others.If you think things are that bad here then move to another country where you feel its better place to live. Its easy to be negative and to hate everyone and everything. You have my sympathy. I'm pround to be an American and i support or President, I dont expect him to get it all right just keep our country safe from any further attacks on American soil. Which by the way he has done since 9/11, What have you done, either one of you.If your not part of the solution your part of the problem.Like I said Its easy call people names and second guess are president...I would really like to know where people like yourself get your info from and then pass judgement on others.So tomorow am when you drive your *** import car to the gas station be grateful our guys are over there keeping the world a better place.

[randalds]

I believe there is a silent majority of Americans who do support our troops and believe in President Bush.Yes I'm one of them!

Posted by gwalsh3rd at 04:02 PM : Apr 08, 2007

And by the way, supporting our troops and believing in Bush are not the same thing and you dishonor their sacrifice by connecting them with that gutless coward in the Oval office who hid out in the Texas Air Guard rather then go to Vietnam like so many others did. He has a yellow streak down his back and on his belly a mile wide. I hope to outlive him if only because it'll give me the chance to someday pi*ss on his grave!

[randalds]

As a Vietnam vet I to support the troops, but I don't support the mongoloid idiot sitting in the White House who sent them into harms way for no other reason then the greed of his puppet-master, Di*ck Cheney and because of his own stupidity. They are not fighting in Iraq for us or to defend us or our country. Iraq had nothing whatsoever to do with 9-11 as investigation after investigation after investigation has proven. Nor did they have WMD's and this war is certainly not about overthrowing Saddam to "spread democracy". Those are complete lies and Bush and Cheney knew they were lies at the time the said them. This war is what it always was, a war for the profit of war contractors and big oil companies and that's all. Bush and Cheney cynically wasted our troops lives, used them the same way any criminal uses a gun, to steal with. They dishonored themselves, our troops (by wasting their lives for nothing) and our nation. They are the lowest scum of the earth, because they are murdering our troops and innocent civilians for nothing more then money, ego and power. They're mentally ill. Sick.

[gwalsh3rd]

Yes I will gladly wrap myself in an American Flag
I can imagine you would wrap yourself in a white bedsheet and hide in your closet when things are getting tuff.By they way I wont call you a moron your doing fine without my help.
Yes it amazes me when someone disagrees with what you have to say by calling you names. I remember those words from 3rd grade.
And yes there are brave men and women in Irag and for you or anyone else that would undermine what there doing there.....well theres not enough time nor do I think youll understand Americas mission over there. All I can say is I hope no other American has to Die over there, thats not what I want, I want all of those brave Men and Women to come home safely but I realize that its not that simple to just walk away after all the lives that have already been given and I pray not in vain, have you forgotten 9/11.
already? We have to beleive in what were dong over there and not let the naysayer's undermine
our mission over there. I believe there is a silent majority of Americans who do support our troops and believe in President Bush.Yes I'm one of them!

[randalds]

Posted by gwalsh3rd at 02:46 PM : Apr 08, 2007

My gawd it sounds like Bo Gritz! What a maroon! Unwrap yourself from the flag, just like Bush and Cheney, you're getting it dirty!

[actornaught]

except the aptly named "hornet's nest" has not only brought terrorists to Iraq to kill our best & brightest, but D!ck has gived them their best recruiting tool!

W & D!ck have created more terrorists than ever, and killed thousands in the process. al Qaida doesn't want us to leave Iraq!

and even with ALL that, what the he11 makes you think that 150,000 american troops in Iraq will stop terrorists from coming here?

[gwalsh3rd]

Those words come from a mind of a paranoid, mentally ill. *Quote grazinggoat*
Those words are from probably someone who thinks Freedom comes Free.That Hitler was going to give back France to the French.That Saddam Hussien had nothing in common with Hitler. That Isolation from the rest of the World will solve all of are problems and that they will just go away. The same person that never served his country and takes everything we have has Americans for granted. Thousands of brave Men gave their lives for you so you can sit in your nice safe bedroom so you can peck away on your computer.Cowards come in many shapes and forms they are the first to side with the local bully for fear he will not be pushed around,dont be mistaken your time will come when you Mr grazzingoat will have to use something other than your words to defend yourself. Thank god there are people like myself who are ready to fight.....yes fight..actually get of my butt and defend the likes of you. You see there are always people who are lucky enough to get a free ride while others make the ultimate sacrafice so you can enjoy your freedom.Yes these are the menatlly ill and paranoid people who dont want some Dictator and his Sons raping our women and killing are sons. History will always repeat itself,if we dont learn from our past encounters with these madmen then our future is doomed. Enjoy your freedom while you still have it

[Coolcal5420032001]

Do Cheney and Bush think they are supermen and can get terriost to go away? You only stir up the hornet's nest and get more involved. What happen to working things out with diplomacy? What happen to being true and hornest with the American taxpaying citizens? It no wonder that we have so many taxpaying Americans trying to find relief from being over taxed and their money's going into more weapons that even end up into the hands of our young Amreican, what are they going to do about this? America is in need of strong honest leaders right now looking out for the American people.It not just Circuit City were people are losing their jobs by the thousands,please awake Americans!