Bush: Bin Laden Had Iraq Plan

(AP)  President Bush portrayed the Iraq war as a battle between the U.S. and al Qaeda on Wednesday and shared nuggets of intelligence to contend Osama bin Laden was setting up a terrorist cell in Iraq to strike targets in America.

Bush, who faces a public weary of war and is at odds with Democrats in Congress over funding troops, said that while the Sept. 11 attacks occurred in 2001, Americans still face a major threat from terrorists.

"In the minds of al Qaeda leaders, 9/11 was just a down payment on violence yet to come," Bush said during a commencement speech at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in which he defended his decision to order a troop buildup in Iraq. "It is tempting to believe that the calm here at home after 9/11 means that the danger to our country has passed."

"Here in America, we are living in the eye of a storm," he said. "All around us, dangerous winds are swirling and these winds could reach our shores at any moment."

Critics of the war insist that U.S. troops are in the middle of fights among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

"As global terror threats remain very real, President Bush is sinking more money and sending more troops to referee Iraq's civil war, when those precious resources would be better spent in finishing the mission left unaccomplished in Afghanistan," said Brian Katulis, a national security expert at the Center for American Progress think tank.

The White House has repeatedly said the U.S. and its allies will be successful when the Iraqis can sustain, govern and defend themselves, yet Bush used his speech to stress the threat from al Qaeda activities in Iraq.

"Hear the words of Osama bin Laden: He calls the struggle in Iraq a `war of destiny,"' Bush said. "He proclaimed `The war is for you or for us to win. If we win it, it means your defeat and disgrace forever."'

Much of the intelligence information Bush cited in his speech described terrorism plots already revealed. But he declassified information to flesh out details and highlight U.S. successes in foiling planned attacks orchestrated by bin Laden, the al Qaeda boss.

"Victory in Iraq is important for Osama bin Laden, and victory in Iraq is vital for the United States of America," Bush told the graduating class seated in a stadium under bright sunshine along the Thames River.

Bush said intelligence showed that in January 2005, bin Laden tasked Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, his senior operative in Iraq, to organize a terrorist cell and use Iraq as a staging ground for attacking the United States.

This information expanded on a classified bulletin the Homeland Security Department issued in March 2005. The bulletin, which warned that bin Laden had enlisted al-Zarqawi to plan potential strikes in the United States, was described at the time as credible but not specific. It did not prompt the administration to raise its national terror alert level.

Bush said that in the spring of 2005, bin Laden also instructed Hamza Rabia, a senior operative, to brief al-Zarqawi on an al Qaeda plan to attack sites outside Iraq.

"Our intelligence community reports that a senior al Qaeda leader, Abu Faraj al-Libi, went further and suggested that bin Laden actually send Rabia, himself, to Iraq to help plan external operations," Bush said. "Abu Faraj later speculated that if this effort proved successful, al Qaeda might one day prepare the majority of its external operations from Iraq."

Bush said another suspected al Qaeda operative, Ali Salih al-Mari, was training in poisoning at a camp in Afghanistan and dispatched to the United States before the Sept. 11 attacks to "serve as a sleeper agent ready for follow-on attacks."

Bush said bin Laden attempted to send a new commander to Iraq, an Iraqi-born terrorist named Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi. Al-Iraqi, who was al Qaeda's top commander in Afghanistan, was captured last year and recently transferred to Guantanamo Bay.

Democrats and other critics have accused Bush of selectively declassifying intelligence, including portions of a sensitive National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, to justify the U.S.-led invasion on grounds that Saddam Hussein's government possessed weapons of mass destruction. That assertion proved false.

Rand Beers, national security adviser to John Kerry's 2004 Democratic presidential campaign, contended Wednesday that the Bush administration was releasing intelligence to buttress the argument that Iraq is the central front in the war on terrorism while a number of intelligence sources say the most recent attacks or planned attacks against the U.S. and its allies have originated in Pakistan instead.

"Bin Laden is using Iraq to kill and demonize the United States while remaining secure and planning further operations in Pakistan," Beers said.

Frances Fragos Townsend, the White House homeland security adviser, said new details about the plots were declassified because the intelligence community had tracked all leads from the information and the players were either dead or in U.S. custody.

In May 2005, al-Libi was captured. Several months later, in December 2005, al-Rabia was killed in Pakistan. In June of 2006, al-Zarqawi was killed in Iraq in a U.S. airstrike.

Actually, making the new information public earlier might have allowed Bush to use it to his political advantage, Townsend said. "This is kind of late to be able to bring this to the game," she said, adding that intelligence officials needed time to exploit the information.

[waynabq]

Everyone should stop refering to the Iraq debacle as the "Iraq War" because there is no "War". The war was won militarily 4 years ago with the over-throw of Saddam and the disbanding of the Iraqi army. Call it what it is, the "IRAQ OCCUPATION".

I'm sick of the media and the band of monkeys in the White House calling this a "War". Its a bloody freaking cluster that the Chimp is perpetuating by creating more fear and hysteria. The only people buying it are the dimmest 28 percent of the U.S. population.

[nyckate]

Just how fing stupid does this man think America is??

Saddan and Osama were ENEMIES - Osama hated saddam because his Iraq was secular not islamic.

the part that Osama operated in was Kurdish controlled part of Iraq -- yes - the same fing kurds that Rumsfeld had our soldiers fighting alongside.


Now you Bush supporters can for once in your lives be grownups and admit that Bush is full of it. Iraq is now 'central' to war on terror because Bush made it so through his complete and utter incompetenct made worse still by his drunken stoned out delusional state of mind.

Or you can remain stupid, immature and idiotic.

THose are the only choices left to you today.

[jestith]

I think liberals and DNCs are also ready to fight terrorism. They'd just rather fight the people who attacked us, rather than the people who threatened Bush's daddy.

[xzavierbrown]

A lot of people believes that islamic terrorism can be defined with borders and timelines, that islamic fundamental ideals that are eons old is not real. We live in a world that changed since the conception of the Koran, a world that contains societies and ideals that is totaly untolerable when seen from a muslim's prespective. Islamic terrorism fueled by a culture of intolerance. It does not know any borders and it does not understand timelines. The world is entering a new culture war, its financed by our gas revenues and as real as it was eons ago. If we want to preserve our own ideals and cultures we need to fight for it. We became comfortable with that false sense of security that terrorism cannot reach us from middle east. We try to be pro-active instead of being re-active as not to bring terrorism within our own shores (it is obvious that it is already here and EVERYBODY should support this effort).
But i guess, we need to be reminded every now and then hence, with liberals and DNC's support, islamic terrorists will remind us the value of what we hold dear, rendering an attack as inevitable.

[hhkeller]

Looks like both the Pubs and Dems play us like a fiddle but since Bush is the master at manipulation he should be impeached.

[jestith]

The strongest connection between bin Laden and Iraq is that bin Laden has been quoted as saying he wanted to tie up the US in a war in the Middle East that would drain our resources and motivate more extremists who don't like a US presence in their countries.

Fortunately for Bin Laden's cause, The Decider went for it. And since The Decider went ahead and pressed his tongue against that freezing lamp pole, it's painful to stay and painful to leave. It would be funny if this hadn't increased the risk for America and killed so many people.

[toldyouso21]

"The war on terror is a slogan designed only for politics, not a strategy to make America safe. It's a bumper sticker, not a plan. It has damaged our alliances and weakened our standing in the world. By framing this as a 'war,' we have walked straight into the trap that the terrorists have set -- that we are engaged in some kind of clash of civilizations and a war against Islam." - John Edwards Posted by Iceman_1960 at 08:49 PM : May 23, 2007


Saddam Hussein's regime represents a grave threat to America and our allies, including our vital ally, Israel. For more than two decades, Saddam Hussein has sought weapons of mass destruction through every available means. ... we know that each day he gets closer to achieving that goal." -- John Edwards, Oct 10, 2002 Try again. Posted by dlpracer at 09:10 PM : May 23, 2007

I think your post just demonstrates that Edwards and others can learn and grow from their previous mistakes and suppositions.

Now, to be fair, show us what it is like to be entertained by a nut. You know--insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results. You can use any of Bush's speeches or actions that you like.

[toldyouso21]

Why does Bush act like anyone besides the party sheeple listen to him? He is a known and proven LIAR and maniputlator/cherry picker of intel. He really should retire Bin Laden's name. After all, 2 weeks after the 9/11/06 speech to families about catching Bin Laden, he told Fred Barnes in an interview that "honestly Bin Laden is just not a priority in the war on terror" Not a priority? Then shut the fvck up Mr. President.

[ajmarine1]

MP1236,

"I was born in QC and I live in AB. I hope this will help you."

Not realy, but it doesn't matter I guess; I was just tired of listening to the "Lib's" and "Neocon's" going at it and I thought I might find something else to talk about.

Live Long and Prosper.

[randalds]

Oops, YOU are getting close to the daily IDIOT award.

There are 1.6 million ACTIVE military (NOT including reservist) and 130,000 are in Iraq.

I'll let YOU do the simple math.

Yikes!!
Posted by dlpracer at 09:23 PM : May 23, 2007

The majority of whom are support troops and not combat trained. And you win the prize! Thank you for playing and:

Try again.