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Media Blatantly Distorts Iraq-Al Qaeda Link
By Bobby Eberle
June 21, 2004

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States published a number of staff reports this past week which describe the unfolding of events leading up to and during the fateful day of September 11, 2001. One such report provides background on the rise of Usama bin Laden and al Qaeda, the terror network known to be responsible for the 9-11 attacks. Among the many conclusions drawn by the 9-11 Commission staff was a particular statement regarding Iraq and al Qaeda which the media has spun into an indictment of the Bush administration, but which, to the media's discredit, has no basis in fact.

Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the report describes bin Laden's efforts to recruit Middle Eastern Muslims to travel to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. According to the report, bin Laden used his personal wealth and connections to "facilitate the flow of fighters into Afghanistan." Bin Laden set up training camps in Afghanistan and procured weapons and supplies for Arab fighters. Following the defeat of the Soviets in the late 1980s, the report states that bin Laden formed an organization called "The Foundation," or al Qaeda.

According to the report, with its headquarters in Sudan, bin Laden's al Qaeda network began in 1992 to focus on attacking the U.S. The report states that bin Laden argued that other terror groups had not gone far enough by attacking Israel or local rulers. Bin Laden said that the U.S. needed to be attacked because it was the "head of the snake."

In addressing cooperation between al Qaeda and Iraq, the report stated that bin Laden "explored possible cooperation with Iraq" during the time he was in Sudan. Sudanese officials even "arranged for contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda." According to the report, "A senior Iraqi intelligence officer reportedly made three visits to Sudan, finally meeting bin Laden in 1994."

Keeping in mind that the stated purpose of the commission is to investigate the 9-11 attacks, and noting the commission staff acknowledges Iraq-al Qaeda meetings beginning in the early 1990s, the staff asserts that they "have no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States." However, this limited statement pertaining solely to the 9-11 attacks has been maliciously spun by the media to say that there were never any links between Iraq and al Qaeda.

The New York Times led their story by saying that the 9-11 Commission staff "sharply contradicted one of President Bush's central justifications for the Iraq war." The New York Times also interprets the staff reports as saying that "the government of Mr. Hussein had rebuffed or ignored requests from [al] Qaeda leaders for help in the 1990s."

The fact of the matter is that neither President Bush nor any member of his administration has stated that Iraq collaborated with al Qaeda in the 9-11 attacks. The commission's job is to focus on 9-11, and their assertions regarding Iraq and al Qaeda are regarding the 9-11 terror attacks only. For the New York Times to spin the commission's conclusions to something outside the scope of the 9-11 attacks is irresponsible at best and purposely biased at worst.

The Los Angeles Times was even more adamant on what they claim the commission staff reports meant. In describing the report, the LA Times said, "The findings appeared to be the most complete and authoritative dismissal of a key Bush administration rationale for invading Iraq: that Hussein's regime had worked in collusion with al Qaeda."

Again, the LA Times in its efforts to paint President Bush as not being truthful with the American public have themselves not been truthful with their readers. Fortunately, this patently biased reporting has not gone unnoticed.

Former New Jersey governor and Chairman of the 9-11 Commission Thomas Kean said that al Qaeda had "a lot more active contacts" with Iran and Pakistan than it did with Iraq, but "we don't see serious conflicts" with the White House over the issue.

Appearing on Fox News, 9-11 Commission Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton said, "I must say I have trouble understanding the flap over this [Al Qaeda ties to Iraq]. The vice president is saying, I think, that there were connections between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's government. We don't disagree with that, so it seems to me the sharp differences that the press has drawn -- the media has drawn are not that apparent to me."

Vice President Cheney blasted the New York Times's findings, saying there "clearly was a relationship."

"It has been testified to," Cheney said on CNBC. "The evidence is overwhelming. It goes back to the early 90s. It involves a whole series of high level contacts between Usama bin Laden and Iraqi intelligence officials."

"The press, with all due respect, [is] often times lazy, often times simply reports what somebody else in the press said without doing their homework," Cheney added.

When questioned by reporters on the commission staff report, President Bush said, "The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda, [is] because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda."

"This administration never said that the 9-11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and al Qaeda," Bush added. "We did say there were numerous contacts between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. For example, Iraqi intelligence officers met with bin Laden, the head of al Qaeda, in the Sudan. There's numerous contacts between the two."

The American public deserves to get their information without the left-leaning, anti-Bush spin that often coats any news coming out of Washington. The current coverage of the 9-11 staff report is but one in a string of many examples where the facts are spun to present an unfavorable and untrue representation of President Bush. Hopefully, as more Americans speak up and take notice of the biased reporting, an effort will be made to present unfiltered facts. Perhaps the New York Times thinks everyone is stupid. Perhaps they think Americans will simply take what they say as fact.

Thankfully, more news outlets and individuals are beginning to criticize the slanted reporting and draw attention to the organizations which are the worst offenders. There is probably nothing that can be done to stop this behavior, but we needn't worry. As long as we can see their activity for what it is, then we can give the coverage its proper left-wing label. The worst thing that could happen to the New York Times, America's new source "of record," is for it to be marginalized as some left-wing rag that can't be trusted to report the real story. When that happens, and the New York Times has lost the little bit of credibility that it clings to, then its influence will rank up there with the tabloids.

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Bobby Eberle is President and CEO of GOPUSA (www.GOPUSA.com), a news, information, and commentary company based in Houston, TX. He holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Rice University.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.