The Gamut

The New York Times > Washington > Leaders of 9/11 Panel Ask Cheney for Reports

The leaders of the Sept. 11 commission called on Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday to turn over any intelligence reports that would support the White House's insistence that there was a close relationship between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda.

The commission's chairman, Thomas H. Kean, and its vice chairman, Lee H. Hamilton, said they wanted to see any additional information in the administration's possession after Mr. Cheney, in a television interview on Thursday, was asked whether he knew things about Iraq's links to terrorists that the commission did not know.

"Probably," Mr. Cheney replied.

The 9/11 commission said that there was no “collaborative relationship” between Iraq and al Qaeda. That is what the commission said. They acknowledged that there had been attempts by al Qaeda to create such a relationship, so clearly there had to be contact. But if there was no “collaborative relationship” then there was no threat that Hussein would give his non-existant WMDs to al Qaeda.

By challenging this assertion, Bush is implying that there was a “collaborative relationship” when there was none. Cheney says he knows things the 9/11 commision didn't. The 9/11 commission says they saw no eviddence of a “collaborative relationship.” Bush and Cheney insisted on giving joint testimoney, and apparently Bush did all the talking, and this evidence never came up. One has to wonder, is Cheney keeping things from Bush? Is Bush remaining ignorant on purpose so that he might enjoy plausible deniability?

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