Irony and Hypocrisy: Bush and Cheney are Harboring Terrorists in Iraq

A. Alexander, April 8th, 2007

Prior to the war, in their usual shortsighted manner, Dick and George really hadn't thought about what would happen after it became obvious that they had invaded Iraq based upon wholly fictional intelligence. They had failed to consider how they would explain away all the lies. They didn't bother to ponder how they would secure the peace once the invasion ended. They didn't think about what they would tell the American people after it became evident that Saddam didn't have anything to do with 9/11, wasn't involved with al-Qaeda, and possessed exactly zero weapons of mass destruction.

It must have been the sort of panic a drowning person experiences as their lungs fill with water and their body begins to sink; it must have been a panic with that kind of intensity which led Mister Bush and Cheney to claim a small group hiding in Iraq's Northern frontier, was proof of Hussein's ties to al-Qaeda and therefore, 9/11.

For the administration, the group provided the means through which to pretend their pre-war lies were true all along. To that end, they sent word out to their propagandists at FOX News and on the AM radio dial -- Limbaugh, Hannity and Beck among the most prominent -- that they had indeed been vindicated.

Mister Bush and Cheney were right, the group was loosely connected to al-Qaeda and they were hiding out in Northern Iraq. The problem was, of course, that they were in a region formerly identified as the "No-Fly-Zone." Saddam was aware of their presence, but what could he have done? Their hideout was high in the mountains and without air support, any ground-based assault on their camp would have been a suicide mission. Some reports indicate that Saddam's intelligence may have infiltrated the group...a wise move. Maybe he couldn't attack them, but he might be able to keep tabs on them. But Hussein, according to the 9/11 Commission and the Pentagon's recent report, did not have anything resembling an operational relationship with them or al-Qaeda. Besides the group, Ansar al-Islam, was only interested in attacking Saddam's archenemy, Iran.

Still, for the 'loyal Bushies' it was all the proof they needed to proclaim Saddam's ties to al-Qaeda and links to 9/11....

It truly is ironic then, that on the very day regime documents and papers related to Saddam's interrogation were released by the Pentagon and proved that the dictator didn't have any operational ties to al-Qaeda; it was also revealed that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are guilty of supporting a terrorist group in Iraq. They are actively committed to engaging in the very thing that they had falsely accused Saddam of, and used as one of their main justifications for invading Iraq.

The Department of Defense report makes clear that "information obtained after the fall of Saddam confirmed the prewar position of the US Central Intelligence Agency and Pentagon intelligence that the Iraqi government had had no substantial contacts with Al-Qaeda."

At worst, Saddam might have been guilty of deciding that the enemy of his enemy was his friend. If Ansar al-Islam was going to hideout in a region made off limits to him and attack their mutual enemy Iran, what did he care? Besides, the 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' doctrine has been around since the beginning of time. Heaven knows Ronald Reagan made great use of that strategy when he supported Afghanistan's Mujahedeen-later-turned bin-Laden's al-Qaeda and America's 9/11 attackers.

And now it is Mister 'Freedom Fighter' and 'Evil-doer Terrorist Hunter', George W. Bush's turn to play terror group Sugar Daddy and protector: "An Iranian opposition group based in Iraq, despite being considered terrorists by the United States, continues to receive protection from the American military in the face of Iraqi pressure to leave the country."

Why would the Iraqi government want the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), the terrorists Mister Bush and Cheney are protecting, pitched out of their country? Well, among other things -- international embassy bombings and the wholesale slaughter of innocent civilians -- the group had helped Saddam with his brutal massacre during the post-Gulf-War-One Shiite uprising.

Ironic, isn't it? George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are actually doing the very thing that they had falsely accused Saddam of doing and used to justify attacking Iraq...the hypocrites are actually harboring terrorists in Iraq.