WP: Zarqawi Helped U.S. Argument That Al-Qaeda Network Was in Iraq

[sabra]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/09/AR2006060901578_pf.html

Zarqawi Helped U.S. Argument That Al-Qaeda Network Was in Iraq

From the moment President Bush introduced him to the American people in October 2002, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi served a crucial purpose for the administration, providing a tangible focus for its insistence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network responsible for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

After the invasion that toppled Hussein, and the subsequent rise of the insurgency against occupying U.S. forces, Zarqawi's presence in Iraq was cited as proof that the uprising was fomented by al-Qaeda-backed "foreign fighters."

On Thursday, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld described Zarqawi as "the leading terrorist in Iraq and one of three senior al-Qaeda leaders worldwide."

In addition to his indisputably prominent role in the Iraqi insurgency, Zarqawi was always a useful source of propaganda for the administration. Magnification of his role and of the threat he posed grew to the point that some senior intelligence officers believed it was counterproductive.

[jaysunb]

1. self delete

[Rose Siding]

2. That's why they didn't take him out in 02.

I can't believe I never formed that thought before.

Bless Pincus.

[Canuckistanian]

3. Good for the Post!

This is the second article in as many days to make that same point.

"Military Plays Up Role of Zarqawi", from yesterday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/09/AR2006040900890.html

[LynnTheDem]

4. so isn't it funny that bush THREE TIMES REFUSED the US military request

to take al Zarqawi out....BEFORE bush'sullshit illegal invasion of Iraq....

[hollowdweller]

8. True. Why is no news organization picking up the fact they refused 3x ???

[PSPS]

5. Yet another misleading headline

"Zarqawi Helped U.S. Argument That Al-Qaeda Network Was in Iraq"

is a backhanded way of saying,

"Zarquawi proved U.S. Argument That Al-Qaeda Network Was In Iraq Before The Invasion. All Hail Bush!"

when, in fact, they are really saying that

"Zarquawi Assisted U.S. promote Its False Argument..."

[frylock]

6. goldstein helped minipax argument that the brotherhood was in eastasia

[ashling]

7. I didn't read it that way

just me, I guess.

[krkaufman]

9. (The media) helped US argument that al Qaeda was in Iraq.

Zarqawi's existence would have had no effect on public sentiment towards going to war if the media hadn't been so bloody negligent. The lapdog media allowed Bush's distortions to echo unchecked, while anyone with half a brain knew Zarqawi was holed-up in the Kurdish region of the country, protected from Saddam by our Northern no-fly zone.