# "We were not in Iraq on \[9/11\], but the terrorists hit us anyway" --Cheney **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 29, 2006, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655 "2006-08-29T12:57:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/101 "2006-08-31T03:28:27Z")
That’s not terrorism, that’s merely criminal behavior on the part of politically deranged people. Not nearly the same thing as terrorism, ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/102 "2006-08-31T13:36:29Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] Well, we do have a pretty good idea about their motivations, seeing as they [sent threatening letters with the anthrax](http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/102301.htm). If it quacks like a duck… [/QUOTE] Well, that’s certainly conclusive. The fourth grade at Greendale School is composed of terrorists. Thanks for cracking the case, Sherlock. Are you _really_ that stupid, or is it an act? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/103 "2006-08-31T14:21:41Z")
Wow. Just wow. You gotta hand it to **Shodan** – just when you think he can’t possibly say anything dumber, he plumbs new depths of disingenuous fuckwaddery. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/104 "2006-08-31T14:22:11Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] Well, that’s certainly conclusive. The fourth grade at Greendale School is composed of terrorists. [/QUOTE] Only a Kool-Aid quaffer like you could never imagine a terrorist might wish to make his letters look innocent. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/105 "2006-08-31T15:01:06Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] And with you, not even that. Admit it - you didn’t even read your own cite far enough to see that Bush specifically denied a connection between Iraq and 9/11. You = stupid [/QUOTE] Which is exactly the point I am making. You know, the one that goes wooooooosh! right over your indoctrinated pate. You=GOP parrot without a clue. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/106 "2006-08-31T15:11:38Z")
[Iraq and Al Qaeda](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0512140147dec14,0,6830441.story) > [@](#): > > The Bush administration did not, before or after the war, accuse Iraq of perpetrating Al Qaeda’s deadliest assault. In fact, on Sept. 18, 2003, Bush told reporters, “We’ve had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with Sept. 11.” But as Tribune columnist Steve Chapman wrote, that was too little too late: **“At a news conference shortly before the campaign in Iraq began, Bush invoked the memory of Sept. 11, 2001, no fewer than eight times. That was enough to foster the widespread impression that we were launching a retaliatory attack, not a pre-emptive one.”** bolding mine ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/107 "2006-08-31T16:15:07Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] Only a Kool-Aid quaffer like you could never imagine a terrorist might wish to make his letters look innocent. [/QUOTE] So all the references to 9/11 and Islamic terrorism were all intended to make the letters look _innocent_, and like they _weren’t_ coming from a terrorist? I never believed a negative IQ was possible before now. > [@RedFury](#): > > Which is exactly the point I am making. > [@RedFury](#): > > To The Great Apologist himself, Shodan, please explain how the following comments made by your Imbecil In Charge just YESTERDAY, cannot be taken as an implication that Iraq was indeed involved with 9/11: So the point you were making was that Bush was implying that Iraq was involved in 9/11. In a speech in which he specifically denied such a link. Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuure you were. Come now - I know you’re stupid, but surely even you can’t expect to deny what is posted right in black and white. On the other hand, you are the idiot who believes that Kofi Annan is the final authority on international law, so maybe you really are that stupid. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/108 "2006-08-31T16:36:41Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] I never believed a negative IQ was possible before now. [/QUOTE] You are living proof of that. neener-_Neener_-NEE-NER ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/109 "2006-08-31T17:02:16Z")
[QUOTE=RedFury] [Iraq and Al Qaeda](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0512140147dec14,0,6830441.story) bolding mine [/QUOTE] Your cite proves what? That Steve Chapman agrees with you. BFD. The very first sentence in the quote from your cite says that the administration never accused Iraq of being complicit in the events of 9/11. The whole point of that editorial you cited (and let’s remember it was an editorial, not a news article) was that Bush tried to link Saddam with al Qaeda and to posit that a future attack involving al Qaeda might be orchestrated with Saddam’s help. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/110 "2006-08-31T17:39:52Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] So all the references to 9/11 and Islamic terrorism were all intended to make the letters look _innocent_, and like they _weren’t_ coming from a terrorist? [/QUOTE] Do you suppose that letters bearing the return address of Al Quida, 3rd cave on the right, Afghanastan, would have been opened? ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/111 "2006-08-31T17:59:39Z")
Just gotta love The Apologists. Let’s keep doing this all day: [Bush: Iraq, al Qaeda linked](http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/29/sprj.irq.bush.iraq/) > [@](#): > > GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (CNN) – President Bush spent Wednesday trying to draw a link between a possible war in Iraq and the war against terrorism. He repeated accusations that Iraq is linked to the al Qaeda terrorist network. Seriously, how do you assholes think a majority of Americans (and an overwhelming amount of soldiers) came to that belief? 'cuase they are mostly idiots or by a slow process of repetition, the kind of osmosis you twats keepo trying to deny? ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/112 "2006-08-31T18:11:37Z")
The above was in Michigan. Let’s check what he said in [Cinci](http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021007-8.html): > [@](#): > > We know that Iraq and the al Qaeda terrorist network share a common enemy – the United States of America. We know that Iraq and al Qaeda have had high-level contacts that go back a decade. Some al Qaeda leaders who fled Afghanistan went to Iraq. These include one very senior al Qaeda leader who received medical treatment in Baghdad this year, and who has been associated with planning for chemical and biological attacks. We’ve learned that Iraq has trained al Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases. And we know that after September the 11th, Saddam Hussein’s regime gleefully celebrated the terrorist attacks on America. How’s that for a pile of Bushit? Want more? No prob. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/113 "2006-08-31T18:16:17Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] No, it’s just a prediction of the usual reaction to these kinds of threads. Regards, Shodan [/QUOTE] As far as I can tell (and I am guilty of it too), the fact that this administration deceived us to get us into this war in Iraq and then tried to deceive us again to change social security then scrood up the war in Iraq and Katrina on such a grand scale has blown their credibility so far out of the water that anything they say is met with skepticism (I insert social security to show that their deception is not limited to the the war on terror and I insert katrina to show that their incompetence is not limited to executing the war on terror). Heck they may even be right about the war on terror and how important it is for the survival of western civilization and their strategies may be the best or even the only hope against this tide of darkness but their deception and incompetence (see above) means that I just can’t believe a word they say anymore. I am constantly amazed that people still give these guys any benefit of the doubt. 2 years ago I was crushed by the realization that I was so out of touch with more than half of my fellow citizens, I am now realizing that many of those people were hoodwinked and the better news is that many of THEM are now realizing that they were hoodwinked. Sure some people saw through everything and saw what the admionistration was REALLY saying and they agreed and they still support the administration but they’re not half the country. I was politically ambivalent until 2003, I voted but I usually voted for whoever had the most flyers up in my neighborhood (I figured whoever had the most flyers cares the most about me and my neighborhood), I didn’t vote for Bush in 2000 but I didn’t really care who won, I figured how much harm could he do, my ambivalence evaporated in 2003 when we invaded a country based on deception of the American public. If we have a split congress (one chamber is Dem and the other is Pub) I will probably go back to voting for whoever puts up the most flyers in my neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/114 "2006-08-31T18:20:50Z")
[Claims and Facts](http://www.americanprogress.org/AccountTempFiles/cf/%7BE9245FE4-9A2B-43C7-A521-5D6FF2E06E03%7D/PRIRAQCLAIMFACT1029.HTM) > [@](#): > > CLAIM: “You can’t distinguish between al-Qaida and Saddam.” – President Bush, 9/25/02 > > FACT: “U.S. allies have found no links between Iraq and Al Qaeda. ‘We have found no evidence of links between Iraq and Al Qaeda,’ said Europe’s top investigator. ‘If there were such links, we would have found them. But we have found no serious connections whatsoever.’” [LA Times, 11/4/02] > > FACT: According to documents, “Saddam Hussein warned his Iraqi supporters to be wary of joining forces with foreign Arab fighters entering Iraq to battle U.S. troops. The document provides another piece of evidence challenging the Bush administration contention of close cooperation between Saddam’s regime and al Qaeda terrorists.” [NY Times, 1/15/04] > > FACT: “CIA interrogators have already elicited from the top Qaeda officials in custody that, before the American-led invasion, Osama bin Laden had rejected entreaties from some of his lieutenants to work jointly with Saddam.” [NY Times, 1/15/04] ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/115 "2006-08-31T18:25:07Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] You are living proof of that. neener-_Neener_-NEE-NER [/QUOTE] Oh come on - “I know you are but what am I?” That’s just lame. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/116 "2006-08-31T18:31:20Z")
Every time \*\*Shodan \*\* is reduced to sputtering, “You’re Stupid” or the equivalent, everybody has to take a drink. How long can we last? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/117 "2006-08-31T19:01:16Z")
Getting back to the topic at hand, this was in the morning paper today: > [@](#): > > [Bush goes on offensive over Iraq](http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/nation/15405179.htm) > > Vice President Dick Cheney this week said critics `claim retreat from Iraq would satisfy the appetite of the terrorists and get them to leave us alone.'' Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, citing passivity toward Nazi Germany before World War II, said that `many have still not learned history’s lessons’’ and ``believe that somehow vicious extremists can be appeased.‘’ > > Pressed to support these allegations, the White House on Wednesday could cite no major Democrat who has proposed cutting off funds or suggested that withdrawing from Iraq would persuade terrorists to leave Americans alone. But White House and Republican officials said those are logical interpretations of the most common Democratic position favoring a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. And, of course, Cheney wasn’t just freelancing when he made those comments-- Bush is going on the offensive, and I think we can assume that Cheney’s remarks were part of that offensive (as well as being offensive). Expect more such duplicitous soundbites to come… ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/118 "2006-08-31T19:13:02Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] Every time \*\*Shodan \*\* is reduced to sputtering, “You’re Stupid” or the equivalent, everybody has to take a drink. How long can we last? [/QUOTE] Not very long under the best conditions. However, if the **Shodan-bot** hits a glitch, we could all be shitfaced really fast. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/119 "2006-08-31T19:33:30Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] Oh come on - “I know you are but what am I?” That’s just lame. Regards, Shodan [/QUOTE] You know what’s lame? Pretending that your oppoonent is arguing that the decoy on the anthrax letters was on the INSIDE of the envelopes. That’s lame. In fact, that’s _beyond_ lame. That’s double above-the-knee amputation (followed by the installation of #12 DORRANCE STAINLESS STEEL HOOKS instead of prosthetic legs). Unless you meant _gold lame_, as in the gaudy cloth famously worn by Gorgeous George and Liberace. Then it’s beyond lame into brocade. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655/120 "2006-08-31T20:03:30Z")
So, **Shodan** believes that sending biological weapons through the mail to elected officials and members of the media is not terrorism. Therefore, even if Iraq had possessed biological weapons–and they most certainly did not–they would not have been able to use them for terrorist acts, because the use of biological weapons on noncombatants is not terrorism. Therefore, **Shodan** agrees that the war in Iraq was not a part of the War on Terror. See how it works, dipshit? Seriously, if the anthrax attacks weren’t terrorism, what were they? What possible definition of “terrorism” can exclude that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-were-not-in-iraq-on-9-11-but-the-terrorists-hit-us-anyway-cheney/370655.md?page=7)