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Greetings, The Bush Administration Has Never Linked... The following litany is based on a classic spin piece by Bush administration propagandist David E. Sanger. It appeared in the New York Times on May 1, 2003. (Link at bottom) The piece was cited by Ken Hanly for its remarkable redundancy in explaining that the administration is reluctant to "declare a final end to the war, in part because that would require them, under the Geneva Convention, to release more than 6,000 prisoners of war..." I present here another, no less remarkable aspect of Sanger's immortal journalistic masterpiece: the brazen attempt at practicing mass hypnosis. (The chorus line is paragraph six of the article.) The Scene: SAN DIEGO, May 1. Speaking from the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln before a large group of uniformed sailors and aviators as the ship sailed home, President Bush declared... Sanger: ...that the military phase of the war in Iraq had ended and that the battle was "one victory in a war on terror that began on September 11th, 2001, and still goes on.'' Chorus: The Bush administration has never linked the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to Mr. Hussein, although senior officials did charge that Iraq had ties to the Qaeda network. Sanger: ...he argued that by vanquishing the government of Saddam Hussein, he had removed "an ally of Al Qaeda,'' and he vowed to continue to search for banned weapons in Iraq and to keep such weapons out of the hands of terrorists. Chorus: The Bush administration has never linked the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to Mr. Hussein, although senior officials did charge that Iraq had ties to the Qaeda network. Sanger: ...Bush made it clear that he considered the Iraq conflict just one major moment of a broader confrontation that he would pursue against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Chorus: The Bush administration has never linked the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to Mr. Hussein, although senior officials did charge that Iraq had ties to the Qaeda network. Sanger: He spoke in emotional terms not only about the troops who toppled Mr. Hussein but also about the Sept. 11 attacks, melding the battle against terrorism with the battle against Iraq. Chorus: The Bush administration has never linked the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to Mr. Hussein, although senior officials did charge that Iraq had ties to the Qaeda network. Sanger: "We have not forgotten the victims of September 11th, the last phone calls, the cold murder of children, the searches in the rubble,'' he said. Chorus: The Bush administration has never linked the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to Mr. Hussein, although senior officials did charge that Iraq had ties to the Qaeda network. Sanger: "With those attacks, the terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States. And war is what they got.'' Chorus: The Bush administration has never linked the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to Mr. Hussein, although senior officials did charge that Iraq had ties to the Qaeda network. Sanger: In his speech, Mr. Bush argued that the invasion and liberation of Iraq was part of the American response to the attacks of Sept. 11. Chorus: The Bush administration has never linked the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to Mr. Hussein, although senior officials did charge that Iraq had ties to the Qaeda network. Sanger: He called the tumultuous period since those attacks "19 months that changed the world,'' and said Mr. Hussein's defeat was a defeat for Al Qaeda and other terrorists as well. Chorus: The Bush administration has never linked the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to Mr. Hussein, although senior officials did charge that Iraq had ties to the Qaeda network. Sanger: "The liberation of Iraq is a crucial advance in the campaign against terror,'' he said. "We have removed an ally of Al Qaeda, and cut off a source of terrorist funding." Chorus: The Bush administration has never linked the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to Mr. Hussein, although senior officials did charge that Iraq had ties to the Qaeda network. Sanger: "And this much is certain: No terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime, because that regime is no more.'' Chorus: The Bush administration has never linked the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to Mr. Hussein, although senior officials did charge that Iraq had ties to the Qaeda network. Sanger: Mr. Bush did more this evening than simply meld Mr. Hussein's fallen government with Qaeda terrorists. Rather, he restated and amplified the Bush doctrine... Chorus: The Bush administration has never linked the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to Mr. Hussein, although senior officials did charge that Iraq had ties to the Qaeda network. Sanger: He said the mission was far from over. "Al Qaeda is wounded, not destroyed.'' Chorus: The Bush administration has never linked the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to Mr. Hussein, although senior officials did charge that Iraq had ties to the Qaeda network. Link to the article: The New York Times, May 1, 2003 "In Speech, Bush Focuses on Conflicts Beyond Iraq" By DAVID E. SANGER http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/01/international/worldspecial/01CND-SPEECH.ht ml?pagewanted=2&ei=1&en=d142fc02a90baddb&ex=1052839352 Best regards, JPH _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk