The other day I posted a diary (Pentagon: It's True -- We Made It Up). Here's an excerpt from that instant classic:
Not that anybody with a lick of sense didn't already know this, but there was no connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. My source? A new study soon to be released by the frackin' Pentagon:
An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network.
Will that get the true believers to STFU? I doubt it. Bring it up and you are bound to get laser-like focus on the "operational links" part of the document. Remember there is "no doubt"TM they had a relationship. And Saddam was a really, really bad guy.
And at any rate, the thing is so FUBAR now we have to stay or all those deaths will be for naught...or something like that.
And now here we are on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the start of this God-forsaken war we get the most 'official' version yet confirming we were mislead into a stupid, stupid war...
The new study of the Iraqi regime's archives found no documents indicating a "direct operational link" between Hussein's Iraq and al Qaida before the invasion, according to a U.S. official familiar with the report.
Nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada.
Fast forward to today...
I was looking forward to see what the report said when it was released today. Well, as we all know the White House no-likey news that does not promote the deluded interests. They no-likey sunshine, so back into the box it goes: (well, sort of)
The Bush Administration apparently does not want a U.S. military study that found no direct connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda to get any attention. This morning, the Pentagon cancelled plans to send out a press release announcing the report's release and will no longer make the report available online.
The report was to be posted on the Joint Forces Command website this afternoon, followed by a background briefing with the authors. No more. The report will be made available only to those who ask for it, and it will be sent via U.S. mail from Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia.
It won't be emailed to reporters and it won't be posted online.
And why no sunshine?
Another Pentagon official said initial press reports on the study made it "too politically sensitive."
Let me rephrase that: "We're pissed that so many people will see yet another example that the president and this administration is a bunch of liars."
ABC does have a copy of the executive summary of the report here (pdf) The key takeaway from that report...in plain English:
This study found no "smoking gun" (i.e., direct connection) between Saddam's Iraq and al Qaeda.
But alas, we will see little more. This is the vampire administration -- they are afraid of the sunlight.
Update [2008-3-12 16:3:18 by MLDB]: Reading through the exec. summary I am struck with one thing. The report seems to conclude that Iraq was interested in one thing -- protecting Iraq's interest. They were not looking to stir up international trouble...just looking out for #1.