Iraq: The Schemers have their way

The latest Jim Lobe in the Asia Times.

A hint of a deliberate campaign to connect Iraq with the September 11 attacks and al-Qaeda surfaced last month in a televised interview of General Wesley Clark on the popular public-affairs program Meet the Press. In answer to a question, Clark asserted, "There was a concerted effort during the fall of 2001, starting immediately after September 11, to pin September 11 and the terrorism problem on Saddam Hussein.

"It came from the White House, it came from other people around the White House. It came from all over. I got a call on September 11. I was on CNN, and I got a call at my home saying, 'You got to say this is connected. This is state-sponsored terrorism. This has to be connected to Saddam Hussein.'"

While Clark has not yet identified who called him, Perle, Woolsey, Gaffney and Kristol were using the same language in their media appearances on September 11 and over the following weeks.