Monday, June 21, 2004 1:25 p.m. EDT
Media in Denial Over 9/11 Commish Lehman's Revelation
Once again, the press is being disingenuous when it comes to information disseminated by the 9/11 Commission, this time in its coverage of a 9/11 Commissioner's revelation yesterday that a top al Qaida operative was also a high ranking member of Saddam Hussein's most elite military unit.
"There's new intelligence, and this has come since our staff report has been written," Lehman announced Sunday on "Meet the Press."
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He explained that documents uncovered in Baghdad "indicate that there is at least one officer of Saddam's Fedayeen, a lieutenant colonel, who was a very prominent member of al-Qaida."
Actually, the only thing new about this intelligence is that the 9/11 Commission, along with the mainstream press, is finally paying attention to it. In fact, as "Meet the Press" moderator Tim Russert certainly had to know, the Wall Street Journal reported on these very same documents three weeks ago.
"One striking bit of new evidence is that the name Ahmed Hikmat Shakir appears on three captured rosters of officers in Saddam Fedayeen, the elite paramilitary group run by Saddam's son Uday and entrusted with doing much of the regime's dirty work," reported the Journal on May 27. "Our government sources, who have seen translations of the documents, say Shakir is listed with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel."
Another bit of deviousness by the press is the way reporters are covering Lehman's not-so-new revelation. The New York Daily News, for instance, headlined it's report: "Iraq-al Qaeda Link Teases 9/11 Panel."
But this particular Iraqi officer's membership in al Qaida does much, much more than establish a link between Iraq and al Qaida. As the same Journal report noted:
"This matters because if Shakir was an officer in the Fedayeen, it would establish a direct link between Iraq and the al Qaeda operatives who planned 9/11. Shakir was present at the January 2000 al Qaeda 'summit' in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at which the 9/11 attacks were planned."
That's right. After months and months of media assurances that there was no link between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks, the 9/11 Commission is now reviewing evidence that strongly suggests otherwise.
To be fair to the press, even Lehman seemed not to appreciate the significance of his announcement, telling "Meet the Press" he still had no evidence of an Iraq-9/11 link.
Then there are those Commission members, like Richard Ben Veniste, who won't accept an Iraq- 9/11 link unless videotape emerges of Saddam at the controls of one of the hijacked planes.
"Take it to the bank, there was no Iraqi involvement in 9/11," Ben Veniste announced haughtily while sitting next to Lehman on the same broadcast. "Let's put that to bed. That's what our commission found. . . . We looked at everything available. No connection between Iraq and the 9/11 catastrophe."
Don't look now, Mr. Ben Veniste, but some relevant evidence pointing to Saddam's involvement in 9/11 just became "available."
Media in Denial Over 9/11 Commish Lehman's Revelation
Once again, the press is being disingenuous when it comes to information disseminated by the 9/11 Commission, this time in its coverage of a 9/11 Commissioner's revelation yesterday that a top al Qaida operative was also a high ranking member of Saddam Hussein's most elite military unit.
"There's new intelligence, and this has come since our staff report has been written," Lehman announced Sunday on "Meet the Press."
Story Continues Below
He explained that documents uncovered in Baghdad "indicate that there is at least one officer of Saddam's Fedayeen, a lieutenant colonel, who was a very prominent member of al-Qaida."
Actually, the only thing new about this intelligence is that the 9/11 Commission, along with the mainstream press, is finally paying attention to it. In fact, as "Meet the Press" moderator Tim Russert certainly had to know, the Wall Street Journal reported on these very same documents three weeks ago.
"One striking bit of new evidence is that the name Ahmed Hikmat Shakir appears on three captured rosters of officers in Saddam Fedayeen, the elite paramilitary group run by Saddam's son Uday and entrusted with doing much of the regime's dirty work," reported the Journal on May 27. "Our government sources, who have seen translations of the documents, say Shakir is listed with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel."
Another bit of deviousness by the press is the way reporters are covering Lehman's not-so-new revelation. The New York Daily News, for instance, headlined it's report: "Iraq-al Qaeda Link Teases 9/11 Panel."
But this particular Iraqi officer's membership in al Qaida does much, much more than establish a link between Iraq and al Qaida. As the same Journal report noted:
"This matters because if Shakir was an officer in the Fedayeen, it would establish a direct link between Iraq and the al Qaeda operatives who planned 9/11. Shakir was present at the January 2000 al Qaeda 'summit' in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at which the 9/11 attacks were planned."
That's right. After months and months of media assurances that there was no link between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks, the 9/11 Commission is now reviewing evidence that strongly suggests otherwise.
To be fair to the press, even Lehman seemed not to appreciate the significance of his announcement, telling "Meet the Press" he still had no evidence of an Iraq-9/11 link.
Then there are those Commission members, like Richard Ben Veniste, who won't accept an Iraq- 9/11 link unless videotape emerges of Saddam at the controls of one of the hijacked planes.
"Take it to the bank, there was no Iraqi involvement in 9/11," Ben Veniste announced haughtily while sitting next to Lehman on the same broadcast. "Let's put that to bed. That's what our commission found. . . . We looked at everything available. No connection between Iraq and the 9/11 catastrophe."
Don't look now, Mr. Ben Veniste, but some relevant evidence pointing to Saddam's involvement in 9/11 just became "available."
