DETROIT - Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards on Sunday accused President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney of misleading Americans by implying a link between deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
"Today, Secretary of State (Colin) Powell made clear that there is no connection between Saddam Hussein and the attacks on September the 11th," Edwards said before an AFL-CIO rally. "From this day forward, this administration should never suggest that there is."
The North Carolina senator was referring to Powell's comments on NBC's "Meet the Press" in which the Republican reiterated a statement made by Bush last September that the administration has no evidence that Saddam was involved in the attacks.
"We know that there had been connections and there had been exchanges between al-Qaida and the Saddam Hussein regime. And those have been pursued and looked at," Powell said. "But I have seen nothing that makes a direct connection between Saddam Hussein and that awful regime and what happened on 9/11."
This is a nifty ruse. Edwards accuses Bush of "implying" that Saddam Hussein was part of 9/11 and then attacks him for admitting now (through Colin Powell) that Saddam wasn't involved.
The problem is that Bush never implied that Saddam Hussein had anything to do with 9/11. Bush talked about Saddam having some connections to al Qaeda (something Edwards doesn't deny above) and also talked about Saddam sponsoring terrorism in general (something that is also true), but Saddam was never implicated in 9/11.
And why is he bringing this issue up anyway? Is he trying to clear a smudge from Saddam Hussein's good name? I'd much rather hear the Kerry campaign talking about what they'd actually do in Iraq when they're in office instead of constantly harping on the alleged mistakes of the Bush administration.