Bush Plan for Midterms: Don't Stop Lying

On Friday, the Senate Intelligence Committee released its report concluding there was no relationship between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda's Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

According to the report, “a CIA assessment in October 2005 concluded that Hussein’s government ‘did not have a relationship, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi and his associates.’” Hussein actually tried to capture Zarqawi.

But does the White House let mere facts get in the way of The Big Lie? Hell no!

This morning on Meet the Press, Vice President Dick Cheney repeatedly cited Zarqawi as the link between pre-war Iraq and al-Qaeda. When Tim Russert mentioned the Senate Intelligence Committee report, Cheney said he “hadn’t seen it.”

And on Fox News Sunday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice repeated the false assertion that Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda had a relationship before the 2003 invasion, despite the recent Senate Intelligence Report that found U.S. intelligence analysts strongly dispute that claim. When Rice claimed that the Senate Intelligence Report was new, Chris Wallace pointed out, a Defense Intelligence Agency report from Feb. 2002 — before the U.S. invasion — also concluded that Iraq and Al Qaeda had no relationship: “Iraq is unlikely to have provided bin Laden any useful CB, that’s chemical or biological, knowledge or assistance.”

Rice said she did not remember seeing that report.

Think Progress has got it covered.