Posted on 03/18/2004 12:27:27 PM PST by Schatze
WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- Continuing with his history of making outrageous statements about President George W. Bush, former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean said on Tuesday that sending troops to fight the war in Iraq led directly to the recent terrorist attack in Spain.
A taped confession reportedly from al Qaeda was released to the public soon after the bombing that killed more than 200 people in Madrid just before the Spanish election. The tape claims that al Qaeda struck Spain in retaliation for their support of the United States in the war to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said if U.S. troops had not been in Iraq, then the incident in Spain would have never happened.
"That was what they said in the tape," Dean remarked in a conference call with reporters. "They made that connection, I'm simply repeating it."
The subject came up while Dean was defending likely Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry from a Bush campaign ad alleging Kerry did not financially support the troops fighting in Iraq by voting against a bill that would fund the effort.
Repeating the mantra used by liberal political activist groups like MoveOn.org as well as the Democratic Party since the war began, Dean said Bush has misled the country and made the United States a greater threat by going to war with Iraq.
This is when Dean made his assumption that Bush is responsible for the deaths in Spain.
"The president was the one who dragged our troops to Iraq, which apparently has been a factor in the death of 200 Spaniards over the weekend," Dean contended.
In an interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday, Dean said he was simply repeating what was already said by al Qaeda in the videotape.
"Let me be clear, there is no justification for terrorism," Dean stated. "Today I was simply repeating what those who have claimed responsibility for the bombings in Spain said was the reason they carried out that despicable act."
The Massachusetts senator responded to Dean's quip by saying he does not agree with what the former Vermont governor said.
"It's not our position," Kerry quickly answered to reporters while campaigning on Wednesday.
Ironically, Dean's conference call with reporters was set up by the Kerry campaign to help him in his bid to unseat Bush in November.
Kerry campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter also attempted to defend Dean's gaffe by saying, "It's clear that what happened in Spain is a painful reminder that the war on terror is far from over, and the nation would be better off if this administration took the time to rebuild our alliances rather than engaging in political attacks."
Yet, Bush Campaign Chairman Mark Racicot urged Kerry to denounce these incendiary comments that were made while Dean was on a conference call on behalf of Kerry.
"Yesterday on a conference call arranged by Sen. Kerry's campaign, former Gov. Howard Dean blamed the deaths in Spain on President Bush and the war on terror," Racicot proclaimed in a release. "The attacks were caused by a global terror network that not only struck Spain, but also killed in the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Bali."
Racicot said it is preposterous that Dean would place the blame on Bush for the terrorist attack that happened in Spain when there is clear evidence it happened as a result of a global terrorist network.
"If Senator Kerry understands the nature of this threat and the need to take on terror, then he should immediately repudiate these troubling comments, and stop all efforts on behalf of his surrogates to blame America for these attacks," he concluded in his statement.
Even Vice President Dick Cheney said in a speech at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California on Wednesday that if Kerry were president during either of the Gulf Wars, Saddam Hussein would still be in power and in control of Iraq and Kuwait.
"Of the many nations that have joined our coalition, allies and friends of the United States, Senator Kerry speaks with open contempt," Cheney said.
He added, "Senator Kerry calls these countries, quote, 'window-dressing.' They are in his words, a coalition of the coerced and the bribed."
Cheney said Kerry only makes these statements to garner the admiration of foreign leaders who hate Bush.
Cheney concluded by saying, "The American people will have a clear choice in the election of 2004."
As for Dean, this is not the first time he has made ill-advised comments about Bush.
During his failed campaign for the Democratic nomination, Dean opined that Bush knew about the September 11 terrorist attacks before they happened and did not prevent them.
In late December, he told supporters that Bush is "reckless," a "failure," and is "the most dangerous administration in my lifetime."
In fact, Dean has blamed Bush in the past year for mad cow disease, the deficit, the economy, and failures in homeland security.
He even blamed Bush's tax cuts for preventing the United States from protecting itself fully from another terrorist attack.
"If you think tax cuts are more important than homeland security, then I think you've made a mistake as president, and clearly that puts us in greater danger," Dean said in the interview with The Washington Post last year.
In a related story, Spanish Prime Minister-elect Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the war in Iraq is "turning into a fiasco" and remained resolute about pulling the 1,300 troops out of Iraq by the end of June.
Zapatero, a member of the liberal political party in Spain, said he disagrees with Bush's policy in Iraq and expressed his hope that Kerry will win the U.S. presidential election.
"We're aligning ourselves with Kerry," Zapatero revealed in an interview on Onda Cero radio. "Our allegiance will be for peace, against war, no more deaths for oil, and for a dialogue between the government of Spain and the new Kerry administration."
Nearly 5,000 conservative protestors gathered in Madrid on Wednesday and declared Zapatero "the president of al Qaeda."
Copyright © 2004 Talon News -- All rights reserved.
"That was what they said in the tape," Dean remarked in a conference call with reporters. "They made that connection, I'm simply repeating it."
Right, Howie. And we all know how truthful and trustworthy terrorists are. What an imbecile.
I'm going to start calling this guy "Al Qaeda spokesman Howard Dean." Yeah, Howard, they said it. Their terrorist attacks are the fault of their enemies. (I believe that's always the case with terrorism, if you ask the terrorist.) You're simply repeating it.
Perfect.
Yeah, Howie doesn't want blame those innocent terrorists. Their evil acts are ... George Bush's fault.
The Democrats had been bitching for some time that there is no link between al-Qaeda and the former Hussein government and therefore no reason for us to have taken the war on terrorism to Iraq. Doesn't this communique prove that they were allied? Why else would bin Laden gone to such lengths to avenge the fall of the Hussein government?
You cant have it both ways Howie... either Iraq IS or IS NOT involved in terrorism.
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