EXPLODED: 22 Myths About the War on Terror that Osama bin Laden Hopes You'll Believe

National Review Book Service ^ | 2005 | Richard Miniter

[kellynla]

Turn on the TV at any given moment, and you're likely to see some earnest media "expert" telling you confidently that America faces a serious threat from suitcase nukes, that Al-Qaeda terrorists are streaming across the Mexican border, that there was no link between Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, and that Iraq is another Vietnam. There's just one problem with all this: none of it is true. Richard Miniter explains why these and other popular media factoids and urban legends are not only wrong, but severely damaging to our war effort, in Disinformation: The 22 Media Myths That Undermine the War on Terror.

There are a lot of War on Terror myths masquerading as fact in respected newspapers, on the airwaves, and on the web. Some are cunningly disguised; others are as crude and silly as the ideas that a small band of neocons have made a puppet of the president, and that the collapse of the Twin Towers was an inside job. Many of these myths will surprise you. Miniter, the indefatigable investigative reporter and terrorism expert who has penned two New York Times bestsellers (Losing bin Laden and Shadow War), smashes these myths as he draws on seldom-seen documents, contacts with countless high-level sources, and unique information he has gathered in his travels from Sudan to the Philippines, from Saudi Arabia to Hong Kong, and from Washington to Brussels. He shows not only why you should not believe these myths, but how they play into the hands of the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 - and divert valuable personnel and resources to chasing cold tips down blind alleys.

[kellynla]

Richard Miniter reveals:

"Three common myths about the Bush Administration that have been spread widely by Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11

The 9/11 hijackers used box-cutters to take control of the four planes they hijacked, right? Wrong -- and how this popular myth got started

Did the U.S. fund the Taliban in the 1980s? It would have been tough, since the Taliban wasn't even formed until 1995

How the only source for the widespread idea that Osama bin Laden is on dialysis and is slowly dying of kidney failure has backed away from his story

Striking evidence that Osama bin Laden is not a reclusive multi-millionaire who can finance his terror campaign out of his own pocket -- and that Al-Qaeda is in fact perennially short of cash

What Osama bin Laden himself has said about the Left's pet charge that he was trained by American officials in Afghanistan -- plus six sources that show that he never had any relationship with the CIA or any other U.S. agency

The deadly lesson that the Iranian revolution taught to bin Laden and his comrades-in-arms

How bin Laden declared war on America five separate times and pursued his jihad war against the United States throughout the 1990s -- contrary to liberal media claims that no one had heard of him before 9/11

Bush knew? No -- as is clear from this close examination of the CIA memo that supposedly warned him about possible hijackings before 9/11

Were 4,000 Jews really absent from their jobs at the World Trade Center on 9/11? The truth about this hateful anti-Semitic canard

Since the September 11 attacks, the world is more dangerous for Americans than ever before, right? Wrong

Are U.S. troops in Iraq to make the world safe for Halliburton? No -- in fact, Halliburton has not made a fortune in Iraq, and is even trying to sell its division that runs Iraqi operations

Why there is absolutely no viable parallel between America's presence in Iraq and the Vietnam War

How the number of civilians killed by American troops in Iraq has been wildly inflated by the rabid leftists among the mainstream media and academic establishment

A war for oil? Why the U.S. is not fighting one in Iraq or anywhere else

No WMDs in Iraq? How the strength of the prewar intelligence on weapons of mass destruction was exaggerated -- but so is the postwar case against that same intelligence

Clear, uncontested, proven links between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Al Qaeda

Saddam Hussein: a secular strongman with no connection to radical Islamic terror organizations? Not quite. His extensive record of cooperation with Islamic terrorist organizations

Why everyone from George W. Bush to Al Gore agrees that poverty is a major cause, if not the cause, of terrorism -- everyone, that is, except the scholars who actually study terrorists

Suitcase nukes? Relax: most of the information causing the fear over this has come from one Russian general who has changed his story many times

Colonel Oliver North: did he really warn America about the threat of Osama bin Laden back in the 1980s?

Did President Bush really say that Iraq was an "imminent threat" to America? What he really said -- and why it matters so much

Four overwhelming reasons why racial profiling would fail to make us any safer against terrorists

Borders out of control? How, as unlikely as it sounds, there are actually no known cases of Al Qaeda terrorists sneaking across the Mexican border

Why so many people are so eager to believe these War on Terror myths, no matter how outlandish they are

Five groups that are most likely to fall for these myths -- including liberals and antiwar crusaders"

[ladyinred]

A much needed book for all Americans to read it seems. Too bad not enough of them will. I ordered it immediately, thanks!

[podkane]

Colonel Oliver North: did he really warn America about the threat of Osama bin Laden back in the 1980s?

Could have. We were supporting the Muja-hadhin in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union occupation. In particular, we were giving $$ to OBL and his group. It turned out to be one of those "blow-back" situations. I'm sure not a few people in the military and intelligence agencies had serious misgivings even back then.

[mmercier]

Pushing the poop back into the pony never works out.

People adore their media induced delusions and consider those who would shatter them lunatics.

[Fledermaus]

Yeah, better just to shoot the pony.

[Peach]

1. Remind the left that every single Democrat of note said in 1998 that Iraq's WMD posed a danger to the United States.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/972389/posts

2. Remind the left that Clinton's Justice Department obtained a federal indictment of Osama bin Laden which stated that AQ had a deal with Iraq. They agreed not to attack Iraq in exchange for weapons development.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/985906/posts

3. 9/11 Commission reaffirms Bush administration view of Iraq/AQ ties.
June 21, 2004. RNC.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1157478/posts

4. Long List of Clinton Administration Officials who Believed There was an AQ/Iraq connection.
July 12, 2004. NewsMax.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1169397/posts

5. List of CIA and various Reports regarding Iraq's support for terrorists, terrorism and AQ.
September 16, 2004. The Weekly Standard.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/631slkle.asp

6. Osama bin Laden was considered an Iraqi Intelligence asset.
October 14, 2004. National Review.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1246505/posts

Funny how in the 90's the world was concerned about the growing relationship between OBL and Saddam and now the left is revising history.

Saddam reaching out to OBL
January 1, 1999. Newsweek
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1158277/posts

ABC news reports on the Osama/Saddam connections
January 14, 1999. ABC News
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1229608/posts?page=1

Osama and Saddam Work Together
January 27, 1999. Laurie Mylroie interview. She is a former Clinton terrorism czar.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1158482/posts

A Much Shunned Terrorist Takes Refuge In Iraq (Abu Nidal)
New York Times. January 1999.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1433610/posts

Western Nightmare: Saddam and OBL versus the World. Iraq recruited OBL.
February 6, 1999. The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,12469,798270,00.html

Saddam's Link to OBL
February 6, 1999. The Guardian
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/866105/posts

Saddam offered asylum to bin Laden
February 13, 1999. AP
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1158274/posts

Son of Saddam coordinates with OBL.
Iraqi Special Ops coordinates with Bin Laden's terrorist activities.
August 6, 1999. Yossef Bodansky, National Press Club
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/951911/posts

That and more here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1327993/posts?q=1&&page=151

[Ramius]

No, its not blow-back. It's just good old fashioned betrayal. We helped them when they needed it, and they stabbed us in the back. It's who they are.

And BTW: Ollie testified to congress in the 80's about Abu Nidal, not OBL. Nidal, coincidentally, was living out his retirement in Baghdad until about 2003 when he was mysteriously killed. Bummer for him.

[mmercier]

>> Yeah, better just to shoot the pony.

I think the pony is shooting itself for us.

[kellynla]

Thanks, Peach!

Looks like you've done your "homework" tonight! LOL

Semper Fi,
Kelly

[Peach]

Thanks for the thread, Kelly. We just have to use the info we find and make sure the Rats know that we know what hypocrites they are.

[rdb3]

I listened to Medved interviewing Richard Miniter. It was good and I plan on getting this book.

But allow me to highlight something.

Five groups that are most likely to fall for these myths -- including liberals and antiwar crusaders

For those of you who have been here for a while, just who do you think fits the above description, although they never claimed to be liberals? They were and are still anti-war types, but they should immediately spring to your mind. Oh, BTW, they were LOUD.

Do you remember who they were? (I'm not talking about Justine Raimundo, either.)

If you want a Google GMail account, FReepmail me.

[JustDoItAlways]

The more this material gets out, the fewer and fewer myths will continue to be propagated.

It is a tough slog but it has to be done.

A few days ago, I had to go to extreme lengths to show that Iraq had tons and tons of yellowcake at the end of the war. The Lefties just could not believe that Saddam had yellowcake when it was clear he had no WMDs whatsoever. The answer is about 500 tons of yellowcake and between 1.7 to 2.7 tons of partly enriched uranium were removed from Iraq after the war among tons of other radioactive isotopes. The vast majority of these were already under IAEA seal so the nuclear material Iraq had was already known (that we know about that is. The US military has been pretty cagy about what they have found of course.)

[HitmanLV]

I went to college with Rich Miniter at Vassar, back in the late 1980s. Good guy. I heard him on the radio and look forward to getting his new book! KUDOS!

[Ramius]

The US military has been pretty cagy about what they have found of course

I've posted a theory before... that perhaps there's much more there than we've let on. With something like 10,000 munitions dumps to locate, isolate and clear, it may take years to complete them all. No sense letting the bad guys know that all they need do is beat us to them. Better to take the lumps for finding nothing, and buy some time.

[Chicos_Bail_Bonds]

bttt

[Snapping Turtle]

Check out this book. Thanks for the post.

[Republican Wildcat]

It was indeed just regarded as common knowledge back in the 1990s that Osama and Saddam were linked. Since Bush was elected, however, the press has gotten amnesia and can't remember even its own reporting.

[Peach]

And did you know that a bunch of 9/11 families sued Iraq over their involvement in 9/11?

And that in the 90's, the MSM wrote dozens of articles about their fear regarding the growing relationship between Saddam and OBL?

Now we're just supposed to think that stuff didn't happen.

[M-cubed]

Again!...keep up the good work and keep posting this...Can't get it emailed out fast enough...U sent any of this to local newspapers?

[Peach]

I've written a bunch of letters to the editor using this stuff; they publish it (we're in a conservative area), but of course, there are leftists here too and they write their own letters and say it's all a lie. LOL

But if we keep e-mailing it around and pushing the Republicans to actually USE the information at their disposal, maybe we'll get somewhere.

I don't understand the reluctance of the Right to take on the lies of the Left.