Kent Conrad: “in watching the Presidential debate last night, again, I think President Bush confused who attacked the United States on…”

“in watching the Presidential debate last night, again, I think President Bush confused who attacked the United States on September 11. President Bush, last night, in justifying the war with Iraq, said they attacked us. Senator Kerry was quick to point out that Iraq did not attack us. It was al-Qaida, led by Osama bin Laden, that attacked us. This basic fact is absolutely essential to understanding what occurred and where we are headed. I think it is helpful, perhaps, to review the record. Here is the report of the 9/11 Commission: The intelligence reports describe friendly contacts and indicate some common themes in both side's hatred of the United States [referring to Iraq and al-Qaida], but to date we have seen no evidence that these or the earlier contacts ever developed into a collaborative operational relationship. Nor have we seen evidence indicating that Iraq cooperated with al-Qaida in developing or carrying out any attacks against the United States. Mr. President, it is not just the 9/11 Commission that tells us these basic relationships; it is also our own Intelligence Committee. Their conclusions in their July 7 report included conclusion 96: The Central Intelligence Agency's assessment that to date there was no evidence providing Iraqi complicity or assistance in an al-Qaida attack was reasonable and objective. No additional information has emerged to suggest otherwise.…”