You're Pulling My Quote

Giving the President's remarks on Iraq their normal prominence (short piece on page A22 last Tuesday), The New York Times nevertheless had an intriguing pull quote: "The president defends the linking of 9-11 attacks to Saddam Hussein."

Wow! That sounds like front page news, since as far as I can recall, Bush never said Saddam Hussein had anything to do with 9-11. Yet a lot of people believe the Bush people have made this unproven connection. This could be a breakthrough!

So I read the piece, and it turns out the Saddam comment was more a mild P.S. After delivering prepared remarks, the President took questions. An unnamed audience member asked why Bush invoked 9-11 as justification for the invasion of Iraq since "no respected journalist or other Middle Eastern experts confirm that such a link exists." (I love the arrogance behind this question--its false assumption has been countered numerous times, but the questioner really thinks he's got the President.)

Bush simply replied that Hussein was a serious threat and that the threat was more serious (or taken more seriously) after 9-11.

So the Times got me all excited over nothing.