The new "Attack Bush" book by Ron Suskind, The Way of The World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism, hits the bookstores today, amid the charges that President Bush and Vice-President Cheney used the CIA to forge a letter from Saddam Hussein's head of intelligence to Saddam to prove a link existed between Iraq and al-Qaeda before the attack on 9-11.
The Politico, which attained a copy last night, reports that the book includes:
--In the first days of his presidency, Bush rejected advice from the CIA to wiretap Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2001 in Vienna, where he was staying in a hotel where the CIA had a listening device planted in the wall of the presidential suite, in need only of a battery change. The CIA said that if the surveillance were discovered, Putin’s respect for Bush would be heightened.
--snip--
--Suskind reports that Bush initially told Cheney he had to "‘step back’ in large meetings when they were together, like those at the NSC [National Security Council], because people were addressing and deferring to Cheney. Cheney said he understood, that he’d mostly just take notes at the big tables and then he and Bush would meet privately, frequently, to discuss options and action.”
--Suskind contends Cheney established “deniability” for Bush as part of the vice president’s “complex strategies, developed over decades, for how to protect a president.”
--snip--
--Suskind is acidly derisive of Bush, saying that he initially lost his “nerve” on 9/11, regaining it when he grabbed the Ground Zero bullhorn. Suskind says Bush’s 9 p.m. Oval Office address on the fifth anniversary was “well along in petulance, seasoned by a touch of self-defensiveness.”
--snip--
--Suskind writes in the acknowledgments that his research assistant, Greg Jackson, “was sent to New York on a project for the book” in September 2007 and was “detained by federal agents in Manhattan. He was interrogated and his notes were confiscated, violations of his First and Fourth Amendment rights.” The author provides no further detail.
So, to summarize for those who don't want to shell out the $27.95 for the book today, or wait for it to appear on the markdown rack for $10.00 in three months; what the book says is:
Bush lied -- people died!
Bush is a puppet of Dick Cheney -- the real brains behind the throne.
Bush has committed impeachable offenses -- and HEY! it's not too late to still remove him from office -- or at least have a Congressional investigation.
The letter from Saddam Hussein's intelligence chief first surfaced in December of 2003 when a reporter from the London Sunday Telegraph obtained a copy of the letter and wrote about it in that paper. It subsequently received widespread reporting in the US.
In the letter it was alleged that Mohammed Atta, one of the 9-11 hijackers received training in Iraq before 9-11, cementing a relationship between Saddam Hussein and the al-Qaeda.
Suskind contends “The White House had concocted a fake letter from Habbush to Saddam, backdated to July 1, 2001. It said that 9/11 ringleader Mohammad Atta had actually trained for his mission in Iraq – thus showing, finally, that there was an operational link between Saddam and al Qaeda, something the Vice President’s Office had been pressing CIA to prove since 9/11 as a justification to invade Iraq. There is no link.”
The Politico does not report whether Suskind provides any evidence for his assertions. The White House, needless to say, denies all of the allegations.
That Saddam Hussein maintained several terrorist training camps throughout Iraq, such as the infamous Salmon Pak has never been called into question. That those training camps were used by various outside terrorist groups, including Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, Hamas and even al-Qaeda has also not been in dispute.
The Suskind book comes out just as the Presidential Election season heats up, providing cover for the anti-Bush sentiment in the Democratic Party. When congress finally returns from it's long August recess, expect to see hearings -- NOT ON ENERGY -- but on the allegations outlined in this book.
Suskind will, no doubt, be called before at least a half-dozen congressional hearings, where he will be allowed to broadcast his opinion, without evidence, and with little challenge. The book is expected to become a bestseller.
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