Bush Talks Tough But Avoids Tough Questions (DNC Release w/research)

[MaineDem]

For Immediate Release
September 15, 2006

Contact: Stacie Paxton/Mark Paustenbach - 202-863-8148

Bush Talks Tough But Avoids Tough Questions

Washington, DC - Today, in an unsuccessful attempt to deflect from
failed GOP policies heading into the November elections by using scare
tactics and tired, empty rhetoric, President Bush held another press
conference where he talked tough but consistently failed to answer tough
questions about the failed GOP leadership of the last six years.

"During today's stop on the Bush PR campaign, we heard more rhetoric
but the President was still unable to answer the tough questions,
perhaps because he just doesn't have answers," Democratic National
Committee Press Secretary Stacie Paxton. "Given concerns about future
terrorist attacks as the President pointed out, why then have Bush
Republicans in Congress consistently blocked Democrats' efforts to close
the gaps in our security here at home? Why did the President say you
'can't distinguish between al-Qaeda and Saddam' when the CIA knew that
such a link never existed? After six years of Republican rule, GOP
leadership has not made made us safer. The American people are growing
tired of the Bush White House's scare tactics that won't secure our
borders, won't safeguard our ports and won't help us win the war on
terror. Democrats are offering a new direction that includes a real plan
for Iraq and the implementation of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations
to keep our country safe."

Connection Between Saddam Hussein And Al-Qaeda

Bush Says He "Never Said" There Was an Operational Relationship Between
Hussein and Al Qaeda. In response to a question about the
Administration's continued effort to link the war in Iraq with Al Qaeda,
Bush said, "I never said there was an operational relationship.The
broader point I was reminding people is why we removed Saddam Hussein
from power: He was dangerous."

But Cheney Said It - Just Last Week. When asked why the Administration
promoting the link between Iraq and Al Qaeda to justify the war in Iraq,
Cheney stated, "You've got Iraq and al Qaeda, testimony from the
director of C.I.A. That there was indeed a relationship. Zarqawi in
Baghdad, et cetera.I haven't seen the report. We know that
Zarqawi running the terrorist camp in Afghanistan prior to 9/11 after we
went into 9-11, then fled and went to Baghdad and set up operations in
Baghdad in the spring of 2002 and was there and then basically until the
time we launched into Iraq."

Even Though the Administration Knew There Was No Connection Years Ago:
2003 - 2005: No Link Between Iraq and Al Qaeda; Hussein Rebuffed Al
Qaeda Overtures. In a classified January 2003 report, the CIA concluded
Saddam "viewed Islamic extremists operating inside Iraq as a threat." An
additional CIA assessment in October 2005 concluded that Saddam's
government "did not have a relationship, harbor, or turn a blind eye
toward Zarqawi and his associates." In fact, rather than aligning
himself with al-Qaida and Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,
Saddam repeatedly rebuffed al-Qaida's overtures and tried to capture
al-Zarqawi.

2002: Multiple Government Reports Warned that Iraqi National Congress
Information on Iraq's Nuclear, Chemical And Biological Weapons
Capabilities Was Suspect. A recent Senate report reveals that the Bush
Administration received two April 2002 CIA assessments, a May 2002
Defense Intelligence Agency fabrication notice and a July 2002 National
Intelligence Council warning saying the INC source may have been coached
by the exile group into fabricating information about the strength of
Iraq's nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons capabilities.


Civil War In Iraq
Bush Says Iraq is Not In Civil War Because "The Iraqi Government
Doesn't Agree" That it Is a Civil War. In response to a question about
increasing violence in Iraq and whether the country had descended into
civil war, Bush said that "Well, it seems like it's pretty easy to
speculate from over here about the conditions on the ground.the Iraqi
government just don't agree with the hypothesis it is a civil war."


Iraq Defense Minister: Violence Has "Really Escalated Faster Than We
Can Take Action to Stop It." Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qadir Muhammed
Jassim acknowledged that violence had "really escalated lately in
Baghdad" and that Shiite and Sunni Arab extremists were responsible. He
said daily reports of the civilian death toll indicated that Sunnis and
Shiites were dying in "almost equal numbers" in attacks "faster than we
can take action to stop it."

Former Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Said Iraq Was In Civil War. Iyad
Allawi former Interim Iraqi Prime Minister and leader of the Iraqi
National List a secular nationalist party made up of Sunnis and Shiites
said that Iraq was already in a civil war. Allawi said, "It is
unfortunate that we are in civil war. We are losing each day as an
average 50 to 60 people throughout the country, if not more. If this is
not civil war, then God knows what civil war is."

Experts Say Iraq Has Been In A Civil War Since 2004. "'By the standard
that political scientists use, there's been a civil war going on in Iraq
since sovereignty was handed over to the interim government in 2004,'
said Stanford University's James Fearon.American military analyst
Stephen Biddle says U.S. policy-makers make a mistake if they 'miss the
nature of the conflict, which in Iraq is already a civil war between
rival ethnic and sectarian groups.'" 2/25/06; Washington Times, 3/15/06]

Training of Iraqi Troops / US Troops Coming Home
Bush Says That He Follows Advice of Generals On Troop Levels in Iraq.
In response to a question about whether the delay in bringing American
troops home was due to shifting definitions of success in Iraq, Bush
stated that "I was hoping we would have or be able to -- hopefully Casey
would come and say, You know, Mr. President, there's a chance to have
fewer troops there. And That's the way I will continue to conduct the
war. I'll listen to generals."

2004: Career Officer Forced to Retire For Saying that Army Stretched
Too Thin. Army Maj. Gen. John Riggs was forced to retire in 2004 minus
one star after he gave an interview in which he said the Army had been
stretched thin in Afghanistan and Iraq and needed thousands more troops.

2003: Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki Rebuked For Saying That Several
"Hundred Thousand Troops" Would Be Needed in Iraq. During a February
testimony before the Senate Armed Services committee, Sen. Carl Levin
(D-MI) asked Gen. Shinseki to estimate "the magnitude of the Army's
force requirement for an occupation of Iraq following a successful
completion of the war." Shinseki replied "I would say that what's been
mobilized to this point, something on the order of several hundred
thousand soldiers, are probably, you know, a figure that would be
required." Later, Rumsfeld dismissed Shinseki's estimate, saying that
"My personal view is that it will prove to be high," and Dep. Sec.
Wolfowitz told the House Budget Committee that "the notion that it will
take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to provide stability in
post-Saddam Iraq wildly off the mark." Committee 2/25/03; House Budget Committee Hearing 2/27/03; Rumsfeld News
Conference, 2/28/03]

Training Of Iraqi Troops Continues to Founder; Number of US Troops in
Iraq Continues to Rise

Number of US Troops In Iraq on the Rise. The number of U.S. troops in
Iraq has climbed back to 138,000, driven up in part by the need to
control the escalating violence in Baghdad and the decision to delay the
departure of an Alaska-based Army brigade.

Bush Approves Involuntary Call-Ups For the Marine Corps, Ordering
Thousands Back to Active Duty. "The Marine Corps said Tuesday that it
would begin calling Marines back to active-duty service on an
involuntary basis to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan - the latest sign
that the American force is under strain. the Iraq war has forced the
Army, and now the Marines, to rely on the ready reserve to fill holes in
the combat force." The call-ups were approved by President Bush. Angeles Times, 8/23/06; Reuters, 8/22/06]

Involuntary Call-Ups Supplemented By Stop-Loss Orders That Keep
Soldiers On Active Duty Even After Their Commitment Is Complete. "For
much of the conflict, the Army also has had to use "stop-loss orders" -
which keep soldiers in their units even after their active-duty
commitments are complete - as well as involuntary call-ups of its
reservists. Both actions have been criticized as a "back-door draft" and
are unpopular with service members, many of whom say they have already
done their part."

General in Charge of Training Iraqi Security Forces: "They Are Not
Independent At This Point in Time." Lt.-General Martin Dempsey, who was
in charge of training Iraqi security forces, said that three years into
the war, Iraqis still could not operate independently. "They are not
independent at this point in time," Dempsey said. "It's just not
appropriate yet to be thinking in terms of independent anything in Iraq.
This, remember, is a nation at war."

Number of Police Battalions Able to Lead Operations Has Gone Down.
Despite claims of U.S. officials that Iraqi security forces are
increasingly well-trained and -equipped, recent reports said the number
of national police battalions able to lead operations had dropped from
six to two since spring. Officials could not immediately explain why.
Officials also acknowledged that Iraqi police ranks had been heavily
infiltrated by militia loyalists. Reports of civilians' being dragged
away and killed by gunmen in police uniforms have become common in
Baghdad.

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