IRAQ, AL QAEDA CONNECTION: Bush says he has never tied Hussein to Sept. 11 terrorism
WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush defended on Thursday his assertions that ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had ties to Al Qaeda, but he denied that his administration accused Hussein of collaborating in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

A review of statements by Bush and his top aides and U.S. documents, however, shows that the administration systematically sought to justify an invasion of Iraq by connecting Hussein with the perpetrators of the bloodiest terrorist strikes in U.S. history.

The administration went to extraordinary lengths to associate the secular Iraqi ruler with the terrorist network of Muslim radical Osama bin Laden. They included publicizing claims by Iraqi defectors that Iraq was training Muslim extremists in the same hijacking techniques used by the Sept. 11 terrorists.

The administration's efforts to connect Hussein with Al Qaeda had a major impact on public support for the invasion of Iraq. Polls found large majorities of Americans said they believed Hussein was involved in the Sept. 11 plot.

The independent bipartisan commission investigating the terrorist attacks reported Wednesday that although there were contacts between the two, there was "no credible evidence" that Hussein ever collaborated with bin Laden's terrorist network.

On Thursday, Bush insisted: "There was a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda. This administration never said that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and Al Qaeda."

Still he continues the lie. Amazing.