The New York Times on Thursday called on President George Bush to apologise to the American people for going to war on Iraq after an official probe into the September 11 attacks found no evidence linking Iraq and al-Qaeda.
”Now President Bush should apologise to the American people, who were led to believe something different,” the Times editorial said.
”Of all the ways Mr Bush persuaded Americans to back the invasion of Iraq last year, the most plainly dishonest was his effort to link his war of choice with the battle against terrorists worldwide.”
A panel investigating the 11 September, 2001 attacks said on Wednesday there was no ”credible evidence” Iraq had helped Osama bin Laden’s extremist al-Qaeda network to attack the United States and no sign of any ”collaborative relationship” between Baghdad and the group.
The conclusions of the independent panel dealt another blow to Bush’s justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein’s regime, which was also charged with possessing as yet undiscovered weapons of mass destruction.
”This is not just a matter of the president’s diminishing credibility, although that’s disturbing enough,” The New York Times said.
”The war on terror has actually suffered as the conflict in Iraq has diverted military and intelligence resources from places like Afghanistan, where there could really be al-Qaeda forces, including Mr Bin Laden.”
Bush, the daily added, is responsible for his government’s actions since September 11.
”That includes, inexcusably, selling the false Iraq-Qaeda claim to Americans.
”There are two unpleasant alternatives: either Mr Bush knew he was not telling the truth, or he has a capacity for politically motivated self-deception that is terrifying in the post-9/11 world,” concluded the Times.
But the Washington Post pointed out that the 9/11 panel’s report ”has not denied there were contacts” between Saddam’s regime and al-Qaeda, shoring up the Bush administration’s contention that it never suggested Iraq was behind September 11 but that it did have long-established ties with the group.
It criticised Bush administration foes for seizing on the commission’s sentence that it found ”no credible evidence” linking Iraq to September 11 to claim the White House has been lying.
”The accusation is nearly as irresponsible as the Bush administration’s rhetoric has been,” the Washington Post editorial said. – Sapa-AFP