In the days immediately following the destruction of the World Trade Center, few Americans thought Iraq had anything to do with it. When asked who they thought was responsible, only 3 percent mentioned Iraq or Saddam.
In a New York Times/CBS News poll earlier this week, 45 percent said they believed Saddam Hussein was “personally involved” in the 9/11 terror attack.
What happened between then and now? The Bush administration has repeatedly hinted, implied or asserted that there is a connection between Saddam and Al-Qaeda, whose suicide pilots flew airliners loaded with Americans into the twin towers. It has yet to produce convincing evidence.
The Christian Science Monitor makes the connections in a story for Friday’s paper. The Monitor also provides other useful links on the topic.
Osama watch
The hunt for Osama bin Laden has gained greater urgency because of fears in the U.S. intelligence community that he is obsessed with the goal of detonating an A-bomb somewhere in America, the New York Daily News reports.
Moran update
U.S. Rep. James Moran, the Virginia congressman who triggered a Trent Lott style furor by suggesting America would not be near war in the Mideast were it not for the influence of American Jews, is still taking heat. Some of his Democratic colleagues are calling for him not to run again. Moran says he’s running anyway.
Regardless of how this works out, Moran’s outburst has generated some interesting reading.
Slate’s Michael Kinsley doesn’t exactly defend Moran, but notes that one prominent Jewish organization openly brags about its influence in Washington.
Over at the National Review, Jonah Goldberg writes that like any other large group of Americans, Jews are all over the map in their feelings about the war. This may be obvious, but Goldberg makes the case engagingly and with just a bit of sarcastic humor.
News from the front
An unidentified soldier is writing a weblog from somewhere in the Middle East (he declines to identify himself, his unit or his location for the usual military security reasons). If you want a taste of one soldier’s view from the front, click here.
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