Iran and the Elephant in the Room

From the AP:
 

WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Monday the United States is exploring whether Iran had any role in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a scenario discounted by the CIA.

"We're digging into the facts to see if there was one," Bush said in an Oval Office photo opportunity. Bush noted that acting CIA Director John McLaughlin has said that there was no direct connection between Iran and Sept. 11.

(snip)

Bush accused Iran of harboring al-Qaida leadership, seeking a nuclear weapons program and financing terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah.

McLaughlin said on Sunday that the CIA has known for some time that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers were able to pass through Iran.

Having passed off the war in Iraq as a war against proliferation of WMD and against regimes connected with terror, the Bush administration makes the opening moves to do the same to Iran.

The administration attempts to connect Iran to 9/11 by innuendo: hijackers "passing through" and connections to Hezbollah. No intelligence report so far published has linked Hezbollah to 9/11. Although some of the hijackers may have passed through Iran, some narcotics dealers pass through Mexico. It is not a justification for a preventive war against the Mexican or Iranian states. Borders (including our own) are incredibly porous.

What has been conclusively demonstrated is that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis. What has been demonstrated is the support of the Saudis of the radical Wahabbi sect of Islam. What has been demonstrated is the link between certain Saudi charities and Al Qaeda.

I guess if you go to enough Republican conventions, you get used to seeing the elephants everywhere.