The implied 9-11-Iraq connection.

In their public statements, President Bush and other administration officials repeatedly juxtaposed references to the September 11 terrorist attacks to those of Saddam Hussein, thereby planting the idea of u September 11-Iraq link without actually saying it. But on September 17, 2003, Mr. Bush acknowledged that the administration had no evidence of Iraqi involvement in those attacks.

"[T]he strategic view of America changed after September the 11th. We must deal with threats before they hurt the American people again. And as I have said repeatedly, Saddam Hussein would like nothing more than to use a terrorist network to attack and to kill and leave no fingerprints behind."

--President George W. Bush answering a question, January 31, 2003

"If the world fails to confront the threat posed by the Iraqi regime, refusing to use force, even as a last resort, free nations would assume immense and unacceptable risks. The attacks of September the 11th, 2001 showed what the enemies of America did with four airplanes. We will not wait to see what terrorists or terrorist states could do with weapons of mass destruction."

--President George W. Bush press conference, March 6, 2003

"We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11th [attacks]."

--President George W. Bush answering a question, September 17, 2003

Many Americans have been led to believe that Saddam must have been involved in the 9-11 attacks because of repeated administration references to an al-Qaeda-Iraq connection. That connection was portrayed as a concrete fact. Yet this January Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged that such a connection was only a possibility.

"We know that Iraq and al Qaeda have had high-level contacts that go back a decade. Some al Qaeda leaders who fled Afghanistan went to Iraq. These include one very senior al Qaeda leader who received medical treatment in Baghdad this year, and who has been associated with planning for chemical and biological attacks. We've learned that Iraq has trained al Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases."

--President George W. Bush speech in Cincinnati, Ohio, October 7; 2002

"Iraq officials deny accusations of ties with al-Qaeda. These denials are simply not credible."

--Secretary of State Colin Powell presentation to the UN Security Council, February 5, 2003

"There is not--you know, I have not seen smoking-gun, concrete evidence about the connection, but I think the possibility of such connections did exist and it was prudent to consider them at the time we did."

--Secretary of State Colin Powell answering a question about ties between al-Qaeda and Iraq press conference, January 8, 2004