I'm trying to find out when this interview aired, but it was on the Bart Hawley Show on JTV:



Many thanks to YouTube user SeventhDem for the video.

As I said, I'm not sure when this aired, but this is at least twice now that Congressman Tim Walberg has linked the government of Saddam Hussein in Iraq to the tragedy of September 11th, 2001. This time, he specifically states that Saddam Hussein funded terrorist operations. This is, in fact, not true. This claim was debunked four years ago by the 9/11 Commission. Indeed, the former director of the CIA says that the claim never made sense:

"It never made any sense. We could never verify that there was any Iraqi authority, direction and control, complicity with al Qaeda for 9/11 or any operational act against America. Period."

Let me repeat this. The terrorist group Al Qaeda planned and carried out the attacks of September 11, 2001. The government of Iraq and then-President Saddam Hussein had no collaborative relationship with Al Qaeda. Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11.

Setting aside the "fantasy world" explanation I offered yesterday, it's clear that Tim Walberg is deliberately trying to distort the facts to justify his support of the war in Iraq.

Earlier today, the Battle Creek Enquirer carried an article titled "Walberg Clarifies His Comment," in which the congressman is supposed to have explained what he meant when he said that Iraq and September 11 were linked. Except, here's the only "clarification" they offered:

When asked about the comment, Walberg said:

"The fact is I strongly believe that terrorism must be defeated here and abroad. Al-Qaida was and is a threat to our family's security — they have proven that."

Lacking in any other explanation, I'm forced to conclude that Congressman Walberg stands by his claim that Saddam Hussein helped carry out the attacks of September 11, 2001.

In other news, someone who attended one of Congressman Walberg's campaign events informed me that Walberg flip-flopped-- he now supports a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. This is a dramatically different position than he had taken before, voting against such timetables throughout last year.

If this policy switch turns out to be true (I'll have to wait until I see media reports), I'll be eager to see how he explains to his supporters why he supports "timetables for defeat."

UPDATE: I'm told that this video clip was from Tuesday, August 19, 2008. That was four days after he made similar false statements on WKHM's Greg O'Connor Show and was the subject of a Schauer for Congress press release and a post by Chris Gautz of the Jackson Citizen Patriot on his blog.

Labels: 9/11 Commission, Iraq, Issues, Tim Walberg

From my inbox last night:

Dear [---],

In case you missed it, Tim Walberg did an interview with WKHM in Jackson last week. When the topic of Iraq came up during the conversation, Walberg said, "There was clear connections in Iraq to Saddam Hussein to what went on on 9/11."

Apparently the Congressman didn't get the memo that President Bush admitted this wasn't true in 2003, or that the bipartisan 9/11 Commission de-bunked this myth more than four years ago.

This got me thinking about some of the other shocking comments Tim Walberg has made over the past year that show how out of touch he is with the 7^th district. We put this video together to highlight some of his extreme viewpoints:

And, here's the video, called "The Things People Say":



I'm more than a little embarrassed that I'm represented by this man...

Labels: 9/11 Commission, ANWR, Energy, Environment, Great Lakes, Health Care, Iraq, Issues, Mark Schauer, Oil, Tim Walberg

... Sigh. Today, on WKHM:

Greg O'Connor: Tim, give me a little history lesson because somebody asked me this question earlier in the week. What's the difference – Russia invading Georgia and us invading Iraq?

Tim Walberg: Well, the difference is that there was clear connections in Iraq to Saddam Hussein to what went on on 9/11.

Audio here.

Okay. Tim Walberg isn't stupid. Really, he's not. But apparently he thinks you are.

Iraq and the regime of Saddam Hussein had absolutely nothing to do with the attacks of September 11, 2001. Nothing. But Walberg thinks you're stupid enough to fall for it.

Labels: 9/11 Commission, Iraq, Issues, Tim Walberg

Back in January, the House of Representatives passed HR 1, which would implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. At the time, Congressman Tim Walberg voted No.

Sometimes, it takes a while to get things through Congress, and the Senate didn't pass their version of the bill until July. Then came the conference committee, which resolves differences between the House and Senate versions, and then each chamber votes on the final version that came out of the conference committee.

So how did Congressman Walberg vote when the final version came back to the House?

He changed positions and voted Yes!

Congressman Walberg, it's not that I don't want you to change your mind, but... what happened?

Labels: 110th Congress, 9/11 Commission, Issues, Tim Walberg, Walberg Voting Record

In their first piece of major legislation in the Democrats' 100 Hours, HR 1 was passed, which would implement the remaining suggestions of the 9/11 Commission.

Congressman Tim Walberg voted No. The bill passed 299-128, with 68 Republicans crossing over and joining the Democrats. Among them, Michigan Republican representatives Dave Camp (MI-04), Fred Upton (MI-06), Mike Rogers (MI-08), Candice Miller (MI-10), and Thaddeus McCotter (MI-11).

UPDATE: The first time through, I forgot to include Dave Camp as crossing over (corrected above). Also, Joe Knollenberg didn't vote, meaning only three Michigan Republicans-- Tim Walberg, Vern Ehlers, and Peter Hoekstra voted no.

News coverage:
The Washington Post
USA Today
CNN

I'll have more about the bill and Walberg's position later.

Labels: 110th Congress, 9/11 Commission, Issues, Tim Walberg