Democrats fault Bush over Iraq link to Sept. 11

Democrats on Wednesday challenged President Bush's claim that America must stay the course in Iraq because of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but his backers said the link was justified.

"I feel compelled ... to set the record straight about why we got into this war," said Sen. John Rockefeller of West Virginia, top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee.

"It had nothing to do with Osama bin Laden. It had nothing to do with al Qaeda. It had nothing to do with September 11th," Rockefeller told a news conference.

Rockefeller and other Democrats pointedly noted that the stated reason for U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was the claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, which have never been found.
(Reuters)