White House Watch

Dan Froomkin

Jim Rutenberg and Mark Mazzetti write in the New York Times that Bush's speech "reflected concern at the White House over criticism that he is focusing on the wrong terrorist threat. . . .

"The overall thrust of the speech was that the administration believes that Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia has enough connections to Mr. bin Laden's group to be considered the same threat, that its ultimate goal is to strike America and that to think otherwise is 'like watching a man walk into a bank with a mask and a gun and saying he's probably just there to cash a check.' . . .

"Kevin Sullivan, the White House communications director, said the speech was devised as a 'surge of facts' meant to rebut critics who say Mr. Bush is trying to rebuild support for the war by linking the Iraq group and the one led by Mr. bin Laden.

"But Democratic lawmakers accused Mr. Bush of overstating those ties to provide a basis for continuing the American presence in Iraq. The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said Mr. Bush was 'trying to justify claims that have long ago been proven to be misleading.'"

And, as Rutenberg and Mazzetti explain: "The Iraqi group is a homegrown Sunni Arab extremist group with some foreign operatives that has claimed a loose affiliation to Mr. bin Laden's network, although the precise links are unclear."

Ben Feller writes for the Associated Press: "Bush is up against highly skeptical audiences with 18 months left in office. The public has largely lost faith in the war, Congress is weighing ways to end it, and international partners have fading memories of the 2001 attacks against the U.S.

"In Washington, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said Bush 'is trying to scare the American people into believing that al Qaida is the rationale for continuing the war in Iraq.' But Kerry said Bush presented no new evidence to back that up, and added: 'The president is picking the wrong rationale for this war. Al-Qaida is not the principal killer of American forces in Iraq.'"

Here is a White House " fact sheet" on al-Qaeda in Iraq. Here is a rebuttal from the National Security Network .

Bush and Bin Laden, a Brief History

There was a long period, starting around 2003, during which Bush avoided even mentioning Osama bin Laden's name, presumably embarrassed by his failure to capture the man "dead or alive" as promised -- and loath to enhance bin Laden's stature with a presidential mention.

Asked directly about bin Laden at a March 2003 press conference, Bush responded: "He's a person who's now been margimalized.... I truly am not that concerned about him."

But by the summer of 2005, Bush had changed course. Ever since a speech in June of that year-- in which he thunderously exclaimed "Hear the words of Osama bin Laden: 'This Third World War is raging' in Iraq" -- Bush has repeatedly invoked Bin Laden in an effort to terrify Americans into supporting his unpopular policies.