Focus on the future, not the past

I‘ve talked about the nonsense about “long-established ties between al Qaeda and Iraq” and I think misleading statements from the vice president, who continues to perpetuate a myth about some longstanding relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda that helped somehow justify the war. 

As I have said before, there were other good-faith reasons to believe Iraq was a real threat, but this supposed relationship with al Qaeda, was never one of them. 

The commission found, while there were some “friendly contacts” between Iraq and al Qaeda, none of them ever “developed into a collaborative relationship.”  And so the issue should now become moot, although a few hard-core partisans will continue to ignore the evidence.  Some have already chimed in, offering Clintonesque legalistic defenses. 

For Cheney, the issue is not, “Were there any contacts between the two?”  It is, “Was their relationship significant enough that one justification for war against Iraq is the extent of that relationship?”  Of course not. 

Bottom line? The U.S. had “friendly contacts” with Iraq before the 1991 war.  In fact, you could easily argue we had a collaborative relationship. 

It is not a justification for anything.  If we justify a war even in part based on ties as tenuous as those, war is going to become all too common. 

Hopefully, this report will focus everyone back on the real issues, how to make things better now rather than trying to justifying old mistakes.  The fact that five distinguished Democrats and five distinguished Republicans were able to unanimously agree on everything in this report means that we should listen, we should act, we should regain focus on al Qaeda and the immediate danger we face.

9/11 report identifies failures The final report of the Sept. 11 commission cited these operational failures as having prevented spotting “specific points of vulnerability” in al-Qaida’s plot: • Not “watch listing” future hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, not trailing them after they traveled to Bangkok and not informing the FBI about one future hijacker’s U.S. visa or his companion’s travel to the United States. • Not sharing information linking individuals in the USS Cole attack to al-Mihdhar. • Not taking adequate steps in time to find al-Mihdhar or al-Hazmi in the United States. • Not linking the arrest of Zacarias Moussaoui, described as interested in flight training for the purpose of using an airplane in a terrorist act, to the heightened indications of attack. • Not discovering false statements on visa applications. • Not recognizing passports manipulated in a fraudulent manner. • Not expanding no-fly lists to include names from terrorist watch lists. • Not searching airline passengers identified by the computer-based CAPPS screening system. • Not hardening aircraft cockpit doors or taking other measures to prepare for the possibility of suicide hijackings.

Dan Abrams is the host of 'The Abrams Report.' The show airs weedays, 6 p.m. ET on MSNBC.

MORE FROM DAN ABRAMS' CLOSING ARGUMENT

Why you can't copyright a reality show idea

Why you can't copyright a reality show idea Politicians play on words 'Terrorists' is what they are Rather wasn't partisan, just overeager Fewer death sentences handed out Honesty is more important Frey impressive on the witness stand Previewing Amber Frey's cross-examination 9/11 report helps us focus on the future, not the past Presumption of guilt   Add Dan Abrams' Closing Argument headlines to your news reader: