Commentator Palin debuts for Fox, says Iraq was behind 9/11

NEW YORK - Making her debut as a contributor to Fox News, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin admitted Tuesday that she thought Iraq may have been behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Interviewed by Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly on his show “The O’Reilly Factor,” Palin trashed many of the critical accounts of her candidacy in the new book “Game Change.” But one story from the book that Palin did not say was “made up” or “a lie” was the description of her uncertainty as to whether Iraq had a hand in the planning of the September 11 attacks.

“I did talk a lot to [campaign strategist] Steve Schmidt about the history of the war and where the attackers could have come from,” Politico quoted Palin, as saying of her debate prep during the fall of 2008 - more than five years after the start of the war in Iraq and seven years after the terrorist attacks that hit New York and Washington.

“I do admit to asking questions about that,” she said.

Palin appeared for the first time as a paid contributor on the network, smiling and eagerly answering each of O’Reilly’s questions.

“I’m grinning today and I’m so appreciative to be here with you today and the team at Fox News for the fair and balanced news that voters of America deserve,” she said.

Overall, Palin had a very negative take on the book written by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann.

“These reporters were not any part of what I was doing there as the VP candidate,” she said. “I don’t know who they are. I haven’t met these guys.”

Asked about the book’s assertion that she did not know that the Korean peninsula was separated into two vastly different countries, Palin responded: “That’s a lie.” (ANI)