Rep. Jim McDermott (AP):
Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., told a Seattle radio station Monday the U.S. military could have found Saddam “a long time ago if they wanted.” Asked if he thought the weekend capture was timed to help Bush, McDermott chuckled and said: “Yeah. Oh, yeah.”
The Democratic congressman went on to say, “There’s too much by happenstance for it to be just a coincidental thing.”
When interviewer Dave Ross asked again if he meant to imply the Bush administration timed the capture for political reasons, McDermott said: “I don’t know that it was definitely planned on this weekend, but I know they’ve been in contact with people all along who knew basically where he was. It was just a matter of time till they’d find him.
“It’s funny,” McDermott added, “when they’re having all this trouble, suddenly they have to roll out something.”