Today on the Los Angeles Times front page, under the headline "U.S. efforts geared to Iraq pullout" the words Al Qaeda were used 27 times in a four column story. The following is my letter to the editor: "Why do over 40% of Americans think that Saddam Hussein's regime was directly involved in 9/11? (Newsweek Poll 6/23/07) Perhaps that misconception has something to do with press coverage. In your front page article "U.S. efforts geared to Iraq pullout" (6/28/07) the words "Al Qaeda" or "Al Qaeda in Iraq" appears 27 times. There is only one passing mention that "despite it's name, the extent of it's links to Osama bin Laden is unclear." The militantly secularist Baathist dictatorship of Saddam loathed, feared and actively suppressed the religious Islamists of Al Qaeda. But now the U.S. Administration is trying to conflate its military disaster in Iraq with 9/11 to justify the troop serge and its continuing military presence. Evoking the emotionally charged name of Al Qaeda at every opportunity is nothing more than propaganda.