[GarySpFc]

The team's conclusions were alarming: Old barriers that divided the major Islamic terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah, were coming down, and these groups were forging ties with one another and with secular Arab governments in an emerging terrorist war against the West.


I have no doubt Iraq was a client state for al-Quida. Answar al-Islam was operating in northern Iraq, and is a branch of al-Quida. The group is commanded by al-Zaquawri, who is known to be a close associate of OBL, and rumored to be third in command under OBL. al-Zaquawri's leg was seriously injured while fighting in Afghanistan with al-Quida. He received medical treatment in Baghdad, while Saddam was still in power. He has continued commanding Anwar al-Islam in Iraq.

[Stentor]

"We had to justify every single connection we made. But the intelligence community had preconceived notions, and if the information didn't fit into those notions, then they simply ignored it."

Are these preconceived notions an expression of Arabism?

[wayoverontheright]

There is no need for there to be a pre-9-11 link between Saddam and al-Qaida in order to justify the Iraq war. If there is a lesson from 9-11, it is that neither WMD nor state sponsorship is required to wreak devastation upon Americans on American soil. The Left surely hasn't grasped this lesson, but could we take the chance that Saddam didn't either?

Saddam had motive. He was humiliated by us in '91, and had already demonstrated in the attempted assassination of a former president, his willingness to strike at us in a clandestine manner. What's more, he represented the symbol of Arab power, and no scenario whereby terror can be said to be dealt with properly could ensue which didn't include his removal from power.

[sanchmo]

bump for later

[hchutch]

Wow.

This is something we ought to take a look at folks.

Keep in mind, the Weekly Standard did a major article on the Feith memo a while back. Well, looks like the Dems are going to go after Feith full-tilt boogie to try to discredit Bush.

[LS]

I'm reading "1000 Years for Revenge" about the screwups in preventing the 1993 WTC bombing and catching the guys. The internal bureaucracy and "turf" wars inside the FBI (and I'm sure, the CIA) are unbelievable. It's not surprising at all that Bush wanted an outside look at this intel. Had we had such a duo in place in 1993, the first WTC bombing wouldn't have happened.

Moreover, I think the connections between AQ and Iraq are so overwhelming now as to be beyond dispute.

[Poundstone]

So Michael Maloof and David Wurmser are the two jokers to blame for the massive intelligence screw-up prior to the invasion of Iraq? They did some "butcher paper" analysis that told the President there were WMDs in Iraq?

These two gomers should be drawn and quartered on the front lawn of the White House.