Posted on 06/20/2004 8:29:56 PM PDT by FairOpinion
WASHINGTON, June 20 (UPI) -- The commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks has received new information indicating that a senior officer in an elite unit of the security services of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein may have been a member of al-Qaida involved in the planning of the suicide hijackings, panel members said Sunday.
John F. Lehman, a Reagan-era GOP defense official told NBC's "Meet the Press" that documents captured in Iraq "indicate that there is at least one officer of Saddam's Fedayeen, a lieutenant colonel, who was a very prominent member of al Qaida."
Lehman said that commission staff members continued to work on the issue and experts cautioned that the connection might be nothing more than coincidence.
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
I am sure it's just a coincidence, sure, anyone wants some bridges?
I've already heard this somewhere...that a member of the Republican guard was indeed tied to Al-Qaida. This news is at least a month old, isn't it?
Oh, and there is more:
Chairman Thomas Kean, meanwhile, stressed that the staff statement released Wednesday did not represent the settled view of the whole commission: "These staff reports have come along every now and then in connection with our public hearings. These staff reports are interim documents. The commission, for instance, does not get involved, the members, in the staff reports. When we do the report itself, that will be a product of the entire commission."
He added that there much more evidence of links between al-Qaida and Iran or Pakistan than Iraq, and pointed out that, "Our investigation is continuing. We're not finished yet."
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So why did the Commission released half-baked conclusions, if not for political reasons?
But they are finding out that the links are apparently so extensive, they can't ignore them.
And what kind of a statement is that "there is MORE evidence that AQ had links to Pakistan and Iran, that doesn't meant, that there isn't still plenty of evidence linking Iraq and AQ.
I think they are backtracking, because the Bush administration didn't fold.
It was Al Fadayeen, still I heard this long ago.
The news is that the stupid, ignorant, partisan 9-11 commission deigns to acknowledge this finally.
Hey Lehman......shut the heck up!!! Don't you know that this could hurt the NY Times and thus their partner in crime, Traitor Kerry!!!!!!!!
sofaman to the 9/11 commission: Good morning.
"has received new information "
Well, the commission apparently just heard it now.
So Kerry could quote them, denounce Bush, and wind up looking like a fool?
well, well
WSJ reported it.
The Fedayeen were a special unit of volunteers given basic training in irregular warfare. The lieutenant colonel, Ahmed Hikmat Shakir, has the same name as an Iraqi thought to have attended a planning meeting for the Sept. 11 attacks in January 2000, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The meeting was also attended by two of the hijackers, Khalid al Midhar and Nawaf al Hamzi and senior al-Qaida leaders.
Lehman said that commission staff members continued to work on the issue and experts cautioned that the connection might be nothing more than coincidence.
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If this is true and I personally don't think it's a coincidence, this shows there is a direct link not only between Saddam and Al Qaeda, but that Iraq WAS actually involved in planning the 9-11 attack!
Oh really? Then why are you bozos appearing on the media yapping about half-baked results? Not very professional.
I think they are backtracking, because the Bush administration didn't fold.
"The Fedayeen were a special unit of volunteers given basic training in irregular warfare. The lieutenant colonel, Ahmed Hikmat Shakir, has the same name as an Iraqi thought to have attended a planning meeting for the Sept. 11 attacks in January 2000, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The meeting was also attended by two of the hijackers, Khalid al Midhar and Nawaf al Hamzi and senior al-Qaida leaders.
As Rush said: Al-Qaida was in Florida but not in Iraq?
I think it is quite telling that Stephen Hayes can acquire this information, write a book on it, publish that book, and do several interviews in the media BEFORE the 9/11 commission has any hint of it. Who is running this thing, Hans Blix?
"If this is true and I personally don't think it's a coincidence, this shows there is a direct link not only between Saddam and Al Qaeda, but that Iraq WAS actually involved in planning the 9-11 attack!"
I completely agree!!
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