Its only recently the Left rewrote history. Highlighting the Saddam-Al Qaeda angle now would not serve their current anti-Bush agenda. And naturally, the MSM has been all too happy in furthering the despicable lie that Saddam was an innocent choir boy set on by a rapacious, war-mongering Bush.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".) Dittos, the entire decades of the 90's has been erased by the DNC and their media.