Posted on 09/08/2006 3:11:07 PM PDT by Jacob Kell
WASHINGTON (AP) - There's no evidence Saddam Hussein had a relationship with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his Al-Qaida associates, according to a Senate report on prewar intelligence on Iraq. Democrats said the report undercuts President Bush's justification for going to war.
The declassified document being released Friday by the Senate Intelligence Committee also explores the role that inaccurate information supplied by the anti-Saddam exile group the Iraqi National Congress had in the march to war.
It discloses for the first time an October 2005 CIA assessment that prior to the war Saddam's government "did not have a relationship, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi and his associates."
Bush and other administration officials have said that the presence of Zarqawi in Iraq before the war was evidence of a connection between Saddam's government and al-Qaida. Zarqawi was killed by a U.S. airstrike in June this year.
The long-awaited report, said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., a member of the committee, is "a devastating indictment of the Bush-Cheney administration's unrelenting, misleading and deceptive attempts" to link Saddam to al-Qaida.
The report, two years in the making, comes out amid a series of Bush speeches stressing that pursuing the military effort in Iraq is crucial to winning the war on terrorism, and two months before that policy will be tested in midterm elections.
"Based on the characterizations we've seen, it's nothing new," White House press secretary Tony Snow said of the report.
"In 2002 and 2003, members of both parties got a good look at the intelligence we had and they came to the very same conclusions about what was going on," Snow said. That was "one of the reasons you had overwhelming majorities in the United States Senate and the House for taking action against Saddam Hussein," he said.
The report deals with two aspects of prewar intelligence - the role of the Iraqi National Congress and its exile leader Ahmed Chalabi and a comparison of prewar intelligence assessments and postwar findings on weapons of mass destruction and Saddam's links to terrorist groups.
The 90's:
Saddam's Fingerprints on NY Bombing
June 28, 1993. The Wall Street Journal. Laurie Mylroie
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1115387/posts
The Clinton Justice Department's indictment against OBL in federal court which mentions the terrorist's connections to Iraq.
November 4, 1998. The federal indictment
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/985906/posts?page=30#30
Iraq and AQ agree to cooperate. The federal indictment against OBL working in concert with Iraq and Iran is mentioned.
November 1998. The New York Times
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/985906/posts
Saddam reaching out to OBL
January 1, 1999. Newsweek
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1158277/posts
ABC news reports on the Osama/Saddam connections
January 14, 1999. ABC News
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1229608/posts?page=1
Osama and Saddam Work Together
January 27, 1999. Laurie Mylroie interview. She is a former Clinton terrorism czar.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1158482/posts
A Much Shunned Terrorist Takes Refuge In Iraq (Abu Nidal)
New York Times. January 1999.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1433610/posts
Western Nightmare: Saddam and OBL versus the World. Iraq recruited OBL.
February 6, 1999. The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,12469,798270,00.html
Saddam's Link to OBL
February 6, 1999. The Guardian
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/866105/posts
Saddam offered asylum to bin Laden
February 13, 1999. Associated Press
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1158274/posts
Son of Saddam coordinates with OBL.
Iraqi Special Ops coordinates with Bin Laden's terrorist activities.
August 6, 1999. Yossef Bodansky, National Press Club
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/951911/posts
List of newspaper articles written in the 90's which mention the world's concern regarding the growing relationship between OBL and Saddam.
FrontPage Magazine.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/946809/posts?page=1
The Clinton View of Iraq/AQ Ties.
The Weekly Standard.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/527uwabl.asp
2001:
Fritz Hollings mentioned on the floor of the Senate that Iraq's state run newspaper knew exactly what was coming to the United States -- in July 2001 they published an article about it.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1472699/posts?page=1
Before 9/11 (August 2001?), Saddam put his military on the highest state of readiness since the first Gulf War, goes into a bunker with his two wives (who hated each other and had never before been housed together) and does not emerge until well after 9/11.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1520824/posts?page=17#17
From the book: Saddam - King of Terror
The Iraqis, who for several years paid smaller groups to do their dirty work, were quick to discover the advantages of Al-Qaeda.
September 19, 2001. Jane's.
http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/fr/fr010919_1_n.shtml
Iraq was in contact with Al Qaeda in the days preceeding 9/11 and thought to have sponsored the 911 attacks.
September 21, 2001. The Washington Times. Bill Gertz
http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/iraqS.htm
Bin Laden met Iraqi Agent.
September 28, 2001. The Miami Herald.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/534617/posts
German investigators link Iraq to anthrax attack.
October 26, 2001. Anova.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/780782/posts
Saddam behind first WTC attack.
October 18, 2001. Laurie Mylroie, Clinton anti-terrorism czar. PBS.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/gunning/interviews/mylroie.html
Hijacker given anthrax by Iraq
October 27, 2001. The Times.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/557446/posts
The media certainly were pushing Iraq as being connected to AQ and possibly behind 9/11 shortly after September 11, 2001. A compilation of media comments and articles:
November 17, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/984758/posts
2002:
Salman Pak. Satellite discussion about the terror camps in Iraq.
January 7, 2002. Aviation Weekly.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/865435/posts
Intercepted call links Saddam to AQ.
February 7, 2002. The Telegraph
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/837605/posts
Report linking anthrax and 9/11 hijackers is probed.
March 23, 2002. The New York Times.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/652000/posts
Osama met with Saddam in Iraq.
March 23, 2002. The Times of India
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/746741/posts
Militia Defector says Baghdad trained Al Qaeda fighters in chemical weapons.
July 14, 2002. The Sunday Times.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/743892/posts
September 11 Victims Sue Iraq.
September 4, 2002. BBC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2237332.stm
Families sue Iraq over 9/11. Thousands of 9/11 victims and family members sue Iraq based on evidence that Iraq knew the attacks were coming, approved the attacks, and supported Al Qaeda for a decade. The lawsuit also notes Iraq's involvement in the first WTC attack.
September 5, 2002. CBS.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/05/september11/main520874.shtml
Did Atta meet in Prague with an Iraqi government official?
June 19, 2002.
http://www.computerbytesman.com/911/praguefaq.htm
Democrats insisted on a separate war resolution as it pertains to Iraq.
Their language that they inserted into the Iraqi war resolution mentions specifically that it is known that AQ is in Iraq.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1513660/posts?page=2
Gephardt says lots of intelligence links OBL and Saddam.
October 6, 2002. Newsmax.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/764011/posts
Iraq War Resolution Demanded and Written and Signed by Democrats. Mentions how AQ is ALREADY IN IRAQ (despite the left trying to say the war drew AQ to Iraq)
October 2002.
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ243.107
2003:
Colin Powell: Iraq and Al Qaeda were partners for years.
February 5, 2003. Colin Powell interview on CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/05/sprj.irq.alqaeda.links/
Freeper Republic Strategist's list of links between AQ and Iraq.
February 7, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/850346/post
Saddam and OBL Make a Pact.
February 10, 2003. The New Yorker.
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030210fa_fact
Australia PM has lots of information regarding Iraq/AQ connections.
March 14, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/864277/posts
Spain links 9/11 suspect to Baghdad.
March 16, 2003. The Observer.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,915142,00.html
The AQ connection to Iraq
April 12, 2003. The Weekly Standard http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/944617/posts?page=2
Saddam's regime linked to several religious extremist groups (including AQ).
April 17, 2003. The Daily Telegraph.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/894721/posts
More evidence. Newspaper finds documents in Baghdad which directly prove the links between OBL and Saddam. The paperwork details meetings and when and where they occurred. Also found documents that Russia passed on to Iraq detailing private conversations between Blair and Italy's Berlusconi.
April 27, 2003. The Telegraph.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F04%2F27%2Fwalq27.xml
Wolfowitz Says Saddam behind 9/11 Attacks:
June 1, 2003. Newsweek.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/921398/posts
Oil for Food Scandal Ties Iraq and Al Qaeda.
June 20, 2003. Forward Magazine.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1125899/posts
A judge sees the documents linking OBL and Saddam.
June 25, 2003. The Tennessean.
http://tennessean.com/nation-world/archives/03/06/34908297.shtml?Element_ID=34908297
The Al Qaeda Connection with Iraq.
July 11, 2003. The Weekly Standard.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/944617/posts?page=2
List of newspaper articles written in the 90's which mention the world's concern regarding the growing relationship between OBL and Saddam.
July 14, 2003. FrontPage Magazine.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/946809/posts?page=1
Growing Evidence of Saddam and Al Qaeda Link.
July 16, 2003. FrontPage Magazine.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/946997/posts
What the administration said. And what they didn't use, but could have regarding the relationship between OBL and Saddam. The Iraqi regime paid Zawahiri $300,000 in '98 when his Islamic jihad merged with Al Qaeda.
September 1, 2003. The Weekly Standard.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/969032/posts
Free Republic Thread that mentions books on this topic. Former CIA Director James Woolsey and other notables recommend these books as well.
September 6, 2003.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/977221/posts?page=8
Memo shows Iraq contacted OBL.
September 12, 2003. The Washington Times.
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20030912-012437-3992r.htm
Vice President Cheney lectures Russert on Iraq/911 Link
Al Qaeda sent personnel to Baghdad to get training for terrorist activities. He mentions Iraq's involvement in the first WTC bombing in 1993.
September 15, 2003. Interview.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/982713/posts
Iraq and terrorism - no doubt about it. Specific names of Al Qaeda terrorists working in and with Iraq
September 19, 2003. National Review.
http://www.nationalreview.com/robbins/robbins091903.asp
Iraq and AQ: A Federal Judge's Point of View
September 20, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/986293/posts
Mohammed's Account links Iraq to 9/11 and first WTC attack:
September 22, 2003. Newsweek.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/987075/posts
Richard Miniter details the names and specific connections including the Iraqi who was involved in the first WTC bombing and lived in Iraq.
September 25, 2003. Richard Minister
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/989201/posts
The connection between Iraq and 9/11
Fox News. September 2003.
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,97063,00.html
Saddam's Terror Ties that Critics Ignore.
October 21, 2003. The National Review.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1005579/posts
Osama's Best Friend: The Further Connections Between Al Qaeda and Saddam.
November 3, 2003. The Weekly Standard
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1007969/posts
Stephen Hayes book, The Intel Links OBL and Saddam.
November 15, 2003. The Weekly Standard.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,103176,00.html
The media certainly were pushing Iraq as being connected to AQ and possibly behind 9/11 shortly after September 11, 2001. A compilation of media comments and articles:
November 17, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/984758/posts
Article with many links. How Saddam paid AQ to commit attacks against America.
November 17, 2003. FrontPage magazine.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=10848
Case Closed.
November 24, 2003. The Weekly Standard
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/378fmxyz.asp
The Terrorist behind 9/11 was trained by Saddam
December 14, 2003. The Telegraph.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1146356/posts?page=1
The Clinton View of Iraq/AQ Ties.
December 29, 2003. The Weekly Standard.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/527uwabl.asp
2004:
Saddam behind anthrax attacks?
January 1, 2004. Accuracy in Media.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1052221/posts?page=33
4:
The support of the Iraqi regime for Abdul Rahman Yasin, an Iraqi native who mixed the chemicals for the 1993 World Trade Center building. Coalition forces found a document in Tikrit several months ago that indicates the former Iraqi regime has provided Yasin housing and a monthly stipend for nearly a decade.
January 2004. FrontPage magazine.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=11946
Tape Shows General Wesley Clark linking Iraq and AQ
January 12, 2004. The New York Times.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1056113/posts
Saddam's Ambassador to Al Qaeda.
February 23, 2004, The Weekly Standard.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1083778/posts
Article details the number of terrorists who have attacked America in the past and taken refuge in Iraq. Loaded with interesting bullet points.
March 14, 2004. Scripps Howard News Service via NewsMax.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1097521/posts?page=1
James Woolsey, former CIA Director, links Iraq and AQ. See also Posts #34 and #35.
March 23, 2004. CNN Interview
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1104121/posts
Less than two months before 9/11/01, the state-controlled Iraqi newspaper “Al-Nasiriya” carried a column headlined, “American, an Obsession called Osama Bin Ladin.” (July 21, 2001)
In the piece, Baath Party writer Naeem Abd Muhalhal predicted that bin Laden would attack the US “with the seriousness of the Bedouin of the desert about the way he will try to bomb the Pentagon after he destroys the White House.”
The same state-approved column also insisted that bin Laden “will strike America on the arm that is already hurting,” and that the US “will curse the memory of Frank Sinatra every time he hears his songs” – an apparent reference to the Sinatra classic, “New York, New York”.
March 28, 2004, NewsMax
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1106657/posts?page=1
Al Qaeda's Poison Gas
April 29,2 004. The Wall Street Journal
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005016
Saddam Linked to 9/11.
May 11, 2004. FrontPage Magazine. Laurie Mylroie, Clinton's anti-terrorism czar.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1133317/posts
Bush says Zarqawi killed Berg. Cites Saddam ties.
May 15, 2004. Reuters.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1136076/posts
More on Shakir. Did he meet with 9/11 planners?
May 27, 2004. The Wall Street Journal.
http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005133
The Connections. Detailed.
May 28, 2004. The Weekly Standard.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1144123/posts?page=11
Saddam's role in 9/11.
May 29, 2004. A Freeper book.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1144699/posts?page=5
Clinton mentioned how AQ was developing a relationship with Iraq. Also see Post #5.
June 1, 2004. The Miami Herald.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1145787/posts
Read into the Congressional Record regarding the ties between OBL and Saddam. (Part 1)
June 1, 2004
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r108:42:./temp/~r1082srpxN:e0:
More read into the Congressional Record (Part 2).
June 1, 2004
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r108:42:./temp/~r1082srpxN:e2357:
More read into the Congressional Record (Part 3).
June 1, 2004
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r108:42:./temp/~r1082srpxN:e12612:
More read into the Congressional Record (Part 4).
June 1, 2004
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r108:42:./temp/~r1082srpxN:e23985:
Exploring the links between 9/11 and Iraq.
June 2, 2004. CBN.com
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1146319/posts?page=1
New Iraqi Chief Links 9/11 to Saddam.
June 2, 2004. NewsMax.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1146579/posts?page=1
Pre-Bush Timeline of Saddam/OBL Ties
June 12, 2004. Freeper Blackrain4xmas research
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1152923/posts?page=1
Cheney claims Iraq/AQ connections
June 14, 2004. Associated Press
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1153781/posts?page=20
Britain insists that AQ was in Iraq pre war.
June 17, 2004. MiddleEast Online.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1155369/posts
Cheney says definite ties between Iraq/AQ and outraged at NYT Misleading Headline.
June 17, 2004. CNBC Capitol Report via Drudge
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1155520/posts?page=1
How the Networks Pretend to Ignore their own Reporting from the 1990's.
June 17, 2004. Media Research Center
http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20040617.asp
There was a link between OBL and Saddam.
June 20, 2004. The Sunday Telegraph.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1156634/posts
9/11 Commission says prominent member of AQ served in Iraq's militia.
June 20, 2004. Reuters.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1156957/posts
9/11 Commission reaffirms Bush administration view of Iraq/AQ ties.
June 21, 2004. RNC.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1157478/posts
How Saddam collaborated with Osama bin Laden. Interview with Stephen Hayes with excellent information.
June 23, 2004. FrontPage Magazine.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1158493/posts
The Clinton Administration first linked Saddam and OBL.
June 25, 2004. The Washington Times.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040624-112921-3401r.htm
Documents Shows Iraq Intel Agents Met with OBL.
June 25, 2004. Associated Press.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1160146/posts
More evidence of Iraq/AQ relationship.
June 25, 2004. New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/25/politics/25TERR.html?ei=5070&en=441dbd2a3bae663c&ex=1089259200&pagewanted=print&position=
Putin warned President Bush after 9/11 that Saddam Hussein planned to attack America.
June 28, 2004. Media Research Center.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1161677/posts
Freeper blog (Windsofchange) and links to 9/11 Commission report with specific references to the ways in which Iraq/AQ were connected and worked together.
July 11, 2004.
http://windsofchange.net/archives/005191.php#al-qaeda
Long List of Clinton Administration Officials who Believed There was an AQ/Iraq connection.
July 12, 2004. NewsMax.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1169397/posts
Gore, Cohen, Clinton linked AQ and Saddam.
July 15, 2004. The Daily Texan.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1165515/posts
Gore, Cohen, Clinton linked AQ and Saddam.
July 15, 2004. The Daily Texan.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1165515/posts
What the Senate Intelligence Report REALLY said about the connections between Iraq and Al Qaeda.
July 22, 2004. The Weekly Standard.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1173423/posts
The 9/11 Commission found specific connections between Iraq and AQ. Specific names and dates are given from the report.
July 22, 2004. The Daily Standard.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/354tdeij.asp
The 9/11 Commission and Iraq/AQ Connections.
July 26, 2004. The Weekly Standard.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1173008/posts
Clinton feared Iraq gave AQ chemical weapons in Sudan under a cooperative agreement they had.
July 2004. 9/11 Commission
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373948467
Information about Shakir, the Iraqi who met with AQ at a pre-9/11 planning meeting. Also information about the Iraqi who mixed the chemicals for the bomb of the first WTC bombing.
August 2, 2004. The Weekly Standard.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/357lnryy.asp?pg=2
Specific quotes from 9/11 Commission Report regarding links between AQ and Iraq.
July 30, 2004.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1182042/posts
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1193821/posts
Contact between OBL and Saddam are beyond dispute.
August 18, 2004. The Washington Times.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1193821/posts
List of CIA and various Reports regarding Iraq's support for terrorists, terrorism and AQ.
September 16, 2004. The Weekly Standard.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/631slkle.asp
Kerry disputing 9/11 Commission and Senate Intelligence Reports. Actual page numbers and quotes within article of what the Reports DID say regarding the connections.
September 20, 2004. The Weekly Standard.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1214954/posts
Fox News reports that Saddam may have used Oil for Food money to fund Al Qaeda.
September 20, 2004. Fox News Channel.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,132682,00.html
Excellent resource. Pictures. Charts.
Bomber from '93 WTC bombing received salary from Iraq.
Salmon Pak - terrorists trained on how to use forks and knives to hijack a plane.
Iraq was Islamic terror central.
September 22, 2004. Deroy Murdock, Hoover Institute.
http://www.husseinandterror.com/
Both the Senate Intelligence Committee Report and the 9/11 Commission documented the links and relationship between AQ and Iraq.
October 5, 2005. The Weekly Standard.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/731hezhy.asp?pg=2
CNSNews.com Publishes Iraqi Intelligence Docs
CNSNews ^ | October 11, 2004 | David Thibault
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1241500/posts
Osama bin Laden was considered an Iraqi Intelligence asset.
October 14, 2004. National Review.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1246505/posts
Saddam - The Terrorist's Banker
October 15, 2004. The Scotsman
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1245719/posts
Senate Intelligence Report says Zarqawi operated out of Saddam controlled territory - Baghdad.
October 20, 2004. The Weekly Standard.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/803czhfn.asp
It looks like the 9/11 Commission got an important detail wrong. Shakir probably DID work the Iraqi Fedayeen and he had documents on him when arrested that linked him to the 1993 WTC bombing. And he drove the 9/11 hijackers to a planning meeting.
October 23, 2004. The Hoover Institute. http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1254304/posts?page=1
Saddam was the ATM to Al Qaeda.
November 16, 2004. The Weekly Standard.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=15919
CIA Agent Scheuer USED to believe there was an Iraq/AQ link. Now he just wants face time on television and is pretending there was never a link.
November 23, 2004. The Weekly Standard.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1286540/posts
Oil for Food Scandal may have funded 9/11.
December 4, 2004. NewsMax quotes The Weekly Standard.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1294424/posts?page=35
Iraqi Intelligence officers planted a sleeper cell (at least one) in the United States. The man is now under arrest and Iraqi agents are cooperating.
December 22, 2004. CBS.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1306842/posts
2005
New list by Richard Minister of the Connections Between OBL and Saddam.
February 4, 2005.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1335971/posts?page=7
Freeper book, Saddam's Ties to Osama, great review at Amazon.
February 2005.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1335596/posts
Symposium; Experts gather to discuss relationship between Iraq/AQ
February 11, 2005. FrontPage Magazine.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=16985
It's all about 9/11 (Iraq and OBL connections)
National Review. June 2005.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1433221/posts
The Clinton Administration's Case Against WMD in Iraq
April 2005
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1513669/posts?page=1
The Saddam-Osama Link Confirmed.
June 20, 2005. FrontPage magazine.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1426816/posts?page=20
GOP Lawmaker Says Saddam Linked to 9/11
CNN. June 2005
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/06/29/hayes.911/index.html
Saddam was Motel 6 to terrorist. Whole article and Post #6 complete with a picture.
NewsMax. June 2005
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1433908/posts
Thwarted Jordan WMD attack; jihadists got money and weapons from Iraq
June 30, 2005. AP
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1434136/posts?page=3#3
THESE CONNECTIONS MUST BE USED TO COUNTER THE LEFTIST SPING THAT SADDAM DIDN'T SUPPORT AL QAEDA. AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ
July 2005. The Weekly Standard.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1440001/posts
A blog with great links regarding the relationship.
July 2005.
http://www.newspundit.net/saddamalqaedawmd.html
The Pope of Terrorism
July 2005. The Weekly Standard
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/880qqeoh.asp
The Pope of Terrorism, Part II
July 2005. The Weekly Standard
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/884ygeya.asp
Saddam financially supported an AQ affiliate in Algeria
August 2005. The Weekly Standard
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1456433/posts
9/11 Commission did NOT include information they now admit they knew. In 2000, some of the 9/11 hijackers were on the radar, but Clinton did nothing.
August 2005. Philadelphia paper
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1459716/posts
Operation Able Danger. What the 9/11 Commission knew and didn't know. What Clinton did and didn't do.
August 2005.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1460263/posts
More on Atta in Prague, the Iraqi intel agent arrested in Germany who was linked to AQ and Ramzi Yousef's Iraq passport (Youseff bombed the WTC in '93)
August 12, 2005. Captain's Quarters
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/005200.php
9/11 Probe could highlight Iraq link to 9/11
August 2005. NewsMax
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1471999/posts
The Iraqis the 9/11 Commission Report forgot to mention as they relate to 9/11.
September 2005. The Weekly Standard.
Must read.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1472411/posts
Who is lying about Iraq (Hint -- It's The democrats)
November 2005. John Podhoritz
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/Production/files/podhoretz1205advance.html
Records found in Iraq dated ten months before 9/11 indicates that Saddam Hussein’s employees clandestinely met Taliban and al Qaeda agents regarding a “decision to operate.” That and more.
National Review. 12/21/05
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1545868/posts?page=21
Kuwait sentences Al Qaeda terrorists who have connections to Iraq.
Reuters. December 27, 2005.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1547483/posts
2006
Saddam trained over 8,000 jihadists before the war.
January 12, 2006. The Wall Street Journal.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007809
New documents found in Iraq confirm that Saddam worked with Al Qaeda.
February 20, 2006. The American Thinker
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1582379/posts
Who'll let the docs out?
The Weekly Standard. Stephen Hayes
March 10, 2006
The president orders Negroponte to get the Saddam tapes translated and released.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1594192/posts
Atta was in Prague after all. Credit Ravingnutter.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1588003/posts?page=55#55
MISCELLANEOUS
9/11 Hijacker sought treatment for red hands (anthrax).
October 11, 2001. Palm Beach Post.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/546116/posts
Tabloid Editor rented apartment to two 9/11 hijackers. The tabloid lost a worker to anthrax.
October 15, 2001. Miami Herald.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/548061/posts
Hijackers linked to anthrax.
October 15, 2001. St. Petersburg Times.
http://www.sptimes.com/News/101501/Worldandnation/Hijackers_linked_to_t.shtml
9/11 Hijackers treated for anthrax.
March 23, 2002. The New York Times.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/652000/posts
Remember Anthrax?
April 20, 2002. The Weekly Standard.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/669487/posts
9/24/01. ABC.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/531023/posts
Hijacker treated for anthrax.
May 9, 2002. The Wall Street Journal.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/682921/posts
Atta tried to buy a cropduster.
June 6, 2002. ABC.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/695924/posts
Analysis of anthrax letters.
June 19, 2002. Instapundit.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/703075/posts?page=44#44
Freeper My Identity research on anthrax letters. Post #44.
6/20/02.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/703075/posts?page=44#44
The silica used in the anthrax attacks traced to Iraq.
October 28, 2002. The Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A28334-2002Oct27¬Found=true
Freeper Backhoe's list of links.
February 2, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/838309/posts
Freeper Republican Strategist list of links.
February 24, 2003.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/850346/posts
Freeper polemikos list of links to investigations regarding anthrax.
December 26, 2003.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1047022/posts
Evidence Iraq behind anthrax attacks.
January 1, 2004. Accuracy in Media
http://www.aim.org/publications/media_monitor/2004/01/01.html
Freeper Christie's list of links. Great chart.
September 26, 2004.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1227437/posts?page=1
Saddam behind anthrax attacks and 9/11 attacks.
Independent website.
http://www.spiritoftruth.org/iraqlinks.htm
9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta stayed at the same motel as the Oklahoma City Bombers.
http://www.marsearthconnection.com/okc.html
212 posted on 03/12/2006 2:42:39 PM EST by Peach
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
This report is beyond bogus. Zarqawi was welcomed into Iraq and treated at an elite, Baghdad hospital reserved for Baathist party elites under Saddam from wounds suffered in Afghanistan. He then went on to co-found the Al Qaeda-affiliated Ansar al Islam with one of Saddam's top intelligence officials. Ansar was located in a portion of northeastern Iraq not under the control of the Kurds as the deceptive information claiming to debunk this information claims. Indeed, Saddam used Ansar to combat anti-Saddam Kurdish forces.
Also, there is LEGIONS of information available to show Saddam worked with Al Qaeda, which even the 9-11 Commission confirmed, not the least of which are the documents from Saddam own's intelligence files showing Iraq and Al Qaeda worked together. The Senate committee never had those documents.
The Senate Intel. Committee was sloppy or purposely negligient in concluding no ties to Saddam and AL Qaeda. The evidence is beyond compelling. The Senate claiming otherwise is perpetuating one of the Big Lies of many Big Lies told by the left about Saddam and Iraq.
A link to a posting rife with evidence of Saddam and Al Qaeda working together. Scroll down into the comments for much, much more:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1335971/posts
Also, Stephen F. Hayes book "The Connection" is a compelling narrative of the substantial evidence of Saddam and Al Qaeda's ties. Even if you dismiss half of it as being phony, it's still compelling.
Traitor Levin has long been caught cherry picking intelligence reports to suit his need to exhonerate Saddam. He did so I believe on a report about WMD, leaving out that the same report showed substantial evidence that Saddam was attempting to obtain uranium in Africa according to the same report. The man is a fiend.
There may be lots of Sadaam/ Al Queda evidence, but I do not recall the Bush administration ever pushing that as a reason for the war. The risk of such connections was emphasized.
"There's no evidence Saddam Hussein had a relationship with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his Al-Qaida associates"
Clever headline and sentence. Makes it sound like Zarqawi was Al Qaeda. He wasn't and only allied himself with AQ after the war.
To say this report said no Iraq/AQ contacts at all is misguided.
No, joking apart I really mean it. Great links library.
However, I think you missed this one, also from 2006:
Newly released document links Saddam to al-Qaida (Free Republic mention/link)
Not to mention the fact there are more terrorist organizations than Al-Qaida.
If the Dems would spend HALF the time and effort on this and the ABC movie on IMPORTANT things like fighting the ENEMY of AMERICANS, we would have beaten Islamofacists by now!!
QJBR didn't become a bona fide al-Qa'ida affiliate until AMZ decided to co-opt the terrorist movements in Iraq, cash in his reputation as being an Afghanistan trained AQ terrorist, and pledge allegiance to UBL. Prior to that, he was trying to run QJBR as his own outfit, but was able to get more attention (and in many ways challenge UBL for the leadership position) by going back to his AQ roots.
In a very vague and indirect way you can make the case that Saddam and al-Qa'ida had a relationship. Certainly no one senior in al-Qa'ida (AMZ was never of any great importance until after 2003). But most of the press reports on the subject were simply wrong, as wrong as the lions share of WMD claims turned out to be. Why we'd sit here all day and bash the MSM, and then trot out their articles as ironclad proof, is someone unusual.
UBL / AQSL (al-Qa'ida Senior Leadership) and Saddam simply didn't work together. They didn't plan 9/11 together, and there's no real evidence, as assessed by the national Intelligence Community, that credibly demonstrates a link. Other than incidental links inside Iraq relating to domestic issues, there's just no meat there.
Both guys are scum, and should be shot on sight, as far as I'm concerned (to include Saddam in his cell), but I don't understand the need to tie them together. There's more than enough dirt on them as it is. I don't like Kim Jong Il, Mugabe, or Ahmedinejad, but that doesn't make them partners. But the fact that they're not partners doesn't make them innocent one iota.
/sarc
GREAT POST, thank you for the links.
I have an mp3 of Jim Quinn's show where he replayed part of a 1999 ABC News report talking about how Saddam offered sanctuary to Osama, but I have no web site to link to file to.
So when the DEmocrats like something from the CIA, they cite it as fact. Zarkawi was in Iraq in 2002, a year before we invaded, he led the AlQaeda presencence Iraq, and BinLaden called him by name as the AlQaeda leader in Iraq. That "Senate report" is revisionist history and creative writing and the Democrats trying to redo something years after the fact before an election. There were ties between Hussein's government and Iraq. He knew they were there, he allowed them to be there, and there was no ignorance about it. Period.
There's al-Qa'ida in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Just because Messrs Bush, Blair, and Putin don't have ties to AQ doesn't mean they're not there. There's AQ in Iraq, but that doesn't mean that Gen Abazaid or Gen Franks had AQ ties.
Mookbark
AMZ was in Iraq in 2002 and before, but he was lone wolfing it at the time. He wanted to use his knowledge and training to set up his own group, and do things his way. There's lots of evidence (such as intercepted letters, many of which have been declassified) that show that AMZ and AQ senior leadership did not agree at all on how to do business.
AMZ did lead the AQI movement, but it was QJBR before that, his own group. He pledged allegiance to UBL during the insurgency, and re-flagged his group to be an al-Qa'ida wing. AMZ had the street credibility to pull it off, at that point, but it was his own tactical decision, not a master plan by bin Laden.
There were ties between Hussein's government and Iraq.
?
He knew they were there, he allowed them to be there, and there was no ignorance about it.
Yes to 1 and 3, sort of to 2. Using state sponsored terrorists to harass your enemies is common practice from, well, Libya to Pakistan and everywhere in between. The fact that Saddam had some low level terrorists running around to shoot up the Kurds isn't surprising; it would be more surprising if he didn't. That some of them were al-Qa'ida trained in the Afghan camps isn't really as significant a link (or as uncommon in the Middle East) as people are making it out to be.
Again, this shouldn't have any bearing on why we took out Saddam, or why we need to kill bin Laden.
thanks for all these links!
Keep drinking the Koolaid, libs. Saddam had several Al Qaeda training camps in the Sunni Triangle. I have been in a couple of them. I guess I shouldn't have believed my lying eyes.
Hope you're on our side!!! :) Really, thanks for your service.
I suggest you read the link I provided and the book I sourced. Also, take a look at the extensive links provided in post #2. Yes, no direct evidence exists to suggest Bin Laden worked with Saddam on 9-11. But the evidence is substantial and undeniable they worked together in other ways to support one anothers anti-American, anti-Saudi, anti-Western efforts. You simply cannot look at the mountain of evidence I have and claim only a "vague and indirect" relationship. I'm sorry, but that's just not honest.
I have no need to believe these things anymore than I have a need to believe the sky is blue. I am simply responding to and forming a belief out of volumes of evidence available to any who will bother to look into it.
Finally, I would suggest you Freep mail Jveritas to receive his translations of Saddam's internal intelligence documents showing that indeed he did cultivate ties with Al Qaeda. This is not a figment of our imagination or something we conjoured out of a "need" to believe. It simply is what is.
I will pink JVeritas on this communication so he might provide you with some of the documents he has translated and articles from national publication pointing out Saddam's ties to Al Qaeda.
The fact is, the Senate was VERY sloppy to draw this conclusion. I can only conclude this was another silly attempt by Republicans to mollify their extremist Democratic colleaques out of some false notion of "Senate collegiality." No doubt the Democrats on the intelligence committee refused to vote out a concluding report until it was agreed to say Saddam had no ties to Al Qaeda and of course the spineless Republicans went along.
Certainly the committee did not have access to Saddam's intelligence files indicating his ties to Al Qaeda, files only now being released and translated in 2006. The committee concluded its work before the DoD released the documents. Frankly, I think the Democrats on the committee and their pre-conceived conclusions about Al Qaeda and Iraq's ties would have ignored the documents even if they had them.
Read Stephen HAyes' book to see that you're quite wrong about Ansar Al Islam having no common ties to both Al Qaeda and Saddam's regime.
Here are some more summaries from today's report:
. 62: Research suggests prewar judgment remains valid that Iraq had links to terrorism. Few indications of relationship between AQ and Saddam before 9/11/01.
p. 63: The DIA has examined/translated 34 million pages recovered in Iraq and the lead DIA analyst believes there was no partnership between the two organization. Ties between Saddam and OBL appear like those between rival intel services, each trying to exploit the other
p 64: Iraq's interaction with AQ is impelled by mutual antipathy toward the US and the Saudi royal family and by OBL's interest in unconventional weapons and relocations sites (Relocation Sites???). Discussion that there's no evidence that AQ and Iraq participate din join terrorism ventures.
p 67: According to debriefings with Saddam and other captured Iraqi prisoners, Saddam didn't trust AQ and didn't want to cooperative with them.
The FBI provided 2 summary statements made by Saddam regarding his regime's relationship with AQ. The summary said there was clear evidence that the Iraqi government had previously met with OBL and Saddam confirmed that but said he didn't cooperate with OBL.
p 68: Abid Hamid Mahmoud al-Kattab al-Tikriti admitted the existence of a weak connection between Iraqi Intelligence Service and Al Qaeda for the purpose of the IIS collecting intelligence on AQ. Our intel community analyzed reports of meetings and contacts between AQ and Hussein's regime; reports of contacts began in the early 90's and continued throughout the decade.
p 70: At least 8 direct meetings took place between Iraqi officials and top AQ operatives. Dozens of additional meetings are reported by less reliable clandestine sources.
p 71: Ansar al-Islam is located in northern Iraq and has direct ties to AQ but the report downplays what this means with regard to Iraq. LOL
p 73: Saddam did agree to dedicate programs for targeted broadcasting on behalf of OBL and to "leave the door open to further develop the relationship and cooperation between both sides."
p 74:In June 98 a senior AQ official, Abu-Hafs, visited Iraq at least once. He also possibly visited in March 98.
p. 75: Details on training from both good reports and second hand sources - emerges a pattern of AQ's enduring interest in acquiring CBW expertise from Iraq.
p 76: CIA debriefed detainee Ibn al-Shaykb al-Libi, a senior AQ operational planner, to access Iraq's potential CBW training of AQ - Iraq agreed to provide chemical or biological weapons training for 2 AQ associates beginning in 12/00. The 2 people departed for Iraq and didn't return (to where, I don't know) so al-Libi was not in a position to know if any training had taken place.
The reliability of al-Libi is uncertain.
p 78: The DCI testified to the Committee on February 11, 2003 and stated that "Iraq has provided training in poisons and gases to two AQ associates. One of these associates characterized the relationship he forged with Iraqi operatives as successful."
p 79: Much later, after the war started, in July 2004, it was discovered that al-Libi recanted his claim that AQ members traveled to Iraq for chemical and biological weapons training. The Committee noted that no other reporting found in Iraq after the war began had corroborated the CBW training reports.
p 82: Detainees said that AQ and non-Iraqis trained at Salman Pak but then later recanted. No AQ associate detained since 9/11 has said they trained at Salman Pak.
p. 83: The DIA said there is no credible reporting that AQ trained at Salman Pak or anywhere else in Iraq. He said there is fragmentary reporting that Iraq trained foreign Islamic extremists in terrorist tactics but that's not been definitely established. A November 2002 Special Analysis said "While there has been some recent unconventional training activity detected at Salman Pak in early September, it is unclear whether AQ or other Islamic extremists have been involved."
There is no question (says the report) that Iraq continues, as of 9/02, to provide safe have and an operational base for groups and individuals who direct violence against the US, Israel and other allies. (Want to bet it was Democrats pounded this home that we just couldn't, could NOT put AQ in there?)
p 86:After 9/11/01, more than a dozen AQ affiliated extremists converged on Baghdad in the spring and summer of 02 and found a secure operating environment there. (I thought there was no operational anything between Iraq and AQ?)
p 87: Senior planner Abu Masab al-Zarqawi and other AQ fighters were in northern Iraq as of 5/02. Iraqi regime was aware of his presence, at a minimum, because a foreign government service gave Baghdad identifying information.
The CIA concluded that Zarqawi was overseeing the operations of AQ members in Iraq which included poison production, terrorist training and op erational support for terrorist attack abroad. The CIA assessed that AQ's presence in northeastern Iraq was estimated at 100-200 members and began to increase after the US military campaign began in Afghanistan and an unknown number of individuals have arrived in other regions of the country including Baghdad.
p 88: A variety of reporting led CIA analysts to believe that AQ maintained a toxins laboratory in Sargat and Abu Taisir was preparing contact poisons and ingestible compounds consistent with cyanide and possibly ricin.
INR warned that AQ working with Ansar al-Islam, l ocated in Iraq near the Iranian border prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom appeared to be preparing for an attack.
P 89: CIA said they were uncertain what extent Baghdad is actively complicit in the use of this territory by AQ operatives for safehaven and transit but given the pervasive presence of Iraq's security apparatus it would be difficult for AQ to maintain an active, long-term presence in Iraq without alerting the authorities or without at least their acquiescence.
Discussion about Zarqawi's role in the assassination of USAID official Laurence Foley in Jordan in 10/02. A detainee with knowledge of the operation said that Zarqawi directed and financed the assassination cell before, during and after the time Zarqawi spent in Baghdad.
p 90: Intelligence indicated Zarqawi had differences with OBL and probably didn't work closely with him but he contracts out his work in return for materials and financial assistance from AQ facilitators. (Sure.)
p 92: Oh this is rich - in 2005, the CIA assessed that prior to the war, the regime did not have a relationship, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi and his associates.
A 5/02 IIS document found by US forces in IRaq indicates that the regime was concerned that the US would use the presence of Ansar al-Islam in northern Iraq to support claims of links between the regime and AQ. The IIS director said these claims showed the US would continue to fabricate information to prove links between Iraq and AQ.
p 93:The Iraqi regime considered AQ and Ansar al-Islam a threat and tried to collect intelligence on them and remove them. (Sure)
The DIA reported that the exploitation of the Sargat site revealed the presence of cyanide salts which confirmed suspicions of work on a cyanide-based poison which DIA analysts noted wasn't surprising given Ansar al-Islams continued efforts to develop chemical weapons capabilities.
p 94/95: In the fall of 2001, the Czech intelligence service provided the CIA with reporting based on a single source who stated that the 9/11 hijacker Muhammed Atta met with the Prague-based IIS Chief in 4/02.
A year or so ago the CIA noted that various reports put Atta in Prague on at least 4 occasions but the CIA could confirm only 2 of the visits in 12/94 and 6/00 but neither of the trips matched the meeting between al-Ani and Atta alleged by the Czechs.
The June 02 CIA paper regarding the 4/01 meeting said they couldn't verify his travels.
This section goes on for some time and goes back and forth between whether Atta met in Prague in 4/01 or not.
All the papers the CIA have produced on this matter concludes that "while the above reporting does not conclusively contradict the occurrence of a meeting, it calls into question some aspects of the reporting."
p 98: Then there's discussion about Almed Hikmat Shakir al-Azzawi, an Iraqi national, meeting with 9/11 hijacker Khalid al-Mihdhar in Malaysia in 1/00.
Some reports suggest extremist contacts but a foreign government service working in partnership with the CIA reports that Shakir was not affiliated with AQ and has no connection to the IIS.
Hey - great post!
PING for great links on Saddam an AQ.
I have a bunch of posts to catch up on but not that the administration has deemed this not worthy to defend, I'm not sure I'll bother.
Ping
OMG Peach...now that is what I call a document dump!
And I thought you were simply transcriber extraordinare.
But also a master researcher??..LOL
Seriously though, that is great information and this post is as much of a placemarker as it is a Thank you!
We'll win the war of ideas because we are smarter than those who spout the lib propaganda.
AMZ would be a prime example. He was a fanatical nutjob who dreamed of genocide and conquest. He didn't become worse by swearing alligence to AQ, and in fact the AQ senior leadership tried to get him to stop his attacks on Shi'ites. Some people just aren't comfortable dealing with terrorists unless they are brand name al-Qa'ida. AMZ helped us out in that regard by renaming his outfit, but he and his crew needed to die regardless. Same goes for any other terrorist in Iraq.
I know it's easier to pull the trigger or drop a 500lb JDAM on someone you know is AQ. Believe me, I know. But we get carried away with that title and apply it more liberally than it should. It gives the impression that people are actually taking orders from Bin Laden and his organization, when they may in fact just be inspired by him or trained earlier in one of his camps. If you don't see the difference, then consider the point of our disagreement moot.
Note to bushinohio: It ain't gonna happen.
The best we'll get from a feckless GOP which never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity is abject wringing of hands and stuttering objections about the information not being "completely correct"!
I've seen little girls fight better than most Republicans. Even baldfaced lies don't rise to the level of significant objection.
Fred Barnes stated that this was NOT the Senate Report, but a 400 page adendum to the Senate report from the dims... a dim inspired version that they say is the truth, not the actual 1200 page Senate Report. Disgusting rats!
msm is lying as they misrepresent this as the actual BI-PARTISAN REPORT! BURN IN HELL msm... BURN IN HELL!
LLS
This is not a simple problem of labelling. These were instances of Saddam's people meeting with top Bin Laden deputies. This isn't just saying because some terrorists were in Iraq they're all Al Qaeda. I have studied Al Qaeda extensively and I understand not all jihadists are Al Qaeda. The fact that Zarqawi was a top associate of Bin Laden's, that Ansar swore allegiance to Al Qaeda and that later Zarqawi as the leader of the terror movement in post-invasion Iraq swore allegiance to Al qaeda and re-named themselves Al qaeda in Iraq are all pretty strong indicators of his allegiances. Certainly Al Qaeda's top leaders including Bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri have been all too glad to own Zarqawi as their own.
Great post, Peach.
(And here I thought liberals were the champions of 'nuance.')
I suspected as much. Link?
The MSM likes to talk about how this administration cherry picked intelligence but it appears more like they're cherry picking part of a report, the part that supports their script.
ROTFLMAO! What would the buffoons in the Senate know about anything! The MSM might find this as being an orgasmic revelation but to me it's just another DNC yawner.
Oh those CIA guys are such great kidders.
Excellent! I'm glad I checked this out, almost couldn't believe the headline so I almost skipped it.
Bookmarking this great post and all of the information you've compiled (love the Cheney/Russert interview)...
It was on Brit Hume's Special Report tonight, with Jim Angle hosting. During the AllStar Panel, Fred Barnes made the statement in response to something stupid Ceci Connely said. FoxNews may have a transcript up tomorrow.
LLS
Hmmm, October 2005, wasn't that about the time that there was a call for the release of the translated documents from Iraq, the ones that proved the link between Saddam and Al Qaeda?
Maybe the CIA agent who wrote this analysis was using Valerie Plame's work product.
BTTT
Please read pp 66 from the 911 Commission Report
Please read footnotes...
#76 for Chapter Two page 470.
"....CIA analytic report, "Ansar al Islam: Al Qa'ida's Alley in Northeastern Iraq," CTC 2003-40011CX, Feb 1, 2003. See also DIA analytic report, "Special Analysis: Iraq's Inconclusive Ties to al Qaida, " July 31, 2002; CIA analytic report, "Old School Ties," Mar, 10, 2003. \
We have seen other intelligence reports at the CIA about 1999 contacts. They are consistent with the conclusions we provide in the text, and their reliability is uncertain. Although there have been suggestions of contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda regarding chemical weapons and explosives training, the most detailed infromation alleging such ties came from an al Qaeda operative who recanted much of his orginal information. Intelligence report, interrogation of al Qaeda operative, Feb. 14, 2004. Two senior Bin Laden associates have adamantly denied that any such ties existed between al Qaeda and Iraq. Intelligence reports, interrogations of KSM and Zubaydah, 2003(cited in CIA letter, response to Douglas Feith memorandum, "Requested Modifications to "Summary of Body of Intelligence Reporting on Iraq-al Qaida Contacts (1990-2003)," Dec. 10, 2003, p. 5)..."
What interrogations? Gitmo?
Would you believe every al Queda operative?
Who said Saddam had a hand in the actual 911 attack? Isn't this what the 911 Commission all about? Did Saddam have a hand in the 911 attacks. You could say...no...Saddam had nothing to do with the 911 attacks but there is a paper trail of Iraq and al Queda operatives colobrating.
Look what happen in Sudan back in 1998.
There was a connection back then...nothing to do with 911.
Clarke still stands behind his connections.
"...Al-Shifa, the Sudanese pharmaceutical plant that President Clinton bombed in August 1998, is back in the news. A number of conservative commentators (along with Slate's eclectic Christopher Hitchens) have seized on the incident to question the bona fides of Richard A. Clarke, whose new book, Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror, decries the Bush administration's lack of preparedness for 9/11. In the book, Clarke argues that the bombing of Al-Shifa was not the fiasco it was thought to be at the time, but rather, a strategic necessity. The controversy, you may recall, focused on whether the Al-Shifa factory, located in Khartoum, was engaged in the manufacture or storage* of the potent nerve agent VX for al-Qaida and Iraq. Clarke says there's no question that it was. Aha! gloat many of Clarke's critics in response. Clarke mocks the Bush White House for linking Iraq to 9/11, but Clarke himself recognizes that there was a link between al-Qaida and Iraq as early as 1998."
http://www.slate.com/id/2098009/
From 911 Commission Book.
page 128,
"On November 4, 1998, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed its indictment of Bin Laden, charging him with conpiracy to attack US defense installations. The indictment also charged that al Qaeda had allied itself with Sudan, Iran, and Hezbollah. The orginal sealed indictment had added that al Qaeda had "reached an uderstanding with the government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the Government of Iraq." 109 This passage led Clarke, who for years had read intelligence reports on Iraqi-Sudanese cooperation on chemical weapons, to speculate to Berger that a large Iraqi presence at chemical facilities in Khartoum was "probably a direct result of the Iraq-Al Qida agreement." Clarke added that VX precursor traces found near al Shifa were the "exact formula used by Iraq." 110 This language about al Qaeda's "understanding" with Iraq had been dropped, however, when a superseding indictment was filed in November 1998." 111
#109: Indictment, United States v. Usama Bin Laden, No. 98Cr. (S.D.N.Y. unsealed November 4, 1998), page 3. For the reports concerning Derunta, see NSC membo. Clarke to Berger, Roadmap, Nov 3, 1998.
#110: NSC email, Clarke to Berger, Nove, 1998, Evidence on Iraqi ties to al Qaeda is summarized in Chapter 2.
#111
Patrick Fitzgerald testimony, June 16, 2004
"...One of the hazy questions that surrounds Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda is really its relationship, if any, with Iraq and with Saddam Hussein.
We've often heard that Osama bin Laden would not have been a natural ally, for religious reasons, for the composition and nature of Saddam Hussein's regime. And our staff report, as you just heard, basically says there's no credible evidence of any cooperation between the two. However, there seems to be some indicia that there may have been.
And, Mr. Fitzgerald, I'm delighted you're here, because this first question really I wanted to ask specifically to you, because it relates to the indictment of Osama bin Laden in the spring of 1998.
FIELDING: This is before the U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa and the administration indicted Osama bin Laden. And the indictment, which was unsealed a few months later, reads, "al Qaeda reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government, and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the government of Iraq."
So my question to you is what evidence was that indictment based upon and what was this understanding that's referenced in it?
FITZGERALD: And the question of relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda is an interesting one. I don't have information post-2001 when I got involved in a trial, and I don't have information post-September 11th. I can tell you what led to that inclusion in that sealed indictment in May and then when we superseded, which meant we broadened the charges in the Fall, we dropped that language.
We understood there was a very, very intimate relationship between al Qaeda and the Sudan. They worked hand in hand. We understood there was a working relationship with Iran and Hezbollah, and they shared training. We also understood that there had been antipathy between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein because Saddam Hussein was not viewed as being religious.
We did understand from people, including al-Fadl -- and my recollection is that he would have described this most likely in public at the trial that we had, but I can't tell you that for sure; that was a few years ago -- that at a certain point they decided that they wouldn't work against each other and that we believed a fellow in al Qaeda named Mondu Saleem (ph), Abu Harzai (ph) the Iraqi, tried to reach a, sort of, understanding where they wouldn't work against each other. Sort of, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
And that there were indications that within Sudan when al Qaeda was there -- which al Qaeda left in the summer of '96 or spring '96 -- there were efforts to work on joint -- you know, acquiring weapons.
FITZGERALD: Clearly, al Qaeda worked with the Sudan in getting those weapons in the national defense force there and the intelligence service. There were indications that al-Fadl had heard from others that Iran was involved. And they also had heard that Iraq was involved.
The clearest account from al-Fadl as a Sudanese was that he had dealt directly with the Sudanese intelligence service, so we had first-hand knowledge of that.
We corroborated the relationship with Iran to a lesser extent but to a solid extent. And then we had information from al-Fadl, who we believe was truthful, learning from others that there were also was efforts to try to work with Iraq. That was the basis for what we put in that indictment. Clearly, we put Sudan in the first order at that time as being the partner of al Qaeda.
We understood the relationship with Iran but Iraq, we understood, went from a position where they were working against each other to a standing down against each other. And we understood they were going to explore the possibility of working on weapons together.
That's my piece of what I know. I don't represent to know everything else, so I can't tell you, well, what we've learned since then. But there was that relationship that went from opposing each other to not opposing each other to possibly working with each other.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A46525-2004Jun16?language=printer
And.....
Usama Bin Laden and Five Others Docket, November 24, 1998
(Superceded: See 11 November 2001)
http://cryptome.quintessenz.org/mirror/alqfiles.htm
No mention about Saddam and al Queda connection. The superceded version sounds like handing down the sentences but tells the reader to see: related trial transcripts:
http://cryptome.org/usa-v-ubl-dt.htm
Interesting note...who is Mamdouh Mahmud Salim
(Aka) Abu Hajer al Iraqi
http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/Biographies/Bios/Salim/BioSalim.html
Who is Wadih el-Hage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadih_el-Hage
Bush REPEATEDLY denied that he was trying to link Saddam to 9-11, before going to war.
Do the Dem's think we have no memory?
I remember this like it was yesterday.
They actually believe their own lying accusations and just keep adding more false accusations on top.
" Note to the GOP:
Take this and RUN with it. Come up with a bunch of slogans and shout them from the rooftops. "
Hopefully, the RNC will have the stones to do what you and many of us are begging ...begging ,them to do.
Take...the...gloves...off.
The Democrats are acting as PR agents for Al Queda.
I heard that Howard Dean has a " Have you hugged an Al Queda today ? " sticker on his Volvo.
msm is lying as they misrepresent this as the actual BI-PARTISAN REPORT! BURN IN HELL msm... BURN IN HELL! "
Last week the MSM lied by distorting the Pentagon report.
I blogged a correct summary (by directly quoting it) here:
http://freedomstruth.blogspot.com/2006/09/iraq-update-progress-in-complex.html
This week the MSM lies by distorting this report.
I see we have some summary comments here too.
Next week, probably another media lie to pump up the Democrats will come out.
What did Evan Thomas say? MSM is good for 5-10% of the vote? Probably so!!! Sheeple are swayed by this nonsense.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.