U.S. troops arrest group in Iraq with al-Qaida link

http://www.columbiatribune.com/ ^ | 06/11/2003 | Knight Ridder Newspapers

[justshutupandtakeit]

Thanks. My understanding was that Ansar al-Islam was fighting the Kurds for Saddam.

[k2blader]

Bump.

[PoorMuttly]

I demand reparations for persons with squishy identities.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

LOL, and a thousand-mile swim through shark infested oceans to the closest landfall.

[Robert_Paulson2]

these are not terrorists either... after all, the sources are unnamed and unproven... right?

[BagCamAddict]

It all comes down to getting the media occupied. There are enough material from chasing WMDs, lootings, and sporadic ambushes, which the media can milk for a long time.

Absolutely. And this is one of the reasons the Administration allows the media to continue to harp on dead stories or stories that cover the same ground over and over and over again. Also why they don't bother to "correct" all the inacurate reporting that occurs on these dead stories.

As long as the media is focusing on the WMD issues or the looting issues, the military can quietly go about the business of hunting through miles of underground tunnels, reviewing millions of incriminating documents, and inspecting and testing hundreds of sites for hidden weapons, personnel, documents, etc.

Keep the media hunting Side-Hill Gouchers, while the real work is done elsewhere.

[Jacob Kell]

Ansar was fighting the secular Kurdish groups of the KDP and PUK, who were common enemies of it and Saddam. And you know the old saying "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".

[justshutupandtakeit]

That is what I believed. Thanks.

[simonX]

"...the evidence of meetings in Baghdad between Saddam's regime and AQ."

What evidence have you seen?
All that I've seen is some articles in the Guardian taht said in the past AQ has rejected Iraq's overtures and that the CIA didn't know what happenned at the meeting.

Just having meetings is pretty vague. I mean, the US has had ongoing, intensive meetings with a number of aQ and Taleban members and supporters down in Gitmo.

Has more info come out as to the nature of the contacts between Hijazi and bin Laden?

Please share.

I've not seen any reports that said anything other than that Ansar al-Islam is Kurdish. What info are using to make your judgement?

[simonX]

"...Ansar al-Islam was fighting the Kurds for Saddam."

I suspect that in an effort to set up an independent Islamist Kurdish state inside the borders of Iraq that they would have run into some opposition from Hussein's secular government.
While Ansar al-Islam has been fighting the secular PUK they are also opposed to the Baathists.

I believe that both the PUK and Ansar al Islam have reorted to giving up info on the other to the Baathists im hopes that the Baathists would attack their enemy for them.

Most of our intelligence on Ansar al-Islam comes from their enemies, the PUK. The PUK have a vested interest in getting US backing and aid against their enemies. The info provided by the PUK should be carefully vetted so as to avoid the kind of mistake that Clinton made in Sudan.

[arete]

Also no words on those famous underground tunnel complexes in Baghdad and Tikrit. Something really interesting must be going there, if they are kept in such a secrecy.

We haven't heard much about the elaborate tunnel complexes in Afganhstan lately either. They were full of terrorist documents, bomb making equipment, bio and chem weapons, parts of a nuke reactor, and maps of every American city and major transportation routes including train and subway schedules. These things are so sensitive and secret that the information will probably never be released for national security reasons.

Richard W.

[simonX]

"Ansar was fighting the secular Kurdish groups of the KDP and PUK, who were common enemies of it and Saddam."


All three, KDP, PUK and Ansar al-Islam were against the Baathist regime. There was no shortage of enemy's enemies to befriend.

Byzantine.

[varon]

Woo Hoo the rats are going to look UUUUGLLLLYYYY when all the WMD/Terror facts finally come together.

The .....rats are born UUUUGLLLLYYYY, especially Carl Levnin ;-)

[Jacob Kell]

Well, the KDP, and PUK were greater enemies to the Ansar that Saddam's regime, at least at the time anyway.

[simonX]

Probably because they were all operating out of the US controlled no fly zone in northern Iraq.

[justshutupandtakeit]

English newspapers reported several weeks ago on the meetings between AQ and the Iraqi regime. Documents found in Baghdad showed that they occurred in Iraq, Afganistan and the Sudan and that Iraq was providing the means to do so. Reports of attendence by AQ members at Salman Pak have also been revealed by the media.

I am repeating what has been printed here on various occasions from media from across the globe.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #31

Afghan tunnel complex in Tora Bora was reported in detail during December, 2001. The ones in Baghdad was not. Just a couple of brief reports with no detail. So even if there is nothing in them, it does not dent any American credibility much. They were not tied to the rational for going to war in advance. Nobody knew what is in there or the extent of the complex.

[simonX]

Did any of them describe the nature of the contacts or the date?
What I saw in the Guardian was about document from 1999 or 1998 and basically told the same story that came out in 99- that Hijazi met w/ bin Laden and nobody knew for sure what they talked about but that there was lots of speculation. Apparently, the 99 contact wasn't the first. Previously bin Laden had truned down Hussein's offer of asylum.

Here's the 99 guardian story http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,314700,00.html

Do the reports that you read refer to a different meeting or have any additional details?

Like I said before, "contact" is a very vague word.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Without a wire-wearing snoop all information on meetings like this is "vague." That is the nature of the beast. There were dates in the articles and a discussion of the nature of the contacts.

Extended meetings were held which apparently lasted longer than expected and the memos were explanations from the Iraqui side of the need for more funding, accommodations for the participants and meeting expenses.