[squidly]

Well now

[aristeides]

Does what we know of Atta's chronology allow him to spend three weeks in Iraq in the summer of 2001?

[rllngrk33]

This can't be true. The DemocRATs have been telling us there's no link between Saddam and 9-11. </sarcasm off>

[mercy]

Rats will poo poo it BUMP.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Case for war? Got it.
Ideas? Democrats have none.
Bush wins in Oh-4.

[Paul Atreides]

Forget it! There are more pressing issues, such as W mispronouncing Nevada and displaying a "fake" turkey in a photo-op. Besides, Howard Dean said there is an unsubstantiated theory that W had prior info of 9-11. And, Susan, Michael, Alec, Barbra, Janeane, Ed, and George said that W is the terrorist. Besides, Cheney was part of Halliburton. So, give it rest with this obsession of trying to refute these world reknown experts on everything!

[cmsgop]

Hey Now!!!!!

[Dog Gone]

"responsible for attacking the targets that we have agreed to destroy".

Written in a letter to Saddam Hussein?

I'm curious, what could be more of a smoking gun?

[ladyinred]

Never been a doubt in my mind that Iraq was involved. The leftists will still deny this, and/or bury this under a ton of quagmire coverage.

[Rocko]

Bump.

[Sabertooth]

Terrorist behind September 11 strike was trained by Saddam
By Con Coughlin
(Filed: 14/12/2003)

Iraq's coalition government claims that it has uncovered documentary proof that Mohammed Atta, the al-Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks against the US, was trained in Baghdad by Abu Nidal, the notorious Palestinian terrorist.

Details of Atta's visit to the Iraqi capital in the summer of 2001, just weeks before he launched the most devastating terrorist attack in US history, are contained in a top secret memo written to Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi president, by Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service.

The handwritten memo, a copy of which has been obtained exclusively by the Telegraph, is dated July 1, 2001 and provides a short resume of a three-day "work programme" Atta had undertaken at Abu Nidal's base in Baghdad.

In the memo, Habbush reports that Atta "displayed extraordinary effort" and demonstrated his ability to lead the team that would be "responsible for attacking the targets that we have agreed to destroy".

The second part of the memo, which is headed "Niger Shipment", contains a report about an unspecified shipment - believed to be uranium - that it says has been transported to Iraq via Libya and Syria.

Although Iraqi officials refused to disclose how and where they had obtained the document, Dr Ayad Allawi, a member of Iraq's ruling seven-man Presidential Committee, said the document was genuine.

"We are uncovering evidence all the time of Saddam's involvement with al-Qaeda," he said. "But this is the most compelling piece of evidence that we have found so far. It shows that not only did Saddam have contacts with al-Qaeda, he had contact with those responsible for the September 11 attacks."

Although Atta is believed to have been resident in Florida in the summer of 2001, he is known to have used more than a dozen aliases, and intelligence experts believe he could easily have slipped out of the US to visit Iraq.

Abu Nidal, who was responsible for the failed assassination of the Israeli ambassador to London in 1982, was based in Baghdad for more than two decades.
LINK

[LoudRepublicangirl]

I am treating this with careful optimism. I would love to serve crow to all of those who doubted our president-however, I don't know if I trust all of those on the Iraqi ruling council. They have an agenda that I am not sure is 100% with what ours is.

[rdb3]

Hold it right here for later...

[river rat]

This will cause minimum grief among the "true believers" in the leftist, hate America crowd...

I'm still waiting for the BIG BOMBS that are sure to come, a few weeks or months before the election....

President Bush, in my opinion, is playing a major game of "rope a dope" --- in this case it's "rope the dopes"...
They are hanging themselves, with rope given to them by President Bush, and he has the facts that will "drop the door" beneath their feet and break their freaking necks....

Semper Fi

[Qwinn]

Okay. All kidding aside. This IS huge. And serious.

Qwinn

[Cobra64]

This can't be true. I'm shocked, I tell ya.

Teddy, Terry, Dick, Al, Jesse, John, Howard, and (the other) John, and James, and Joeseph all told us so.

Moe, Larry, and Curly confirmed this after the Keystone Cops wrote a letter to Terry McAwfull asking for verification!

[Normal4me]

Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti? Does anyone know if we have this yahoo in custody? Pardon me if I remain skeptical until I see more on this.

[quidnunc]

Does This Link Saddam to 9/11?
A document discovered by Iraq's interim government details a meeting between the man behind the September 11 attacks and Abu Nidal, the Palestinian terrorist, at his Baghdad training camp.

For anyone attempting to find evidence to justify the war in Iraq, the discovery of a document that directly links Mohammed Atta, the al-Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks, with the Baghdad training camp of Abu Nidal, the infamous Palestinian terrorist, appears almost too good to be true.

Ever since four hijacked civilian jets devastated the United States' eastern seaboard on September 11, 2001, there have been any number of reports circulating Western intelligence agencies suggesting that Saddam Hussein's Iraq had close links to al-Qaeda.

Most of the claims relate to meetings between al-Qaeda and Iraqi intelligence to discuss co-operation on matters such as funding, training and equipment.

Prior to the discovery of the document published today by the Telegraph, the most controversial report related to the suggestion that Atta had met Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani, a senior Iraqi intelligence officer, in Prague in April 2001.

But while both President Bush and Tony Blair have dropped numerous hints that they believe there was a significant level of co-operation between Saddam and al-Qaeda, their respective intelligence agencies have actively sought to downplay the significance of the relationship, especially the suggestion that Saddam was in any way involved in the September 11 attacks.

To this end America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with the backing of Britain's MI6, have poured scorn on Atta's Prague meeting.

However, the tantalising detail provided in the intelligence document uncovered by Iraq's interim government suggests that Atta's involvement with Iraqi intelligence may well have been far deeper than has hitherto been acknowledged.

Written in the neat, precise hand of Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) and one of the few named in the US government's pack of cards of most-wanted Iraqis not to have been apprehended, the personal memo to Saddam is signed by Habbush in distinctive green ink.

Headed simply "Intelligence Items", and dated July 1, 2001, it is addressed: "To the President of the Ba'ath Revolution Party and President of the Republic, may God protect you."

The first paragraph states that "Mohammed Atta, an Egyptian national, came with Abu Ammer (an Arabic nom-de-guerre — his real identity is unknown) and we hosted him in Abu Nidal's house at al-Dora under our direct supervision.

"We arranged a work programme for him for three days with a team dedicated to working with him . . . He displayed extraordinary effort and showed a firm commitment to lead the team which will be responsible for attacking the targets that we have agreed to destroy."

There is nothing in the document that provides any clue to the identity of the "targets", although Iraqi officials say it is a coded reference to the September 11 attacks.

The second item contains a report of how Iraqi intelligence, helped by "a small team from the al-Qaeda organisation", arranged for an (unspecified) shipment from Niger to reach Baghdad by way of Libya and Syria.

Iraqi officials believe this is a reference to the controversial shipments of uranium ore Iraq acquired from Niger to aid Saddam in his efforts to develop an atom bomb, although there is no explicit reference in the document to this.

Habbush writes that the successful completion of the shipment was "the fruit of your excellent secret meeting with Bashir al-Asad (the Syrian president) on the Iraqi-Syrian border", and concludes: "May God protect you and save you to all Arab nations."

While it is almost impossible to ascertain whether or not the document is legitimate or a clever fake, Iraqi officials working for the interim government are convinced of its authenticity, even though they decline to reveal where and how they obtained it. "It is not important how we found it," said a senior Iraqi security official. "The important thing is that we did find it and the information it contains."

A leading member of Iraq's governing council, who asked not to be named, said he was convinced of the document's authenticity.

"There are people who are working with us who used to work with Habbush who are convinced that it is his handwriting and signature. We are uncovering evidence all the time of Saddam's dealings with al-Qaeda, and this document shows the extent of the old regime's involvement with the international terrorist network."

This is the second document published by this newspaper that appears to highlight Saddam's links with al-Qaeda. Earlier this year the Telegraph published details of another Iraqi intelligence document that indicated Saddam's regime was attempting to set up a meeting with Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, who was then based in Sudan.

Intelligence experts point out that a memo such as that written by Habbush would of necessity be vague and short. "Trained intelligence officers hate putting anything down in writing," said one former CIA officer. "You never know where it might turn up."

-snip-

(Con Coughlin in The Telegraph, December 14, 2003)
To Read This Article Click Here

[arasina]

Thought you'd find this interesting.

[polemikos]

While I would love for this to be true,
I am going to hold off until the document is properly vetted .