[kabar]

Iraq was on the State Department's list of state ssponsors of terrorism for over a decade. Hence, Iraq was an integral part of the War Against Terrorism. Also, the US had been maintaining the enforcement of two no-fly zones in Iraq for almost ten years costing us billlions of dollars a year and placing our pilots at risk. If we had not removed Iraq as a threat, we would still be bogged down flying these missions while Saddam would be using his Oil for Food money to fund terrorists and the development of WMD.

Clarke is another failed bureaucrat who was wrong on terrorism and now wants to attack a President who has figured out how to combat the terrorists successfully.

[mrobison]

"They were talking about it on 9/12"

GOOD FOR THEM! I hope they were talking about it on 9/11. This long parade of whiny "ex-officials" only tells me that Bush doesn't put up with any crap in those he works closest with. I like that about him. Bush probably threw this dolt out on his ear. If this guy's credibility isn't strained by his obvious disgruntledness, I'll eat my hat. Everything he says oozes with rhetoric and resentment, not facts that mean anything.

[Stultis]

"I think they wanted to believe that there was a connection [between Iraq and Al Qaeda] but the CIA was sitting there, the FBI was sitting there, I was sitting there, saying, 'We've looked at this issue for years. For years we've looked and there's just no connection,'" says Clarke.

...except for high level Al Qaeda operatives traveling to Iraq for meetings, and Iraqi Intelligence officials traveling to Afghanistan for meetings, and Iraq providing travel documents for '93 WTC bombing mastermind Ramsey Yusef, and sanctuary in country (though possibly not material sustenance) for Al Qaeda operatives, and Iraq and Al Qaeda jointly operating Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan, and Iraq providing training in chem warfare, aircraft hijacking, etc, for Al Qaeda members in Iraq.

Except for all that (at minimum) "[there was] just no connection."

I'm sure glad Clark is a former anti-Terrorism official!