There is other evidence of a connection between Iraq and al Qaeda that Mr. Clarke should have felt obliged to address. Just days before Mr. Clarke resigned, Secretary of State Colin Powell told the United Nations that bin Laden had met at least eight times with officers of Iraq's Special Security Organization. In 1998, an aide to Saddam's son Uday defected and repeatedly told reporters that Iraq funded al Qaeda. South of Baghdad, satellite photos pinpointed a Boeing 707 parked at a camp where terrorists learned to take over planes. When U.S. forces captured the camp, its commander confirmed that al Qaeda had trained there as early as 1997. Mr. Clarke does not take up any of this.
At some point (hopefully before the election, and sooner rather than later), the Bush Administration must issue a comprehensive report, interim if necessary, on what we know about Saddam's links to al-Qaeda. The virtual silence of the Administration on this question is understandable considering that investigations and the pouring through of Iraqi intelligence papers are still under way. But what isn't understandable is why the Administration continues to take a pounding from the naysaying left, and its lapdog mainstream media, that "there were no links between Saddam and terror!" Because of the incessant naysaying, many impressionable Americans believe there were no links.
It's hard defending the Administration's policies when they aren't doing a good job defending those policies themselves.