Hayes links Saddam, 9/11

Deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was “very much involved” with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes said Wednesday on CNN.

The Concord Republican’s assertion contradicts accounts by the 9/11 Commission, fellow Republicans in Congress and President Bush.

Hayes’ comments followed Bush’s speech at Fort Bragg on Tuesday that made multiple references to the terrorist attacks while defending the war in Iraq, a rhetorical move criticized by Democrats.

“I’m saying that Saddam Hussein ... and people like him were very much involved in 9/11,” Hayes said on CNN Live at Daybreak.

When challenged by host Carol Costello that no evidence of such a link exists, Hayes responded,

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but you’re mistaken. There’s evidence everywhere. We get access to it, unfortunately others don’t. But the evidence is very clear.”

“We know Iraqis did not board the planes, but there is strong evidence a connection exists between Saddam and al Qaida,” she said.

She pointed to The Connection, written by Stephen Hayes of the conservative The Weekly Standard and published last year.

Hayes argues there was a meaningful connection between Hussein’s regime and al Qaida.

“The conventional wisdom - that our two most determined enemies were not in league, now or ever - is comforting. It is also wrong,” Hayes wrote in the June 7, 2004, issue of The Weekly Standard.

But that contradicts the findings of the 9/11 Commission, which concluded there was no meaningful relationship between Hussein and al Qaida.

“The reports describe friendly contacts and indicate some common themes in both sides’ hatred of the United States,” the commission found.

“But to date we have seen no evidence that these or the earlier contacts ever developed into a collaborative operational relationship. Nor have we seen evidence indicating that Iraq cooperated with al Qaida in developing or carrying out any attacks against the United States.”

According to a White House transcript, Bush himself denied any Hussein involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks in September 2003.

“We’ve had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11th (attacks),” Bush said.

Only days earlier, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and then National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice made similar statements.

U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat who serves in the House with Hayes, said he believes Hayes’ remarks hurt the United States’ efforts to win the war in Iraq.

“I think it undermines the confidence of the American people,” Miller said. “I think it shows a contempt for the American people.”

He added that he, like Hayes, has security clearance and has seen nothing in top secret hearings to substantiate a Hussein-Sept. 11 connection.

“Unless Robin is going to some tippy-top secret briefing, I’m not sure what Robin’s source of information is.”

G.K. Butterfield, a North Carolina Democrat who serves with Hayes on the Armed Services Committee, also criticized his remarks.

“Extensive research reveals that the facts are clear - Saddam Hussein and Iraq had nothing whatsoever to do with the terrorists’ attacks,” he said in a written statement.

{Yawn...}

In in 1998, an Arab intelligence officer, who knows Saddam personally, predicted in Newsweek: "Very soon you will be witnessing large-scale terrorist activity run by the Iraqis." The Arab official said these terror operations would be run under "false flags" --spook-speak for front groups--including bin Laden's organization.

Then there were the predictions by an Iraqi with ties to Iraqi intelligence, Naeem Abd Mulhalhal, in Qusay's own newspaper several weeks before the attacks that stated bin Laden would “demolish the Pentagon after he destroys the White House and ”bin Laden would strike America “on the arm that is already hurting.” (referencing a second IRAQI sponsored attack on the World Trade Center). Another reference to New York was “[bin Laden] will curse the memory of Frank Sinatra everytime he hears his songs.” (e.g., “New York, New York”) which identified New York, New York as a target. Mulhalhal also stated, “The wings of a dove and the bullet are all but one and the same in the heart of a believer." which references an airplane attack.

The Arabic language daily newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabic also cited the cooperation between Iraq, bin Laden and Al December 1998 editorial, which predicted that “President Saddam Hussein, whose country was subjected to a four day air strike, will look for support in taking revenge on the United States and Britain by cooperating with Saudi oppositionist Osama Bin-Laden, whom the United States considers to be the most wanted person in the world.” This info is in the link provided below. How could these people have had foreknowledge without Iraq being involved?

Source for this info

Warning...slow loading .pdf file. This was from a lawsuit filed against Iraq after 9/11...the court ruled against Iraq.

There was also another lawsuit filed by the family of John O’Neill (a former FBI agent who captured Ramzi Yousef after the 1993 WTC bombings) after he died in the WTC on 9/11. His personal files from his years of traveling around the world investigating al-Qaeda are were used as evidence in the lawsuit. The evidence includes documents unearthed in the headquarters of the Mukhabarat (Iraq's intelligence service) and information gleaned from the interrogation of both al-Qaeda and Iraqi prisoners. (Link below). It also quotes Vincent Cannistraro, the former CIA counter-terrorism chief, who stated in October 2000 that Iraq had been wanting to carry out terrorist attacks, and that the Iraqi military had been in contact with Osama bin Laden.

Click Here

List of newspaper article in the 90's which mention the world's concern regarding the growing relationship between OBL and Saddam: