Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Butcher with the Terror Ties - The evidence mounts. (Newsweek reports on Atta in Prague, 2001)
NRO ^ | January 13, 2006 | Deroy Murdock

Posted on 01/13/2006 9:11:24 AM PST by neverdem

E-mail Author

Author Archive

Send

to a Friend

Version

8:11 a.m.

The Butcher with the Terror Ties

The evidence mounts.

Drip, drip, drip.

Drop by drop, isolated news stories and emerging documents are eroding the popular myth that Saddam Hussein had no connections to Islamofascist terrorists. These revelations undermine war critics’ efforts to whitewash Baghdad’s ancien regime — such as when Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid declared: “There was [sic] no terrorists in Iraq.” Likewise, Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.) describes a “nonexistent relationship between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.”

Reid, Levin, and others who dismiss the Baathist-terrorist nexus would struggle to do so if the Bush administration unveiled the evidence tying Hussein to Osama bin Laden and other extremists. President Bush immediately should release papers discussed in the January 9 Newsweek and the January 16 Weekly Standard.

A declassified 2002 Pentagon presentation attained by Newsweek’s Mark Hosenball offers fresh details on a suspected April 8-9, 2001, meeting in Prague between September 11 ringleader Mohamed Atta and Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) station chief Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani. “No other intelligence reporting contradicts that [deleted] report,” the heavily redacted document states. It adds: “During one visit, al-Ani ordered IIS finance officer to issue funds to Atta.” According to one slide, “Atta also reportedly met with Iraqi Charge d’Affaires Hussein Kanaan.” Also: “Several workers at Prague airport identified Atta following 9/11 and remember him traveling with his brother Farhan Atta.” (For excerpts go here.)

A slide headlined “High-Level Contacts, 1990 – 2002” lists numerous meetings and communications among bin Laden, his deputies, and top Iraqi officials. In 1999, the presentation says, “al-Qaida established operational training camp in northern Iraq; also reports of Iraq training terrorists at Salman Pak,” a military base 20 miles south of Baghdad. In 2000, “According to CIA ‘fragmentary reporting points to possible Iraqi involvement’ in bombing USS Cole in October.”

Among the document’s “Findings”: “Some indications of possible Iraqi coordination with al Qaida specifically related to 9/11.”

Is this all fabricated? How much of this presentation is true? Releasing all 60 or so slides for public inspection would help sort this out.

The Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes talked to 11 federal officials before concluding that documents U.S. troops captured in Iraq prove that “the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein trained thousands of radical Islamic terrorists from the region at camps in Iraq over the four years immediately preceding the U.S. invasion.” Hayes reports, “Secret training took place primarily at three camps — in Samarra, Ramadi, and Salman Pak — and was directed by elite Iraqi military units.” Al-Qaeda-affiliated Muslim fanatics, such as Algeria’s GSPC and the Sudanese Islamic Army, were among the 8,000 or so murderers instructed between 1999 and 2002.

Handwritten notes, typed forms, computer discs, videos, and other “exploitable items” confirm Hussein’s philanthropy of terror, Hayes says. But America has translated only some 2.5 percent of this huge cache. Federal officials barely discuss what they have learned. Even unclassified papers remain unavailable. Absurd. Having studied some of these artifacts, one intelligence expert says: “As much as we overestimated WMD, it appears we underestimated [Hussein’s] support for transregional terrorists.”

Asked by Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R., Mich.) to release some texts, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte reportedly told the House Intelligence chairman: “I’m giving this as much attention as anything else on my plate to make this work.”

Earlier this month, Hayes writes, federal immigration judge Anthony Rogers decided to deport Ahmad Mohammed Barodi, a 41-year-old Arlington, Tex., convenience-store owner. Barodi testified in a January 4-5 hearing that he entered America in 1989 on a phony Syrian passport furnished by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood (SMB), an Islamic terror group. He admitted to smuggling bogus passports into Saudi Arabia for SMB. According to Justice Department records cited by KTVT, CBS’s Dallas station, the SMB sent Barodi to a “21-day guerrilla warfare training camp” in Iraq in 1982, “with the approval of Saddam Hussein.” The document adds: “Barodi advised that the Iraqi government provided all of the training aids consisting of RPG’s (rocket propelled grenades), firearms and the facility.”

But, skeptics sputter, secular Saddam Hussein never would work with Osama bin Laden or other Islamic zealots. This argument foolishly ignores popularly elected Franklin Roosevelt’s alliance with genocidal dictator Josef Stalin to smash Adolf Hitler. Similarly, republican revolutionary George Washington and super-monarch Louis XVI collaborated to defeat Britain’s King George III. Why wouldn’t Hussein and bin Laden similarly conspire to foil the Great Satan?

Moreover, the Butcher of Baghdad was not as secular as the “no-connection” crowd insists. He added “Allahu Akbar” (“God is Great”) to the Iraqi flag just before the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He also began to pray publicly to bolster his “mosque-cred.” Hayes cites a “SENSITIVE” August 22, 1995, UNSCOM interview with Hussein Kamel, the tyrant’s son-in-law who defected to Jordan that year. Kamel told U.N. weapons inspector Rolf Ekeus, “The Government of Iraq is instigating fundamentalism in the country . . . Now Baath Party members have to pass a religious exam.” He added: “They even stopped party meetings for prayers.”

Meanwhile, Dick Cheney gave Hayes a boost Wednesday. As the vice president told radio host Tony Snow: “Steve Hayes is of the view — and I think he’s correct — that a lot of those documents that were captured over there that have not yet been evaluated offer additional evidence that, in fact, there was a relationship that stretched over many years between Saddam Hussein and the al-Qaeda organization.”

To its enormous detriment, Cheney’s comments notwithstanding, the administration has been nearly silent about Hussein’s decades of collusion with Islamic terrorists. The worry, White House aides tell me, is that revealing these ties would generate media criticism and anti-war catcalls. Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita told Hayes that some reporters might discover exculpatory material among these papers, then “we’d spend a lot of time chasing around after it.”

That risk does not excuse paralysis. If the president wrote MoveOn.org a $10,000 check, they would denounce his penmanship. Bush’s detractors never stop complaining, so the administration simply should make its case. If handed the keys to Fort Knox, don’t worry that someone might whine about the wallpaper. Grab the gold.

Administration officials also should remember that the United Nations Oil-for-Food scandal resembled an eccentric one-woman show when reporter Claudia Rosett began exposing it. Then the documents tumbled out. Rosett was vindicated — and how! Worldwide probes, resignations, and criminal arrests followed as the contours of this $21 billion shakedown became clear.

Stephen Hayes similarly remains among the few journalists excavating this huge, deliberately concealed story. Now Newsweek has nibbled at the Iraq-terror connection. Other journalists should stop napping and demand that the White House finally document everything it can about Saddam Hussein’s multifarious links to terrorism.

Deroy Murdock is a New York-based a columnist with the Scripps Howard News Service and a senior fellow with the Atlas Economic Research Foundation in Arlington, Va.. His research on Saddam Hussein’s support for Islamofascism appears at HUSSEINandTERROR.com.



 

 
http://www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock200601130811.asp
     



TOPICS: Breaking News; Editorial; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: District of Columbia; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 1999; 200104; 20010408; 20010409; 911; 911hijackers; ahmadbarodi; alani; algeria; alqaedaandiraq; alqaedairaq; arlington; atta; attasbrother; barodi; binladen; carllevin; carllevinlied; cheney; czechrepublic; deroymurdock; dickcheney; farhanatta; gspc; harryreid; harryreidlied; hayes; hoekstra; hosenball; hussein; husseinalkanaan; husseinkamel; husseinkanaan; husseinkanan; husseinpayments; ia; iis; iraq; iraqalqaeda; iraqcells; islamicarmy; jihadinamerica; kamel; kanaan; kanan; levinlied; markhosenball; mohamedatta; mohammedbarodi; murdock; muslimbrotherhood; petehoekstra; prague; pragueairport; praguemeeting; ramadi; reidlied; rpg; rpgs; saddamhussein; salmanpak; samarra; samiralani; sept11; sia; sic; smb; stephenhayes; sudan; terrorcamps; terrorist; texas; trainingcamp; trainingcamps; tx; usscole; waronterror
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-84 next last

1 posted on 01/13/2006 9:11:26 AM PST by neverdem
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

The frogs in Praugue live mainly in the bogs.


2 posted on 01/13/2006 9:14:25 AM PST by Diddle E. Squat (“Excuse me, do you realise your horse is gay?”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

The Democrats made a great case in the 1990s about Saddam's dangerous terrorist connections.

But I pointed all of this out, plus the new evidence of terror training camps in Iraq, to a Democrat/Liberal - and all I got back as a response was a string of expletives about how GWB engineered the war for profit.


3 posted on 01/13/2006 9:15:53 AM PST by coconutt2000 (NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem


If I were a betting man I`d bet the farm that during the

run up to the `06 elections we`ll see volumes of evidence

and documentation to bury the extreme left,aka democrat

party.


4 posted on 01/13/2006 9:26:41 AM PST by Para-Ord.45
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: coconutt2000

The November 6 1998 US Grand Jury indictment of OBL states as follows, this was issued out of the US District Court - Southern District of New York.... note the last sentence...

4. Al Qaeda also forged alliances with the National Islamic Front in
the Sudan and with the government of Iran and its associated terrorist
group Hezballah for the purpose of working together against their
perceived common enemies in the West, particularly the United States.
In addition, al Qaeda reached an understanding with the government of
Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on
particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al
Qaeda would work cooperatively with the Government of Iraq.


5 posted on 01/13/2006 9:31:25 AM PST by Whit
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: coconutt2000
>"The Democrats made a great case in the 1990s about Saddam's dangerous terrorist connections. "

You see that just "proves" how powerfull and evil GWB, Karl, and Cheney reaaaaaaly are!!!! They could even make the Dims believe it way back then.
////sarcasm for rational people
+++sarcasm for deluded dememted dhiminocraps

ABC CBS NBC CNN its all the SAME, Propaganda.
Might as well call them all AmeriJazerra.
Show them how much Psychological Gravitas Hugh Bris has. Vote with your remote! Shut down the Alphabet channels. *"aka the ENEMEDIA

He's Got A Plan
Zippo Hero

Kill A Commie For Mommie
Seven Dead Monkeys Page O Tunes

6 posted on 01/13/2006 9:32:03 AM PST by rawcatslyentist ("If you're talking to AQ, we want to know why!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Bump for later.


7 posted on 01/13/2006 9:34:35 AM PST by Rocko (Liberals are filled with a compassion you always hear about, but never witness.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem
This thread will become a great link for reference when losers, propagandists and trolls continue arriving into this forum with the tired, "there are absolutely no links between Saddam and..."

Saddam-Terrorists

Just copy and paste the following after adding < to the beginning and > to the end...

a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1557516/posts">Saddam-Terrorists

8 posted on 01/13/2006 9:44:17 AM PST by Publius6961 (The IQ of California voters is about 420........... .............cumulatively)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Publius6961
One more try...

Just copy and paste the following after deleting the space after the beginning < and also the two spaces inside the ending < > ...

Then paste it into any response

< a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1557516/posts">Saddam-Terrorists< /a >

9 posted on 01/13/2006 9:52:58 AM PST by Publius6961 (The IQ of California voters is about 420........... .............cumulatively)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: neverdem
But, skeptics sputter, secular Saddam Hussein never would work with Osama bin Laden or other Islamic zealots. This argument foolishly ignores popularly elected Franklin Roosevelt’s alliance with genocidal dictator Josef Stalin to smash Adolf Hitler. Similarly, republican revolutionary George Washington and super-monarch Louis XVI collaborated to defeat Britain’s King George III.

Good point here, but I'm surprised he doesn't mention the support the US gave to the Mujihadeen types when they were fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. This is a perfect example of an unnatural alliance formed against common enemy.

10 posted on 01/13/2006 9:55:42 AM PST by Yardstick
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem
Regrettably, the administration has done such a poor job in letting the facts out.
11 posted on 01/13/2006 10:03:37 AM PST by Perdogg ("Facts are stupid things." - President Ronald Wilson Reagan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: coconutt2000

It would not matter to the average hate-Bush, hate-America liberal if this connection is proven beyond a shred of doubt. They and the MSM would continue to believe there was no connection. Plus, they would continue to bring up other irrational, tin-foil conspiracy arguments such as profiteering, revenge for daddy-Bush, oil, etc., etc, etc.

We have reached a point where I don't consider these 'debates' rational. Therefore, I have stopped having them with my known kooky liberal friends in order lower my blood pressure and keep my faith in the human race.


12 posted on 01/13/2006 10:14:41 AM PST by Hayzo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: WhistlingPastTheGraveyard

PING


13 posted on 01/13/2006 10:17:44 AM PST by cgk (I don't see myself as a conservative. I see myself as a religious, right-wing, wacko extremist.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wardaddy; Joe Brower; Cannoneer No. 4; Criminal Number 18F; Dan from Michigan; Eaker; King Prout; ..
RNC member calls for anti-illegals vote

Vigilance & Responsibility Alexander Hamilton’s strategic sobriety.

From time to time, I’ll ping on noteworthy articles about politics, foreign and military affairs. FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.

14 posted on 01/13/2006 10:23:00 AM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Thanks for the ping!


15 posted on 01/13/2006 10:24:24 AM PST by Alamo-Girl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Para-Ord.45

We might see it but most Americans won't. The MSM won't
report it, certainly not in the last few months beforehand.


16 posted on 01/13/2006 10:43:51 AM PST by conservativewasp (Liberals lie for sport and hate our country.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

The man who did the most to publicly deny and obfuscate these connections between Saddam and Atta was none other than George Tenet, Bush's former director of the CIA.

Why Bush kept Tenet on, and continues to keep on hundreds of similar clintonoids in the CIA, FBI, State Department, Pentagon, and maybe even the NSA, is a complete mystery.

Clinton may have been a crook and a traitor, but at least he understood that cleaning out the administration and putting in his own people was job #1.

Tenet stood up day after day before the press and embarrassed the administration by denying any connection between Saddam and the terrorists. Bush just politely smiled and did nothing, for YEARS.

Anyone who thinks the administration is cleverly keeping all this concealed until the midterm elections are near, I have a bridge to sell them. The only thing that is destroying the Democrats is their perpetual habit of going too far and letting themselves go over the top in public. The administration has done relatively little to help themselves.


17 posted on 01/13/2006 11:01:40 AM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hayzo

Yeah, I agree. The problem is that I live in very liberal and ignorant Hawaii.

The end result is they have a tendency to seek me out.


18 posted on 01/13/2006 11:12:14 AM PST by coconutt2000 (NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Para-Ord.45

If the extreme left almost elected a bald-faced liar for president and almost elected a straight-up traitor for president, I'd whisper over your shoulder not to do anything your wife might regret.

I've never known the MSM to turn their back on their party over something as important as electing who gets to spend the money.

Leno and Letterman won't.


19 posted on 01/13/2006 11:13:53 AM PST by Sundog (cheers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Cicero

I think the rationale for keeping so many Clintinoids was part of the "new tone." There's also that reluctance to admitting any mistakes.


20 posted on 01/13/2006 11:21:49 AM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-84 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson