Posted on 03/26/2006 9:57:04 PM PST by Jim Robinson
After substantial prodding -- including from this paper -- the U.S. government has finally begun to release its captured Iraqi documents and is posting them at the Web site of the Army's Foreign Military Studies Office. This material will take considerable time to absorb and analyze, but it may yet contribute significantly to our understanding of the nature of the threat Saddam Hussein posed.
Most dramatically, an Iraqi intelligence report, apparently written in early 1997, describes Iraqi efforts to establish ties with various elements in the Saudi opposition, including Osama bin Ladin. Until 1996, the Saudi renegade was based in Sudan, then ruled by Hassan Turabi's National Islamic Front. One of Iraq's few allies, Sudan served as an intermediary between Baghdad and bin Ladin, as well as other Islamic radicals. On Feb. 19, 1995, an Iraqi intelligence agent met with bin Ladin in Khartoum. Bin Ladin asked for two things: to carry out joint operations against foreign forces in Saudi Arabia and to broadcast the speeches of a radical Saudi cleric. Iraq agreed to the latter, but apparently not the former, at least as far as the author of this report knew. Notably, the report also states, "we are working at the present time to activate this relationship through new channels."
This one report hints at the extensive international presence that the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) maintained. Iraq's ambassadors to Sudan and Yemen were intelligence agents, suggesting that those two countries were major centers of IIS activity. The report also mentions IIS stations in Islamabad, New Delhi and New York.
Another newly released document bears the name of Abu Musab al Zarqawi. It is a flyer from the "Committee for Arab Liaison with the Islamic Emirate" (i.e., Afghanistan) for recruiting volunteers in Iraq to fight in Afghanistan...
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Evenin' Jim.
Sent the following letter to the Mod Bee earlier today. Waiting once again to be published...
Well , well, well. What do we have here?
A recently translated Iraqi document reveals that Russia forwarded US troop movements to Saddam Hussein (ModBee, March 25, pg. A-3) prior to the invasion. As one might expect, Russia later denied the allegations.
The article itself prompted a search on the WWW for more document translations. Imagine my surprise to read that other documents reveal that Iraq and Al Qaeda held meetings as early as 1995. How can this be? The media has been telling us for 3 years that there is no connection between the Saddam Hussein regime and Al Qaeda.
Even 9/11 Omission Commission Commissioner Bob Kerrey says "a recently declassified Iraqi account of a 1995 meeting between Osama bin Laden and a senior Iraqi envoy presents a 'significant set of facts,' and shows a more detailed collaboration between Iraq and Al Qaeda."
I suppose now the Modesto Bee will be inundated with letters to the editor from those Bush-bashers, who over the past three years have parroted the cry, "Bush Lied There is no connection between Al-Qaeda and Saddam", with letters stating, "I was wrong Bush was right!"
dave
I agree and hardly ever watch him anymore. He constantly interrupts and overtalks his guests so much that a dialogue in effect becomes Bill's monologue. And, like so many other TV celebrities, he has ghost writers churn out his books. He's about 5% demagogue and 95% windbag. He deplores "personal attacks" on himself but is a master of this as part of his M.O.
This has nothing to do with whether Clinton was tougher than Bush I. It has everything to do with Clinton trying to get elected. If Bush had, in fact, gone after Saddam, Clinton (and the rest of the Democrats) would have been criticizing him for that. If Clinton had been president when Saddam went into Kuwait, Saddam would still be in power, and Kuwait would still be a province of Iraq.
bttt
you helping Laurie?
Great work!
I hope you will share all of those replies with us. ; )
Many more documents are to be released in the coming months. Quite possibly, they will vindicate the decision to undertake the Iraq war; help maintain public support for fighting it; and radically change our understanding of Saddam's role in international terrorism.
Good!
The Paper Trail [Saddam/terrorism/WMD]
Release/Translation of Classified PreWar Docs ping. If you want to be added or removed to the ping list, please Freepmail me.
Please add the keyword prewardocs to any articles pertaining to this subject.
Thanks for the ping.
Mylroie link is not working for me. Error message says it is 'Forbidden"?
How else might I view?
TIA
I just checked and got the same message. It was working fine yesterday. The site must have a problem. I tried the home site and it didn't work now either, but everything was fine yesterday.
But I am sure they'll fix it soon, Benador Associates has a lot of big names associated with them.
I think they meant to say that Clinton was "tougher in rhetoric".
I'm thinking their website has been slashdotted by this.
I can't get to anything, now, and it was working earlier.
thank you!
pimg
{{ping}} for later reading
Many more documents are to be released in the coming months. Quite possibly, they will vindicate the decision to undertake the Iraq war; help maintain public support for fighting it; and radically change our understanding of Saddam's role in international terrorism.
I wonder.
In a fair world this would certainly be true. There is no question that FR, the blogs, talk radio and Fox News will cover this story in great depth. But the reaction of the MSM will certainly be to try to ignore and/or discount the credibility of the documents and to play down the story anyway they can. I don't expect them to stop calling Bush a liar anytime soon.
I believe that this will be a real test of the power of FR and blogs the real media. We may have another "Rather Moment" on our hands if the public can see through the fog that the MSM will lay down and recognize that they have been lied to for three long years. Time will tell. I'm hopeful but not confident.
Thanks! I will bookmark.
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