Posted on 09/19/2006 7:21:08 AM PDT by excludethis
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1704138/posts That's according to this 1999 CNN report.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has offered asylum to bin Laden, who openly supports Iraq against the Western powers.
ping
HMMMMM.......1999?..........Lessee, who was el Presidente, then?........and just what was going on in DC at that time?...........Seems I remember a blue dress............
Doesn't matter. The story line is already written about this. Damn the facts.
Not that CNN should ever be believed but it does show that it was more than just the Bush Administration who were speculating on the "connection".
"...move along, nothing to see here..."
Ruefully
But, but, but, there were NO TIES between Saddam and Al-Qaeda!
Please find a way to post that article or find a link! It is more proof that Clinton diddled away America's security and ultimately thousands of lives! Not that the Left will take notice, but NY voters just might!............
It is more proof that Clinton diddled away America's security and ultimately thousands of lives! Not that the Left will take notice, but NY voters just might!
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Yes, the so-called "9/11" commission was all the final proof we needed about Washington's efforts to cover up Billy's trail and gross negligence and incompetence. The fact that Gorelick ended up on the commisssion, keeping her off the stand under oath, was the final very obvious stroke that showed the political class was protecting itself from the ignorant in our society...
Not that CNN AP should ever be believed but it does show that it was more than just the Bush Administration who were speculating on the "connection".
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 Bin Laden reportedly leaves Afghanistan, whereabouts unknown |
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| Taliban authorities did not confirm or deny reports that bin Laden had left Afghanistan | |
February 13, 1999
Web posted at: 10:55 a.m. EST (1547 GMT)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Osama bin Laden, the Saudi millionaire accused by the United States of plotting bomb attacks on two U.S. embassies in Africa, has left Afghanistan, Afghan sources said Saturday.
Bin Laden's whereabouts were not known, said the sources who declined to be identified.
The report of his departure comes just days after the Taliban Islamic militia, which rules most of Afghanistan, took away his satellite telephone and banned bin Laden from speaking to the media.
Taliban authorities in the militia's southern stronghold of Kandahar refused to either confirm or deny reports that bin Laden had left the country. The Taliban have called bin Laden their honored guest, a friend who helped the Afghan resistance fight invading Soviet soldiers in the 1980s.
The Taliban's ambassador in Islamabad, Saeed-ur-Rehman Haqqani, said he had not been told of bin Laden's departure, "but if it has happened, it will be a good thing."
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has offered asylum to bin Laden, who openly supports Iraq against the Western powers.
Despite repeated demands from Washington, the Taliban refused to hand over bin Laden after the August 7 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, demanding proof of his involvement in terrorist activities.
However, in recent weeks, both the United States and Britain have renewed their pressure on the Taliban to expel bin Laden.
Pakistan, a strong ally of the Taliban and one of only three countries to recognize the movement's control over Afghanistan, also has been asked by the United States to use its influence to have bin Laden expelled from Afghanistan.
"We have been asked, but we can't force the Taliban to do anything they don't want to do," Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz said last week.
The Taliban did promise that bin Laden would not use Afghanistan as a staging arena for terrorist activities.
Bin Laden came to Afghanistan from Sudan more than five years ago while the Taliban's opposition ruled the country.
Bump
Shoot-don't know how to find the archive material off hand...Will try to look. When I get home I will look up the exact issue. It's the 99 World Series Victory issue...
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nypost/access/652135471.html?dids=652135471:652135471&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+17%2C+2004&author=&pub=New+York+Post&edition=&startpage=034&desc=SADDAM+AND+OSAMA
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nypost/access/68476129.html?dids=68476129:68476129&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Feb+21%2C+1999&author=NILES+LATHEM+in+D.C.and+URI+DAN+in+Jerusalem&pub=New+York+Post&edition=&startpage=2&desc=BIN+LADEN+PLOTTING+NEW+ATTACKS%3A+U.S.
Speculation that turned out to be wrong, in the end. That's not uncommon for intelligence reports. Most of them, especially ones derived from HUMINT, don't pan out. Many intelligence reports come from sources with conflicting interests, guys that aren't above telling us what we want to hear in order to influence our actions. That happens every single day.
What is uncommon is FReepers running to CNN for help in backing their theories. At least, it used to be.
I'm not sure the speculation WAS wrong or that it will ever be at "the end". I think the reason a Freeper would turn to CNN is to make a point to those who claim the link between Saddam and Al-Qaeda was no more than just a Bush invention. But when it comes to backing "theories" I'd personally give more credence to captured Iraqi documents than a "throw away" line in an article written by a news network that confessed to underplaying Saddam's atrocities to maintain their access.
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