At the conclusion of today's panel, Chris Wallace presented a viewer's challenge of a Douglas Feith comment on FNS last week about the Iraq/Al Qaeda relationship being an "operational" one:
FEITH: No, they didn't. Nobody in my office ever said there was an operational relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda. It's just not correct. I mean, words matter. And people are throwing around loose allegations, vague allegations, based on not reading the words carefully.
This Weekly Standard article was presented:
Case Closed From the November 24, 2003 issue: The U.S. government's secret memo detailing cooperation between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. by Stephen F. Hayes 11/24/2003, Volume 009, Issue 11
OSAMA BIN LADEN and Saddam Hussein had an operational relationship from the early 1990s to 2003 that involved training in explosives and weapons of mass destruction, logistical support for terrorist attacks, al Qaeda training camps and safe haven in Iraq, and Iraqi financial support for al Qaeda--perhaps even for Mohamed Atta--according to a top secret U.S. government memorandum obtained by THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
As far as I can tell, the "operational" relationship statement can be attributed to the author of the article, but not the Feith memo. Excerpts of the memo follow in the article.
I couldn't tell whether Wallace was confirming or refuting the accuracy of Feith's denial.