Posted on 04/06/2007 10:54:47 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
I will go with Cheney’s statements over anything coming from Congress where the Demo’s have a hand in twisting any report....
Funny how all intelligence reports supporting Democrat talking points are 100% correct and gospel, while every intelligence report opposing them is “manipulated”,”cherry picked”, “falsified” and “Agenda driven”.
Good on ya Cheney.
So in other words Democrats are taking the word of Saddam over Cheney. No surprise there.
So is Levin saying that Zarqawi wasn't operating in Iraq?
Precisely! Look who’s doing the ‘Cherry Picking’.
BBC would go with Kos, DU or the HuffPost before they’d actually check the solid facts.
The Iraq-Al Queda link was the reason that Bill Clinton launched a Cruise Missile attack on the Pharmaceutical Plant in Khartoum.
2002 Iraqi Document: Zarqawi in Iraq Long Before the War Started http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1598259/posts
It was regarded as common knowledge and widely reported prior to Bush becoming President that Saddam Hussein was a supporter of international terrorism, which he was, including connections to Al-Qaeda (but there are of course a lot more terrorists than just Al-Qaeda). Here is one example of this reporting (video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWFWCg1BdRg
Does anyone dispute the Zarqawi was in Iraq before we invaded?
The DBM didn't have time to peruse through all those documents... they needed to get Democrats elected!
Levin, compared to Cheney, is a lump-jawed, cross-eyed, bow-legged ameoba jockey who suffers from Gravitas Envy!!!
Al Qaeda was In Iraq at least one year before Operation Iraqi Freedom so they were be able to establish an infrastructure in the country, recruit terrorists, know the area, know the roads, hide weapon cashes, have safety houses etc Only fools and/or Bush haters like the democrats and their media would think that they were able to do all this after the toppling of Saddam terrorist regime.
This report says there were no "strong ties", which supposedly refutes Cheney. But what's a "strong" tie? Were there "weak ties", then? And those don't count? Are "strong ties" the only kind of "ties" we're allowed to count? Who decides whether a "tie" is "strong"? (The left?) Basically, here's what the real definition is: "strong ties" are any ties that are stronger than... whatever ties Iraq may have had with Al Qaeda. Thus, Iraq (by definition - because they defined it this way) didn't have "strong ties" with Al Qaeda, and (therefore) Bush etc. are liars because they said otherwise (<-this part's just a plain old straw man; even here Cheney's only saying Al Qaeda was in Iraq, and nothing about "ties").
Similar phenomenon occurs with the definition of "Al Qaeda" itself. Obviously, Zarqawi was in Iraq. But the left really, really wants to always be able to say "Al Qaeda had nothing to do with Iraq". Solution? Simple: even if he was in Iraq before the invasion, Zarqawi "wasn't in Al Qaeda" at the time. Same person, but not "in Al Qaeda", therefore Iraq = no ties to Al Qaeda (even if there were ties to Zarqawi!), thus Bush lied etc. The question of just why exactly we're supposed to care, necessarily, whether someone like Zarqawi is "in Al Qaeda" or "not in Al Qaeda" at any given time, or even whether being "in Al Qaeda" is necessarily such a well-defined thing in the first place, is never answered. The formula is simple: whatever ties you find to whatever terrorists, just insist that they weren't "in Al Qaeda" at the time of the ties. According to the left, this makes it ok and it makes fighting them wrong. We're only allowed to care about people who are officially "in Al Qaeda" for some reason.
The entire approach is fundamentally intellectually dishonest and impossible to take seriously anymore.
CIA rather fiercely maintains that the meeting never took place, each time the Czechs reported that the meeting did occur, within an hour the CIA would race to the phones to "leak" to the press that it was a lie, that it had never happened. The president of the Czech Republic himself came out and repeated it, a couple of times, and again CIA falls all over itself to "leak" within minutes that it never happened.
So that has become the commonly accepted story, at least outside Czech intel circles. Never happened.
Of course, when you dig into it, what you find is that CIA's claim that it "never happened" becomes considerably weaker. In the fine print, you find that they merely "can't confirm it". It never happened, because they can't confirm it, and they can't confirm it because they didn't have anyone on the scene.
Thats it. Thats the basis of the denial.
Its the old bogus sophomore philosophy conundrum, if the tree falls in the forest, with only the loggers there to see it, CIA can't confirm it, so the tree is still standing, as far as we can tell.
Cheney couldn't make it any clearer and those that disagree just ignore his actual point.
The Saddam-Osama Connection: The Terrorist Testimony
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23264
By Mark Eichenlaub
FrontPageMagazine.com | July 7, 2006
One of the pillars of the argument that there were no links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda is that the captured/defected members from both sides have denied any relationship existed. (The Left makes this claim even though most of the detainees interrogation logs remain classified and their contents remain on a need-to-know basis.) This no connection claim has been made a number of times, and those making it generally receive favorable media attention; theyre rarely if ever confronted with testimony that conflicts with their argument. I will not argue on behalf of the truthfulness of former Baathists and al-Qaeda members, but if their testimony is going to admitted, shouldnt critics also hear the testimony of those in custody who tell a different story?
There are more than a few former Iraqi officials and captured al-Qaeda affiliates who have revealed examples of cooperation between Saddams Iraq and Osamas terrorist assets.
· Abu Mohammed, a former colonel of Saddam Husseins Fedayeen fighters, told reporters long ago that Iraq was training terrorists, including al-Qaeda.
Gwynne Roberts, Sunday Times, July 14, 2002
· Iraqi soldiers, captured during the early phases of the war on Iraq in 2003, revealed that al-Qaeda terrorists were present inside Iraq fighting alongside Iraqi troops Gethin Chamberlain, The Scotsman, 10-28-03
· Hamsiraji Sali, Commander of the al-Qaeda affiliate Abu Sayyaf, admitted receiving $20,000 dollars a year from Iraq. Marc Lerner, Washington Times, 3-4-03
· Salah Suleiman, revealed that he was a former Iraqi Intelligence officer, captured on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border shuttling between Iraq and Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Janes Foreign Report, 9-19-01
· Jamal al-Qurairy, a former General in Iraqs Mukhabarat, who defected years ago, said that [is] ours immediately after seeing 9/11 attacks.
David Rose, Vanity Fair, Feb. 2003, and David Rose, The Observer, 3-16-03
· Abbas al-Janabai, a personal assistant to Uday Hussein for 15 years, has repeatedly stated that there was a connection between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden that included training terrorists at various camps in Iraq.
CNN, 7-23-2003
Gwynne Roberts, Sunday Times, July 14,2002
Richard Miniter, TechCentralStation, 9-25-03
· Two Moroccan associates of Osama bin Laden, arrested in Rabat in Nov 98, confirmed that Col Khairallah al-Tikriti, the brother of Iraqs top Intelligence official (Mukhabarat), was the case officer in charge of operations with al-Qaeda in Kashmir and Manila
Jacquard, Roland, In the Name of Osama Bin Laden, Duke University Press, 2002, pg.112
· Wali Khan Amin Shah, an al-Qaeda operative in custody, told the FBI that Abu
Hajer al-Iraq had good contacts with Iraq Intelligence Services (reported to Senate Intelligence Committee)
Stephen Hayes, Thomas Joscelyn, Weekly Standard, 7-18-05
· Farouk Hijazi, former #3 in Saddam Husseins Mukhabarat, although he denies the well documented reports of his later meetings with bin Laden, Hijazi admits that he met with Osama bin Laden to discuss antiship mines and terror training camps in Iraq during the mid-90s.
9-11 Commission, Staff Statement 15
· Abdul Rahman al-Shamari, who served in Saddam Husseins Mukhabarat from 1997-2002, says that he worked to link Saddam Hussein regime with Ansar al Islam and al-Qaeda.
Preston Mendenhall, MSNBC, “War Diary”
Jonathan Schanzer, Weekly Standard, 3-1-04
· Mohamed Gharib, Ansar al Islams Media chief, later admitted that the group took assistance from Saddam Husseins regime.
Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor, 10-16-03
· Mohamed Mansour Shahab, aka Muhammad Jawad, is a smuggler who claims to have been hired by Iraq to bring weapons to al-Qaeda in Afghanistan
Jeffrey Goldberg, New Yorker, 3-25-02
Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor, 4-03-02
Richard Miniter, TechCentralStation, 9-25-03
· Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi is a senior al-Qaeda operative. Although he has changed his story, he initially told his captors that his mission was to travel to Iraq to acquire poisons and gases from Iraqi Intelligence after impressing them with al-Qaedas attack on the USS Cole
Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard, 11-24-03
· An enemy combatant being held at Guantanamo Bay, who was also a former Iraqi Army officer, admits that he served as a liaison between Osama bin Laden and Iraqi Intelligence. He was arrested in Pakistan before completing joint IIS/al-Qaeda mission to blow up U.S. and British embassies
Associated Press, 3-30-05
Stephen Hayes, Thomas Joscelyn. Weekly Standard. 7-18-05
· Abu Hajer al-Iraqi (aka Mahmdouh Mahmud Salim) told prosecutors that he was bin Ladens best friend and in charge of trying and procure WMD materials from Saddam Husseins Iraq.
Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 6-17-04
Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard, 11-24-03
· A Former Senior (Iraqi) Intelligence Officer has told U.S. officials that a flurry of activity between Saddam Husseins regime and al-Qaeda took place in early and late 1998, the meeting point was Baghdads Intelligence station in Pakistan
Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard, 11-24-03
· Wafiq al-Sammarrai, former head of Iraqs Military Intelligence before defecting in 1994, stated that Saddam Hussein has agents inside al-Qaeda
Laurie Mylroie, Study of Revenge
· Khidir Hamza, Saddam Husseins former top WMD official, says that Saddam had connections to al-Qaeda
CNN, 10-15-01
PBS Frontline “Gunning For Saddam”
· Abu Zeinab al-Qurairy , a former high-ranking officer in Iraqs Mukhabarat, told PBS Frontline and the New York Times that the September 11 attackers were trained in Salman Pak, as were other members of al-Qaeda
PBS Frontline “Gunning For Saddam”
· Sabah Khodada, a former Captain in Iraqs Army, told PBS Frontline and the New York Times that the terrorist training camp at Salman Pak included the training of al-Qaeda members airplane hijacking
PBS Frontline “Gunning For Saddam”
· An Iraqi Defector, who spent 16 years working for Iraqs Mukhabarat, told the Iraqi National Congress that Saddam Husseins illegal oil revenues helped fund al-Qaeda (story later corroborated by Claudia Rosett )
Radio Free Europe 9-29-2002
· Khalil Ibrahim Abdallah, a captured senior Iraqi official, said that IIS agents had met with bin Laden until the middle of 1999
Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard, 11-24-03
· Qassem Hussein Mohamed, who served in Iraqs Mukhabarat for 20 years, told reporters that Saddam Hussein has been secretly aiding, arming and funding Ansar al Islam and al-Qaeda for several years
Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor, 4-2-02
Jeffrey Goldberg, New Yorker, 3-25-02
· Dr. Mohammed al-Masri, a known al-Qaeda spokesman, told the Sunday Times that Saddam Hussein contacted the Arab Afghans (al-Qaeda) in 2001. Al-Masri also said that Saddam even went so far as to fund the movement of some al-Qaeda members into Iraq and then later supplied them with arms caches and money, later to be used in insurgent attacks. Abdel Bari Atwan, Sunday Times, 2-26-06 via Thomas Joscelyn, “Saddam, the Insurgency, and the Terrorists, 3-28-06
· Hudayfa Azzam, the son of bin Ladens former mentor, told reporters in 2004, Saddam Hussein’s regime welcomed them with open arms and young al-Qaeda members entered Iraq in large numbers, setting up an organization to confront the occupation. AFP, 8-30-04 Thomas Joscelyn, “What Else Did Hudayfa Azzam Have To Say About Al-Qaeda In Iraq? 4-3-06
· Hudayfa Azzam, the son of bin Ladens mentor Abdullah Azzam, has said Iraqs government worked closely with al-Qaeda before the war and welcomed a number of members in after they left Afghanistan and armed and funded them Thomas Joscelyn citing AFP, 8-30-04
· Dr. Mohammed al-Masri, a known al-Qaeda spokesman, told the Sunday Times that Saddam Hussein contacted the Arab Afghans (al-Qaeda) in 2001. Abdel Bari Atwan, Sunday Times, 2-26-06 via Thomas Joscelyn, Saddam, the Insurgency, and the Terrorists, 3-28-06
· Haqi Ismail, a Mosul native with relatives at the top of Iraqs Mukhabarat and spent time in al-Qaeda/al Ansar camps in Afghanistan and Northern Iraq before being caught by Kurdish security, indicated that he was working for Saddam Husseins Intelligence Service (Mukhabarat)
Jeffrey Goldberg, New Yorker, 3-25-02
· Moammar Ahmad Yussef, a captured deputy of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, told officials that Iraq provided money, weapons, fake passports, safe haven and training to al-Qaeda members
Dan Darling, Winds of Change, 11-21-03
· A top Saddam Hussein official, who was also a senior Intelligence official, says that Iraq made a secret pact with Ayman al-Zawahiris Egyptian Islamic Jihad and later al-Qaeda. Secret meetings between the two sides began in 1992.
Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard, 11-24-03
· Abu Zubaydah, a high ranking al-Qaeda operative in U.S. custody, has said that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had good contacts with Iraqi Intelligence Services
Thomas Joscelyn, Weekly Standard, December 2, 2005
· Abu Iman al-Baghdadi, a 20-year veteran of Iraqi intelligence, told BBC news that Saddam Hussein is funding and arming Ansar al-Islam to fend off anti-Saddam Kurds
Jim Muir, BBC, July 24, 2002
Surely, much more detail is locked away in the classified interrogation logs of other captured al-Qaeda fighters and former Baathists in custody. (I have filed an FOIA request for a few.) Those who may have some answers would be the big name al-Qaeda fighters who were caught in Iraq and the captured Baathists in custody caught after the war terrorizing with Zarqawi and his affiliates. But what we know already should make us discount the no connection argument made by partisans denying reality.
http:/www.9-11commission.gov/
9/11 Commission Report: Final Report Documents Iraq/alQaeda Link
National Commission on Terrorsit Attacks ^ | July 2004 | 9/11 Commission
Posted on 07/30/2004 6:33:08 PM EDT by beebuster2000
The 9/11 Commission Report is extraordinarily well written, reads like a gripping novel and contains many startling and astounding revelations. Probably most of what you think you know about 9/11 and the 15 years of terror activity leading up to it is wrong.
But no documentation from the report is more astounding, or has been more mis-reported than the links between Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. After the media blitz, you are probably under the impression that no ties existed?
How wrong you are, according to the report. Here are a few quotes from the body of the report:
Page 66:
In March 1998, after Bin Ladins public fatwa against the United States , two al Qaeda members reportedly went to Iraq to meet with Iraq intelligence. In July, an Iraqi delegation traveled to Afghanistan to meet first with the Taliban and then with Bin Ladin. Sources reported that one, or perhaps both of these meetings was apparently arranged through Bin Ladins Egyptian deputy, Zawahiri, who had ties of his own to the Iraqis.
Page 66:
According to the reporting, Iraqi officials offered Bin Ladin a safe haven in Iraq . Bin Ladin declined, apparently judging that his circumstances in Afghanistan remained more favorable than the Iraqi alternative. The reports describe friendly contacts and indicate some common themes in both sides hatred of the United States .
Page 128:
On November 4, 1998 , the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York unsealed its indictment of Bin Ladin, charging him with conspiracy to attack U.S. defense installations. The indictment also charged that al Qaeda had allied itself with Sudan , Iran , and Hezbollah. The original sealed indictment had added that al Qaeda had reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the Government of Iraq. This passage led (Richard) Clarke, who for years had read intelligence reports on Iraqi-Sudanese cooperation on chemical weapons, to speculate to Berger that a large Iraqi presence at chemical facilities in Khartoum was probably a direct result of the Iraq-Al Qaida agreement Clarke added that VX precursor traces found near al Shifa were the exact formula used by Iraq.
The 9/11 report does say that no evidence indicating that Iraq cooperated with al Qaeda in developing or carrying out attacks against the United States (page 66) were documented.
But given the voluminous reports of repetitive contact between Iraq and al Qaeda, wouldnt any responsible and forceful President of the Untied States correctly conclude that action against both al Qaeda and Iraq was prudent. And wouldnt a bold and courageous leader take such action if International bodies failed to heed the warning and disarm Iraq according to their own numerous resolutions?
Oh, I guess a President did take such action.
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