[LS]

The problem with military and intelligence jargon, when released publicly, is that people think it means things it doesn't. "Operational ties" means AQ did not have an office in Saddam's HQ; they didn't call Saddam every time they planned a bombing; and they didn't have a place on the line-and-staff chart of the Iraqi government. It does not mean that they didn't receive intelligence, aid, support, money, advice, weapons, and all sorts of other help from Saddam, especially under the table.

To this day, the Czechs still stand by their claim that Mohammed Atta met with Al-Ani, the Iraqi foreign minister, not long before 9/11; that Atta's presence cannot be accounted for during that time; and more than one witness has said he personally escorted al-Qaeda leaders IN Iraq around before 9/11.

[Captain Kirk]

The Czechs may stand by it but the U.S. government long ago rejected the Atta story. I remember that at the time this fairy tale was used to quite effectively to scare conservatives into believing that the war somehow related to national defense rather than the truth that it was a Wilsonisan crusade.