[An.American.Expatriate]

ANYONE care to deal with the fact that before the war, Zarqawi's operations were in the Kurdish territory in the north of Iraq that was indisputably not under the control of Saddam's government?

IIRC, the Kurdish Territory in the north was not autonomous and Iraqi Troops were stationed there.

[lugsoul]

From Fox News:

The Kurdish autonomous region, established after the 1991 Gulf War, is protected by U.S.-British air patrols. It is governed by The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in the east, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the west.

Based upon everything I've seen, your assertions are false. If you can point to any evidence that Saddam's forces held territory anywhere near the Ansar enclave, I'd love to see it.