[mjaneangels@aolcom]

"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?"

If Saddam had no power in that region, then why did he continually send his troops to that area to kill Kurds?

There was a "No FLY Zone" enforced. There was the ability to transport by land, which means that your indisputably is disputable.

[lugsoul]

"If Saddam had no power in that region, then why did he continually send his troops to that area to kill Kurds?"

After the withdrawal from the area, following Op Provide Comfort, he didn't. Plain and simple. I've already posted comments from the Kurd government and the U.S. Army saying that the Kurds controlled the area. They had their own government. They had their own economy. Do think Saddam just let them have these things?