[piasa]

If this is true then why isn’t CNN stating that this is proof Al Qaeda was in Iraq before the invasion?

Though Zarqawi's own terrorist group was in the region before the US invasion and Krekar's Ansar al Islam was as well, and though Zarqawi had long standing ties to AQ and crew with same, Zarqawi didn't formally swear the oath to Bin Laden until well after the invasion of Iraq. If you are a liberal you can try to CYA by noting he wasn't "real" AQ until he swore the oath, I suppose.

[jveritas]

Zarqawi was an Al Qaeda member since 1999. I have a captured Al Qaeda document that shows Zarqawi as one of Al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan.

[avacado]

"... Zarqawi didn't formally swear the oath to Bin Laden until well after the invasion of Iraq."

al-Zarqawi ran some of the training camps in Afghanistan. He was pure al-Qaeda.

[plain talk]

If you are a liberal you can try to CYA by noting he wasn't "real" AQ until he swore the oath, I suppose

Yes that's probably their talking points which is pure BS. Our side has to get better on standing firm and ridiculing these lame defenses the dems put forward. So far the dems have been able to get away with many of these tactics. Our problem is much larger than the Iraq issue. It involves basic debate tactics 101.