Amen, fellow FReeper. Especially the part about the chilren in the White House. Makes me wanna puke!
Posted on 01/30/2003 4:59:23 PM PST by RCW2001
WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The al Qaida operative who orchestrated the murder of a U.S. diplomat in Amman, Jordan, last October is residing in Baghdad, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told a Senate panel Thursday.
"I'll say that it's clear that al Qaida is harbored, to some extent, in Iraq, that there is a presence in Iraq," Armitage told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He then referred to "a recent assassination of our diplomat in Amman, Mr. Foley, that was apparently orchestrated by an al Qaida member who's resident in Baghdad."
Laurence Foley was in Jordan with the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The information presented by Armitage clashes with recent statements from the Jordanian authorities regarding the whereabouts of Foley's murderers. After arresting most of the men, the Jordanians in December said the ringleader of the cell that orchestrated the assassination attempt was also wanted by the authorities in Iraq and was currently residing in northern Iraq, a section of the country under air protection from the United States and the United Kingdom and ruled by two Kurdish parties.
Although Armitage did not name the al Qaida member, it has been reported that he is Fadel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, also known as Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. This -- according to U.S. officials -- is the individual President Bush said last December had sought and received medical treatment in Baghdad last year. But, some have said that he has since left Iraq's capital.
Armitage said that the fact that the man who ordered Foley's murder is in Baghdad would be part of the Bush administration's case to the United Nations next week linking al Qaida to Iraq. "This will be part of the information that Secretary Powell is going to impart in some more detail. They're busy back home right now trying to declassify as much as possible to give him a pretty full case."
On Monday Secretary of State Colin Powell authorized an independent U.S. investigation into Foley's murder. U.S. laws require such panels to be convened six months after U.S. officials are killed or die under unusual circumstances abroad. Leading the panel will be former US ambassador to Jordan Wesley Egan. Copyright © 2001-2003 United Press International
More like raging forest fire.
(Cue Democrat response) "This proves NOTHING. Iraq and al Qaida are not imminent threats to the United States. Until every last man, woman and child in the United States has been killed, we should be willing to work through the United Nations, allow the inspectors more time to work, and give peace a chance."
Amen to that...But what would you like to bet we WILL hear once again from the left:
"We need more proof", "We need more evidence"...
I can already hear the bar being raised as to what is a "smoking gun" and what is not. The left dreads this war. They know what it equals. Their loss in '04. I think they dread further what could potentially come out over all this. That chunk of 8 years of time when a playboy, not a president sat in the oval office. And all the mis-management that came with it.
Thursday, January 30, 2003
WASHINGTON — Al Qaeda is not just in northern parts of Iraq outside of Saddam Hussein's control, but is actually operating in Baghdad, the deputy secretary of state told a Senate panel Thursday.
Offering a startling and cryptic preview of some of the intelligence information the Bush administration is expected to provide to the U.N. Security Council next week, Richard Armitage cited a specific case of Al Qaeda's recent activities originating from the Iraqi capital.
"It's clear that Al Qaeda is harbored to some extent in Iraq, that there is a presence in Iraq. There are other indications of a recent assassination of our diplomat in Amman, Mr. Foley, that was apparently orchestrated by an Al Qaeda member who is a resident in Baghdad," Armitage told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Secretary of State Colin Powell earlier this week ordered an investigation into the death of Laurence Foley, a U.S. Agency for International Development official who was shot to death in October as he was preparing to leave his home at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan.
Jordanian authorities in December arrested two men for the crime. They were suspected of being members of the Al Qaeda terror network.
Sources say captured Al Qaeda operatives being held at Guantanamo Bay have told U.S. officials Saddam's regime has had repeated contacts with Al Qaeda in recent years, and that both before and after the Sept. 11 attacks, Al Qaeda sought biological and chemical weapons materials from Iraq.
Armitage also said that despite a U.N. presence in Iraq, Saddam continues to smuggle materials into Iraq for weapons of mass destruction.
"Even with the inspectors, their illegal procurement is continuing today," said Armitage.
"They are buying in all of the aspects, chemical, biological, nuclear, they are developing long-range missiles," said Assistant Secretary of State John Wolf.
Sources told Fox News the United States also has "irrefutable evidence" Saddam continues to use his mobile laboratories to hide his weapons of mass destruction.
Lawmakers at Thursday's hearing complained the U.N. Security Council was possibly going to be briefed on important U.S. intelligence before they are.
"I want to know specifically and factually what we know, and I think my constituents do and I think my colleagues do, and before you go tell the whole world about it, I think we have a right to know what's going on here," said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.
Dodd said he backs the president's position on Iraq, as did the committee's ranking member Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., who offered the administration one of the strongest expressions of support but nonetheless chastised the administration for calling potential military action "pre-emptive."
Clearly, Biden said, Saddam is violating the original Gulf War cease-fire agreement.
"When you talk about this, do not further confuse the devil out of the rest of the world and make us sound like a bunch of cowboys that we are going to be out there pre-emptively imposing our view. This is an enforcement of a binding international legal commitment that a man made to save his skin and stay in power," Biden said.
To prove that Saddam is still trying to save and hide his weapons, sources say that government officials are still debating whether to release satellite pictures, among the irrefutable evidence.
Sources said they have "before and after" shots that show that before the inspections resumed in Iraq there were suspected mobile biological and chemical labs and equipment in several locations, but since the inspectors returned two months ago, the labs and equipment have been systematically disappearing, proving that Saddam continues to hide his weapons and dupe the United Nations.
Fox News' Carl Cameron contributed to this report.
Amen, fellow FReeper. Especially the part about the chilren in the White House. Makes me wanna puke!
The evidence is overwhelming of top-to-bottom partnership between Iraq and Al Queda. I can only assume the U.S. is holding back information because it either might compromise the secrecy valued sources, or Clinton-holdovers in the CIA are covering their asses by denying any links whatsoever, as has been alleged in some articles this week.
I'm inclined to think that there isn't any love lost between thse two. Of course, there isn't any love lost between each of those butchers and any other human being on the face of this planet either, so there is nothing particularly unusual about that.
The issue isn't whether or not there is any actual or potential link between Iraq and Al Qaida . . . rather, it is whether or not there is a current or potential link between Iraq and international terrorism.
The first is hypothetical and very difficult to prove, the second is all too likely, and is reason enough for us.
That is 21 nations do not want to be on the wrong side of history. Wonder why the Democrats are so hell-bent on being on the wrong side?
"Here come the planes...
They're American planes,
Made in America.
Smoking?
Or non-smoking..."
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