Saddam's Al Qaeda Connection

The Weekly Standard ^ | 09/01/03 | Stephen F. Hayes

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[RandallFlagg]

Bookmarked...

[okie01]

Once "everybody knows" that Saddam and bin Laden had nothing to do with each other, it becomes extremely difficult for any release of information by the U.S. government to change people's minds.

Good advice. The mainstream media have been digging this story's grave for six months.

[lainde]

bump for later read

[knak]

bump for later too!

[Calpernia]

For months? What the gov alleged? What the gov didn't use? The info has been out there. THE MEDIA is the criminal!

http://www.iraqwatch.org

[PRND21]

...the series of missile strikes the Clinton administration launched at Iraq beginning December 16, 1998. The bombing ended 70 hours later, on December 19, 1998.

Good job, Billy. That showed em'.

[PhilDragoo]

Bob Graham, two-term president of Florida, denies any connection between al Qaeda and Iraq.

Scott Ritter claims the Boeing 707 fuselage at Salman Pak was used to train underage girls as "stewardesses".

The only one doubting the Atta-al Ani meet was Tenet--who, after September 11, should have been called into the Oval Office, spanked, and replaced with Woolsey.

Saddam gives al Qaeda official 300K--hey, it was soft money, right, Terry McAuliffe?

The press pool needs to be flushed after Yellowcakegate.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks! Will put this on the list!

An important article from Ledeen:

Iraq's terrorists have friends in high places

Bush Doctrine Unfolds :

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[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the ping PhilDragoo.

Look deep enough and I'll bet there are links between al Qaeda and Syria, the Palistinian groups, Iran, Saudia Arabia and Pakistan to name a few. AAnd in most cases I don't think you jhave to look that hard.

[nopardons]

BTT

[Dolphy]

CIA analysts had long contended that Saddam Hussein's secular regime would not collaborate with Islamic fundamentalists like bin Laden--

I have always found this to be the most distressing example of how far off the CIA had been in understanding both bin Laden and Hussein. Clearly Saddam was/is an opportunist and a manipulator. And bin Laden was/is duplicitous, he accepted US help in Afghanistan even as his hatred of the United States grew.

Without the ability to either defend or attack in a conventional way how could Saddam not see an opportunity to reach his regional objectives using al Qaeda to loosen the US grip? And the best the CIA could come up with is to believe that the secular Saddam would never do business with a religous extremist?

[MJY1288]

BTTT for a later read

[ex-Texan]

*BUMP* !

[Mo1]

BTT for later read

[VOA]

bump

[Imal]

On February 18, 1998, after the Iraqis repeatedly refused to permit U.N. weapons inspectors into sensitive sites, President Bill Clinton went to the Pentagon and delivered a hawkish speech about Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and his links to "an unholy axis of terrorists, drug traffickers, and organized international criminals." Said Clinton: "We have to defend our future from these predators of the 21st century. . . . They will be all the more lethal if we allow them to build arsenals of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them. We simply cannot allow that to happen. There is no more clear example of this threat than Saddam Hussein."

An excellent article, full of useful information.

I was so profoundly stirred by this reference to President Clinton's hawkish stance on Iraq that I started a thread based on that speech:

The President Makes His Case Against Iraq

For the record, that speech took place on Tuesday, February 17, 1998, not on February 18 as the article claims.

[JustPiper]

Bump Pokey!

[Peach]

The only ones who did not believe an AQ/Iraq connection were those who sought to undermine the administration.