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WASHINGTON — A deputy prime minister of Iraq yesterday offered a sharp contradiction of the conventional wisdom here that Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Al Qaeda had no connection before the 2003 war, flatly contradicting a recent report from the Senate's intelligence committee. In a speech in which he challenged the belief of war critics that Iraqis' lives are now worse than under Saddam Hussein, Barham Salih said, "The alliance between the Baathists and jihadists which sustains Al Qaeda in Iraq is not new, contrary to what you may have been told." He went on to say, "I know this at...

Weekend Talk Show *Preview* for 5/27 - 5/28/06 (not the live thread)The main message is the Sunday Shows.  Message 1 will be the Saturday Shows and message 2 will be the show guest links post.  Then I'll post the ping list.ABC This Week (George Stephanopoulos) Meme: The power of the MSM is unassailable!watch as they destroy the evil right wingers and crown the good progressives while blaming everything on the United States (It's what they do best) Topics: Reports of a massacre in Haditha, IraqThe immigration debate Guests Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. Duncan Hunter doesn't realize it yet, but he's...

What the Kurds WantBy Barham SalihThe Wall Street Journal | April 22, 2003 George Bush and Tony Blair are icons for Iraqi Kurds for overthrowing an evil regime. We are proud that Kurds fought side by side with the coalition forces. According to the Americans, our Kurdish soldiers gave an excellent account of themselves. There is no better motivation on the battlefield than to know that freedom is ahead, rather than some Fedayeen thug behind. In parts of Iraq there has been inevitable disorder. The Baath Party pushed itself into every corner of life. Its defeat has led to a...

Tipped for a senior role in a future Iraqi government, Barham Salih is Prime Minister of the Kurdistan region in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq. Here he appeals to the British Left to back a war to depose Saddam Hussein Watching the debate on Iraq, I am often perplexed, sometimes frustrated. As a Kurd, I know war is a devastating undertaking and should be questioned. But in the end a fundamental moral argument needs to be made for a war of liberation to save a people from tyranny. Many on the Left ignore the daily reign of terror the Baathist regime inflicts...

WASHINGTON — In the days following the Sept. 11 attacks, Secretary of State Colin Powell could find "no clear link" between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. One soon appeared. On Sept. 24, 2001, I reported: "The clear link between the terrorist in hiding [Osama] and the terrorist in power [Saddam] can be found in Kurdistan, that northern portion of Iraq protected by U.S. and British aircraft. . . . Kurdish sources tell me (and anyone else who will listen) that the Iraqi dictator has armed and financed a fifth column of Al Qaeda mullahs and terrorists. . . ."The...