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China launches "military drills," sending planes and ships to encircle Taiwan — AFP

What WAS the relationship between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden ? This article outlines media perceptions THEN - which are in sharp contrast to what is bruited about NOW.

Senate: No Prewar Saddam-al-Qaida Ties By JIM ABRAMS Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- There's no evidence Saddam Hussein had ties with al-Qaida, according to a Senate report on prewar intelligence that Democrats say undercuts President Bush's justification for invading Iraq. Bush administration officials have insisted on a link between the Iraqi regime and terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Intelligence agencies, however, concluded there was none. Republicans countered that there was little new in the report and Democrats were trying to score election-year points with it. The declassified document released Friday by the intelligence committee also explores the role that...

Ex-secretary of State predicts a gradual reduction in troops to start in 2006, but says there will be a military presence for a long time. LONDON — Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said in an interview to be broadcast today that the United States would have a military presence in Iraq for years, although a gradual withdrawal probably would start in 2006. In the interview with the British Broadcasting Corp., Powell said a massive, rapid pullout would be a "tragic He also said U.S. intelligence services had not revealed their doubts to the Bush administration about the reliability...

WASHINGTON - For months leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, it was Iraq's supposed stockpile of threatening weapons that President Bush held up as the main rationale for military action. But it wasn't the only rationale expressed by the White House. In fact, some experts believe other factors rarely talked about might have been at play in Bush's war decision, as well. The issue of why Bush chose war is once again frontand- center, with war critics suggesting the administration may have exaggerated prewar claims of an Iraqi weapons of mass destruction arsenal, and Bush defenders...

WASHINGTON - Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi offered Wednesday to be questioned by the Senate on his role in prewar Iraq but refused to apologize for fueling allegations that Saddam Hussein had hidden caches of weapons of mass destruction. Accorded a warm reception by the Bush administration, Chalabi lined up Vice President Dick Cheney and five Cabinet officers, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, for meetings this week and next. Chalabi, whose reputation in Washington has soared, fallen and now revived, was welcomed by administration officials whom he briefed on Iraq's reconstruction...

ROME - The head of Italy's military secret services will be questioned by a parliamentary commission next week over allegations that his organization gave the United States and Britain disputed documents suggesting that Saddam Hussein had been seeking uranium in Africa, officials said Tuesday. Nicolo Pollari, director of the SISMI intelligence agency, will be questioned on Nov. 3 by members of the commission overseeing secret services, said Micaela Panella, a commission spokeswoman. She said Pollari asked to be questioned after reports Monday and Tuesday in the Rome daily La Repubblica claiming SISMI passed on to the CIA, U.S. government officials...

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission), an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation...is chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks...

The Pentagon is examining evidence that could further discredit a report by the New York Times that hundreds of tons of high explosives were looted by terrorists from a major Iraqi weapons facility after the U.S. invaded in March 2003. "Senior Pentagon officials say they are analyzing some satellite images from the Al Qaqaa facility south of Baghdad from before the war," the Fox News Channel's Bret Baier reported late Wednesday. "Apparently, they show some large truck activity at that facility, [indicating] possibly that Saddam Hussein was moving the explosives out," Baier told Fox News host Greta Van Susteren. Photos...

Senator John Kerry defended his support for war on Iraq at a forum at Western New England College. Karen Brown reports on the opposition that has arisen to Kerry because of his vote. (11/4/02) Listen to him via these links. http://www.wfcr.org/OLD_WWW/kerryoniraq.wma http://www.wfcr.org/OLD_WWW/kerryoniraq.ram We need your help to find out about Kerry's prior knowledge on potential casualty number before the war. Since Kerry defended his support for the war on Iraq what was the estimated casualty count that Kerry expected in this war on Iraq? What prior knowledge did he have? What was the “acceptable” number for casualty count for this...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A scathing congressional report to be released Friday will blame the CIA for much of the faulty intelligence the Washington used to justify last year's invasion of Iraq, US lawmakers said. Members of the US Senate Intelligence Committee planned a press conference early Friday to introduce the 400-page "Report on Pre-War Intelligence on Iraq" which has been more than one year in the making. "Tomorrow's report ... will be intensely and extensively critical of the CIA for its intelligence failures and mischaracterizations regarding Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction," Democratic senator Carl Levin, a member of...

Stuart A. Cohen, who has been with the CIA for 30 years, was acting chairman of the National Intelligence Council when the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was published. The National Intelligence Estimate of October 2002 concerning Iraq's weapons of mass destruction has been dissected like no other product in the history of the U.S. intelligence community. We have reexamined every phrase, line, sentence, judgment and alternative view in this 90-page document and have traced their genesis completely. I believed at the time that the estimate was approved for publication, and I still believe now,...

Iraq's electricity supply is finally restored to pre-war level By Jack Fairweather in Baghdad (Filed: 08/10/2003) After six months and an outlay of £80 million, Iraq's American-led administration said yesterday that it had finally restored the electricity supply to pre-war levels. The milestone is one the administration has been eager to reach after a summer of blackouts and deepening resentment among Iraqis over the time taken to restore basic services. Increasing the nation's power supply further is now at the centre of reconstruction efforts. On its success depend air conditioning and heating and revived oil and industrial production. By next...

"SAFWAN, Iraq. Waving white flags and raising their hands to the sky, hundreds of Iraqi soldiers quickly surrendered to coalition forces in southern Iraq -- and some even tried to give themselves up to Western journalists. One Marine traffic control unit manning an intersection in southern Iraq accepted at least 45 soldiers' surrender by sundown Friday" -- MSNBC, March 21. - - - "American forces shot down at least two of the incoming [Iraqi] missiles" -- Patrick E. Tyler, New York Times, March 21. - - - "The militant Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad urged Iraqis on Friday to...

Summary & 'Freepranslation' by Freeper "AmericanInTokyo"Source: TBS Television Network, Tokyo, JapanDate: 18 March 2003Length: 1 minute/39 seconds Original Language: JapaneseTBS Video is currently at: http://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newseye716817.html (or, via link above).Contents of Japanese- language story: "--The report has now come in from our TBS network reporter in Amman, Jordan, about 4 hours and 350 kilos west of Baghdad.--Reports from Baghdad (and our crew have confirmed) that German and Chinese Embassies being closed down and these staffs are quickly leaving. The privileged class of Iraqis is also starting to flee. (Goodbyes are shown in the video).--The Japanese Embassy in Baghdad reports there are...