Hi Nadine Carroll; Re: "The Bush administration didn't turn towards Iraq as a post Sept 11th reflex. They turned towards Iraq in late October, when intelligence reached them that al Qaeda was hunting for a dirty bomb, and Saddam was very close to having one to give them."
That's not the way I remember it. As soon as the attacks ocurred, within minutes, everyone was speculating that Iraq and Osama bin Laden / Afghanistan was behind it. Iraq had specifically threatened revenge in May of 2001 for US air attacks. The only question was whether Iraq would be taken down after Afghanistan or before. For example:
Who did it? Foreign Report presents an alternative view
Jane's.com, September 19, 2001
Israel’s military intelligence service, Aman, suspects that Iraq is the state that sponsored the suicide attacks on the New York Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington. Directing the mission, Aman officers believe, were two of the world’s foremost terrorist masterminds: the Lebanese Imad Mughniyeh, head of the special overseas operations for Hizbullah, and the Egyptian Dr Ayman Al Zawahiri, senior member of Al-Qaeda and possible successor of the ailing Osama Bin Laden.
...
janes.com
Israeli intelligence: Iraq financed attacks
World Tribune, September 12, 2001
worldtribune.com
Of course we know that the Israelis are aware of which side of the bread has butter on it. In retrospect, it's clear that they were lying, and were simply trying to get the US to take care of their primary threat in the area. What's good for Israel is good for the US, after all.
But the facts were that the secular Iraqis had nothing to do with the fanatical Islamic WTC attack, and within a few weeks attention was fully on Afghanistan.
And by the way, using the logic "... intelligence reached them that al Qaeda was hunting for a dirty bomb, and Saddam was very close to having one to give them" is rather weak as far as justifying a war. Of course many terrorists groups would like to have a dirty bomb, or at least have plans on the shelf for how to construct one if they got the fixings. But the stuff for dirty bombs is available trivially all over the world. People are regularly killed by thrown away radioactive medical equipment in 3rd world countries. Similarly, you can go to the various sites of nuclear explosions and pick up radioactive waste with little effort in China, Russia and the United States, and you can also go to any country that has ever mined uranium and cherry pick the mine tailings for dirty bomb makings. Does Iraq have these? They certainly do, but so does Iran, and Iran at least shares the Islamic fundamentalism bug that Al Qaeda has.
-- Carl
P.S. Also see:
dir.salon.com
At the urging of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Bush administration has for the first time, acknowledged that Iraq is being examined as a sponsor of the Sept. 11 suicide attacks in New York and Washington.
U.S. officials said the CIA is investigating a range of possible sponsors of the suicide attacks, attributed to Saudi millionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden. They are also evaluating information that connects Iraq to some of the suicide hijackers.
...
worldtribune.com
Hindustan times:
216.239.53.100
And stratfor published something to the same effect. |
