On Sept. 27, 2002, Mr. Rumsfeld said there was "bulletproof" evidence of ties between Al Qaeda and Iraq, including that Iraq had trained Qaeda agents in chemical and biological warfare, and he repeated that myth in response to Mr. McGovern.
captainsquartersblog.com captainsquartersblog.com
lauramansfield.com ctc.usma.edu
weeklystandard.com
And now.. some references to IIS and high level interaction between Saddam's regime and Al Qai'da/Taliban:
rayrobison.typepad.com
Developing the relation with Taliban is essential and this development requires meetings to create a common ground of understanding. We already believe that there are no points of disagreement between us and the Taliban because we are both in one trench facing the world’s oppression. But the details of the relation and its management are linked to the facts of the international situation. I find that by simply meeting with you (Fadl Ur Rahman) is a step forward in the relation with Taliban because we know well how much they trust you and what you represent for them. And when you relay our point of view for them they will understand it. For the future we think that we will arrange relations between us, as an intelligence service, and them in a SECRET (translator’s emphasis) way to establish the strong base of this relation.
weeklystandard.com
26. During a custodial interview, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi [a senior al Qaeda operative] said he was told by an al Qaeda associate that he was tasked to travel to Iraq (1998) to establish a relationship with Iraqi intelligence to obtain poisons and gases training. After the USS Cole bombing in 2000, two al Qaeda operatives were sent to Iraq for CBW-related [Chemical and Biological Weapons] training beginning in Dec 2000. Iraqi intelligence was "encouraged" after the embassy and USS Cole bombings to provide this training.
rayrobison.typepad.com
cnsnews.com
americanthinker.com
cnsnews.com ******************
Basically I can present all the fact and figures I want to the readers of this thread, but it remains up to each individual to decide what the threshold related to the threat posed by Iraq would warrant Saddam's overthrow.
Would it justify overthrowing him if we were relatively certain that he was providing ANY kind of support for Al Qai'da, in violation of those UNSC binding resolutions.. Or do we need to have actual "smoking gun" evidence that Saddam cooperated/conspired with Al Qai'da to conduct terrorist attacks against the US, including 9/11?
As far as I'm concerned, conspiracy to commit such acts against Americans is sufficient. Others think we need to wait until such an attack occurs and can be directly linked.
The pundits and MSM would have you believe that Iraq's "secular" Ba'thist regime would have nothing to do with Al Qai'da (including Egptian Islami Jihad), and the Taliban, being ideologically opposed.
But does the MSM tell you that the majority of Al Qai'da leaders in Iraq are former Iraqi Intelligence members?
Take Abu Ayman, for instance.. An aide (or some say actual COS of the Iraqi Intelligence Service) was recently captured.. This guy is a VERY BAD DUDE.. We chased him for over a year trying to convince the brass that this guy was a key player in Al Qai'da in Iraq:
mnf-iraq.com
And if I had a public link to the documents I could provide you a WHOLE LIST of IIS ties to Al Qai'da operations.
Now I had a lot of folks tell me that this was just a temporary pact with Al Qai'da's Zarqawi, and I disagreed with them. I told them that Al Qai'da would not have formed an alliance with Iraqi Intelligence, who should be their sworn enemies as "defenders" of Ba'thism", unless there were PRE-EXISTING TIES AND RELATIONSHIPS between Iraqi Intelligence and Al Qai'da leadership heirarchy.
Now we can ask why an Iraqi Air Force general was requesting, in March, 2001, for Iraqi pilots to voluteer for a suicide mission to attack US interests, or why Czech Intelligence STILL stands by their claim that an Iraqi Intelligence officer, Al-Ani, met with Muhammad Atta in April, 2001 in Prague:
edwardjayepstein.com
Now Suma.. I could go on, but I have a few other things to do this afternoon.
But this should hopefully be sufficient to possibly question some of the prevailing beliefs that Saddam was not supporting Al Qai'da.
Hawk |