Whoa - heavy duty dot-connecting, this time connecting Iraq and Al Qaeda. Why Scowcroft is wrong.
>> Palestinian born Director of External Operations for Iraqi Intelligence, the new Ambassador to
Turkey, Farouk Hijazi, traveled to Kandahar, Afghanistan in December, 1998 and met with
Osama Bin Laden.1,2,3,4,7
"Terrorist cells belonging to the network organized by Osama bin Laden...are ready
go into action in the countries of the Persian Gulf and Europe...The list of targets is
ready. It was agreed in Kandahar 21 December by Osama himself and Farouk
Hijazi... The new recruits, together with the veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and
Bosnia, form the secret army that is expected to use its weapons against all those
who oppose the rais of Baghdad. In order to make them even more dangerous,
traditional training has been supplemented with training in the use of chemical
weapons, toxins and viruses."3 [Corriere della Sera, February 1, 1999 (Italia)]
Baghdad had even grander designs for Osama. Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal had visited Mullah
Omar twice in 1998, trying to get to Osama for his intended overthrow of the House of Saud. He
had been twice rejected. Saudi financing of the Taliban had then been severely reduced and the
Taliban were reconsidering the value of protecting Osama. Pressure from the US and Saudi
Arabia had secured the expulsion of Osama from Sudan to Yemen in the early 1990's, and just
as they had offered then, Iraq invited Osama to asylum and refuge in Baghdad.3
[This meeting was confirmed by Vincent Cannistraro, Director of NSC Intelligence
from 1984 to 1987, then chief of operations for the CIA's Counterterrorism
Center.]3
Mamoun Fandy, professor of Middle East Politics at Georgetown University, with
personal Saudi Royal Family connections, said in 1999, the Saudi monarchy told him
they ended diplomatic relations and funding of the Taliban. The Saudi's felt this would
compel the Taliban to force Osama out of Afghanistan. Islamic fundamentalist bin
Laden would have an ideological aversion to accepting the secularist Iraqi offer, as he
did in the early 1990's, but Osama might have little choice but to accept. [obviously,
Osama secured other arrangements.]
The New York Post reported February 1, 1999,
"Saddam Hussein - battered, humiliated and increasingly isolated - plans to
resort to terrorism in revenge for U.S. airstrikes against his country"
"Earlier this month, Saddam appeared to move even further ideologically toward
Bin Laden when he lashed out at the Saudi and Kuwaiti governments.
"Saudi rulers have caused great calamities to the Arab nation and committed
aggression against its rights ever since they became a bridge for the
foreigner," Saddam said in a written statement.
Terrorism is the Iraqi ruler's new strategy, said Kenneth Katzman, a former
CIA analyst now with the Congressional Research Service.
"Saddam hasn't been much of a player on the terrorism scene lately. But now
he's clearly trying to advertise himself in the Arab world as a victim of
American aggression in hopes of attracting Bin Laden's supporters and others
to his cause," Katzman said. 4
Ahmed Allawi, a senior INC official, advised, that it is not new, "There is a long
history of contacts between the Mukhabarat [Iraqi secret service] and Osama bin
Ladin."2
Saddam stockpiles terrorists as weapons to use for his own.
Iraq provides safehaven to terrorist and rejectionist groups and continues its efforts to
rebuild its intelligence network, which it used previously to support international
terrorism. 5
The Abu Nidal Organization (Fatah Revolutionary Council, Arab
Revolutionary Brigades, Black September, Revolutionary Organization of
Socialist Muslims) split from the PLO in 1974. carried out terrorist attacks in
20 countries, killing or injuring almost 900 persons. Targets include the United
States, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, moderate Palestinians, the PLO,
and various Arab countries. The leader, Abu Nidal, relocated to Baghdad in
late 1998. Iraq had never admitted Abu Nidal was in the country until reports
of his death in Baghdad emerged this week.
Iraq supports and supplies the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, known to be
completely controlled by Iraqi intelligence within Iraq's borders. They are
primarily an anti-Iranian terror group who killed several U.S. soldiers and
civilians working on defense projects in Iran prior to the fall of the Shah of
Iran. 6
The Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), led by Abu Abbas, is one of three
factions of the original PFLP that split up in 1977. They reject the middle east
peace process and use terrorism in their quest to establish an independent
Palestinian. Following the attack against the Achille Lauro ship in October
1985, Abu Abbas was expelled by the Tunisian authorities and established his
headquarters in Baghdad.
On October 14, 2000, A London-bound Saudi airliner was hijacked. They
landed in Baghdad where the passengers were released. Saddam granted the
hijackers asylum. The Iraqi regime rebuffed a request from Riyadh for the
extradition of two Saudi hijackers. Disregarding its obligations under
international law, the regime granted political asylum to the hijackers and time
on Iraqi television to vent their criticisms of alleged abuses by the Saudi
Arabian Government, echoing an Iraqi propaganda theme.8
Iraq has a long record of supporting terrorist groups and resorting to terrorism
as an adjunct of foreign policy. During the 1991 Gulf War I, Saddam planned
a series of worldwide terrorist attacks. Most were foiled by US and
international counterterrorism efforts.7
In November 2001, two defectors from the Iraqi intelligence services said that
Iraq had used Salman Pak, a camp south of Baghdad, to train Islamist radicals
in the techniques of terrorism.
In 1993, Saddam attempted to assassinate President George H. Bush (43).
Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the WTC bombing in 1993 entered the US
on an Iraqi passport, originating his flight from Iraq. His intelligence file in
Kuwait was altered by Iraqi officials during the occupation of Kuwait. Abdul
Yasin, also involved in the bombing returned to Iraq and is living in Baghdad.7
Salman Pak: An Iraqi Lt. general and Captain Sabah Khodada defected from
Iraq and emigrated to the US in May, 2001. In separate New York Times
interviews, they described Salman Pak, a highly secret terrorist training camp
south of Baghdad. The trainees were Iraqi, and non-Iraqi Arabs.9
Saddam has openly and vigorously supported Palestinian suicide bombers,
paying families of suicide bombers $25,000 and building a Baghdad memorial
to the first woman suicide bomber.
Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish Islamic extremist group, has terrorized the northern
Iraq Kurd safe-haven over the past fourteen months. The group has had
al-Qaeda associations since 1989. The Iraqi government provided cash and
training to Ansar, in a bid to destabilize the safe haven and weaken armed
Kurdish opponents.10
Qassem Hussein Mohamed who is being held in a Kurdish prison, was
a Mukhabarat intelligence officer for 20 years. In an April interview by
the Christian Science Monitor in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, he said that Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein has supported Ansar al-Islam for several
years.
"Mohamed compared Baghdad's role to the overt help Iraq given the
anti-Iran Mujahideen-e-Khalq forces, which are known to be
completely controlled by Iraqi intelligence within Iraq's borders."
"Ansar and Al Qaeda groups were trained by graduates of the
Mukhabarat's School 999 -- military intelligence," says Mr. Mohamed."
"My information is that the Iraqi government was directly supporting [Al
Qaeda] with weapons and explosives," he says. "[Ansar] was part of Al
Qaeda, and given support with training and money."
Footnotes
1. Saddam Link to Bin Laden, February 6, 1999, Guardian Unlimited
2. The Western nightmare: Saddam and Bin Laden versus the world, February 6, 2002, Guardian Unlimited
3. Iraq News, February 10, 1999, Federation of American Scientists
4. SADDAM'S NEW WEAPON: TERROR; COURTING BIN LADEN & NIDAL: U.S.
New York Post; New York; Feb 1, 1999; NILES LATHEM
5. Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1998 US State Dept [Clinton Administration]
6. Questions on Terrorism, Council on Foreign Relations
7. Target Iraq's Terrorist Regime.., Heritage Foundation, James Philips, 10/2/2001
8. US State Dept. Patterns of Global Terrorism - 2000
9. Gunning for Saddam, PBS Frontline
10. Iraqi Funds, Training Fuel Islamic Terror Group,Christian Science Monitor,4/2/02
* Todd Beamer, Sept. 11, 2001, United Airlines Flight 93
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