To: Cogito who wrote (77488 ) 6/22/2006 9:55:15 PM From: Nadine Carroll Read Replies (1) | Respond to Of course Saddam didn't have standing as real Islamist. So what? The point is that he was obviously, publicly, trying to co-opt a growing movement. That he might do so by aiding Al Qaeda was an obvious worry. That he would try to roll his own version of Al Qaeda an even more obvious worry. The evidence for the first case exists but is admitedly sketchy (at least what has been declassified) The second case is being supported by IIS documents even more than the first.The Saddam Fedayeen also took part in the regime's domestic terrorism operations and planned for attacks throughout Europe and the Middle East. In a document dated May 1999, Saddam's older son, Uday, ordered preparations for "special operations, assassinations, and bombings, for the centers and traitor symbols in London, Iran and the self-ruled areas [Kurdistan]." Preparations for "Blessed July," a regime-directed wave of "martyrdom" operations against targets in the West, were well under way at the time of the coalition invasion.
