Solid Iraq - al Qaeda link?....naw

[Holden McGroin]

quoted from an article in the Weekly Standard
One such confirmation came in a postwar interview with one of Saddam Hussein's henchmen. As the memo details:

4. According to a May 2003 debriefing of a senior Iraqi intelligence officer, Iraqi intelligence established a highly secretive relationship with Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and later with al Qaeda. The first meeting in 1992 between the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) and al Qaeda was brokered by al-Turabi. Former IIS deputy director Faruq Hijazi and senior al Qaeda leader [Ayman al] Zawahiri were at the meeting--the first of several between 1992 and 1995 in Sudan. Additional meetings between Iraqi intelligence and al Qaeda were held in Pakistan. Members of al Qaeda would sometimes visit Baghdad where they would meet the Iraqi intelligence chief in a safe house. The report claimed that Saddam insisted the relationship with al Qaeda be kept secret. After 9-11, the source said Saddam made a personnel change in the IIS for fear the relationship would come under scrutiny from foreign probes.

Couldn't be true.... could it?

[GRUNHERZ]

LIES!!!!

The Saddam I know is a peace loving gentle man with no ties to terror, never!  

What do the usual suspects have to say?

[davidpt40]

But in reality, this means nothing.  Probably equivalent to the relationship Spain had with Germany in WW2.

[Holden McGroin]

How many died from the bombs of the Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War?  That was only a short while before the invasion of Poland.

You should re-think your analogy.

[Gixer]

There has yet to be any solid evidence produced linking al Qaeda to Sadam or if it had operations in Iraq prior to the US invasion. But it's certinly there now.


...-Gixer
~Hells Angels~

[CyranoAH]

Originally posted by Holden McGroin
How many died from the bombs of the Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War?  That was only a short while before the invasion of Poland.

You should re-think your analogy.

I believe davidpt is talking about post-civil war Spain, not about the legit government of Spain pre-war.

The Luftwaffe bombed the republican cities in support of the coup d'etat by general franco.

Daniel

[davidpt40]

Yes, talking about World War II Spain.

[Holden McGroin]

I understand that.   I believe my statement is still justified.

[DmdNexus]

Washingont post report Page A20,   Nov 16, 2003

"CIA Finds No Evidence Hussein Sought to Arm Terrorists"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46460-2003Nov15.html

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by DmdNexus
Washingont post report Page A20,   Nov 16, 2003

"CIA Finds No Evidence Hussein Sought to Arm Terrorists"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46460-2003Nov15.html

No ones argueing that Saddam was trying to arm them.  They are pointing out that OSAMA BIN LADEN and Saddam Hussein had an operational relationship from the early 1990s to 2003 that involved training in explosives and weapons of mass destruction, logistical support for terrorist attacks, al Qaeda training camps and safe havens in Iraq, and Iraqi financial support for al Qaeda.
When you deal with cash, the cash trail is impossible to back track. When you arm someone, there is a direct link to back track.

[MrLars]

Originally posted by Ripsnort
No ones argueing that Saddam was trying to arm them.  They are pointing out that OSAMA BIN LADEN and Saddam Hussein had an operational relationship from the early 1990s to 2003 that involved training in explosives and weapons of mass destruction, logistical support for terrorist attacks, al Qaeda training camps and safe havens in Iraq, and Iraqi financial support for al Qaeda.
When you deal with cash, the cash trail is impossible to back track. When you arm someone, there is a direct link to back track.

Considering the only sources for this story are The National Review and Newsmax and that their citing some unnamed "intelligence source" I think this story is horsehockey.

It's very unsurprising that Faux has pushed this story without questioning or confirming the suposedly supporting documentation.

Once again you people are falling for this administrations attempt at some pretty piss poor news manipulation. Just why do you think that Dubya hasn't called a press conference to make public this damning 'evidence'? Could it be that this story has too many holes and that his handlers don't want to risk having to retract his statements about a story that has no merit?

< Dirty Harry voice >

Well, do ya, punk?

[Ripsnort]

MrLars, do you think that liberal sources are gonna post good news about this administration?

[Pongo]

500th soldier died today. Maybe time has passed to stop looking for excuses to justify the invasion.

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by Pongo
500th soldier died today. Maybe time has passed to stop looking for excuses to justify the invasion.

How many died on the first hour of liberation in WW2, during the Normandy invasion?

1 is too many, but these men die for a purpose, and if you think its oil, then you're brainwashed by the liberal left.

[MrLars]

Snortin'Rip said:

MrLars, do you think that liberal sources are gonna post good news about this administration?


If and when there is...yes.




IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 15, 2003

DoD Statement on News Reports of al-Qaida and Iraq Connections

News reports that the Defense Department recently confirmed new information with respect to contacts between al-Qaida and Iraq in a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee are inaccurate.

A letter was sent to the Senate Intelligence Committee on October 27, 2003 from Douglas J. Feith, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, in response to follow-up questions from his July 10 testimony. One of the questions posed by the committee asked the Department to provide the reports from the Intelligence Community to which he referred in his testimony before the Committee. These reports dealt with the relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida.

The letter to the committee included a classified annex containing a list and description of the requested reports, so that the Committee could obtain the reports from the relevant members of the Intelligence Community.

The items listed in the classified annex were either raw reports or products of the CIA, the NSA, or, in one case, the DIA. The provision of the classified annex to the Intelligence Committee was cleared by other agencies and done with the permission of the Intelligence Community. The selection of the documents was made by DOD to respond to the Committee’s question. The classified annex was not an analysis of the substantive issue of the relationship between Iraq and al Qaida, and it drew no conclusions.

Individuals who leak or purport to leak classified information are doing serious harm to national security; such activity is deplorable and may be illegal.

http://www.dod.mil/releases/2003/nr20031115-0642.html