Posted by
Gabrielle Cusumano on Wednesday, September 03, 2008 6:08:05 PM
"But I have some news for John McCain," Obama added. "There was no such thing as al-Qaida in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq. " This Democrat's delusion is challenge here with the following excerpted articles.
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On February 17 2008, Al-Ekhlaas which is the largest terrorist forum on the internet published an Al Qaeda document that talks about the life of Abou Musaab Al Zarqawi and indicates that Zarqawi came to Iraq before the war to prepare the terrorist insurgency against the US troops. According to the document Zarqawi arrived to the Sunni areas in central Iraq. This document was written by one of Al Qaeda top leaders called “Saif Al Adel”.
There were many accounts about Zarqawi presence in Iraq before the war in particular in Northern Iraq with “Ansar Al Islam” an active Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist group that was present in the Kurdish areas of Iraq long before the war started. The document also proves that Ansar Al Islam helped Al Qaeda members establish themselves in Iraq before the war started.
The author of the document wrote that there were no relations between Saddam regime and Al Qaeda but this does not negate at all the most important fact that Al Qaeda was in Iraq before the war for the sole purpose of preparing for its most important front to fight the U.S and it is now in Iraq where Al Qaeda is suffering its most crushing defeat since its existence.
It is very important to note that despite the author of the document denial of a relationship between Saddam regime and Al Qaeda it does not mean that Saddam regime was not aware of Al Qaeda presence in Iraq. In fact the documents clearly points out that Zarqawi went to the Sunni areas in Central Iraq before the war and these areas were totally controlled and loyal to Saddam regime and it very hard to imagine that Zarqawi stayed and prepared his terrorist sleepers cells in these Sunni areas without the approval of Saddam regime.
El-Ekhlaas terrorist forum is a password protected so you cannot access the document unless you are registered there as a member.
Below is a partial translation of Al Qaeda document written by “Saif Al Adel”.
… " We started the work and the contact with the leadership, and we began to support and help the leadership again, and this was our goal after we left Afghanistan. We began establishing the fighter groups. On one hand to return to Afghanistan and conduct planned operations there, and on the other hand we began to study the situation of the groups and bothers to find new places for them. After long discussions, brother Abou Mussab with his Palestinian and Jordanian companions decided to go to Iraq because of their dialects they can quickly mix and assimilate in the Iraqi society. Our analysis was that the Americans were going to make the mistake sooner or later to invade Iraq, that this invasion will lead to the fall of the regime, and that we should play an important role in the confrontation and resistance, and that this is our historical chance to establish the Islamic State who will have the biggest role in removing injustice and establish justice in this world allah willing. I was in agreement with brother Abou Mussab regarding this analysis. There were no relation between Al Qaeda and Saddam regime that is worth mentioning, as opposite to what the Americans are saying so they can create excuse and legal justifications according to their laws that they imposed on the world that is enslaved by the West, the Israelis and the Anglo-Saxons.
The plan was to have our brothers enter Iraq from the North, where the road is not controlled y the regime, and then go down South to the Sunni areas where we have some of our brothers. Also the brothers in “Ansar Al Islam” showed their willingness to give us any help to achieve this goal.
The Americans noticed that the Iranians were having a blind eye against our activities in Iran so they began a media attack against Iran accusing them of helping Al Qaeda and international terrorism. The steps taken by the Iranians had confused us and had caused 75% of our plans to fail. Many of our comrades were arrested. 80% of Abou Musaab Al Zarqawi group members were arrested. There should be a quick plan to arrange the escape of Zarqawi and the remaining of his group, the destination was Iraq and the route was the Northern borders between Iraq and Iran. The goal was to reach the Sunni areas in central Iraq and the beginning of the preparation to confront the US invasion and defeat it allah willing. The choice was not arbitrary but a studied one.
When he said goodbye to me leaving for Iraq, Abou Musaab has added a new dimension to his personality. This new dimension focused on punishing the Americans for the crimes that they committed in their bombing of Afghanistan and that he witnessed in his own eyes, the hate and hostility that Abou Mussab had for the Americans guaranteed to form new traits to Abou Musaab personality."
End of partial translation.
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 haven in Iraq, and Iraqi financial support for al Qaeda--perhaps even for Mohamed Atta--according to a top secret U.S. government memorandum obtained by THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
The memo, dated October 27, 2003, was sent from Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas J. Feith to Senators Pat Roberts and Jay Rockefeller, the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. It was written in response to a request from the committee as part of its investigation into prewar intelligence claims made by the administration. Intelligence reporting included in the 16-page memo comes from a variety of domestic and foreign agencies, including the FBI, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency. Much of the evidence is detailed, conclusive, and corroborated by multiple sources. Some of it is new information obtained in custodial interviews with high-level al Qaeda terrorists and Iraqi officials, and some of it is more than a decade old. The picture that emerges is one of a history of collaboration between two of America's most determined and dangerous enemies.
According to the memo--which lays out the intelligence in 50 numbered points--Iraq-al Qaeda contacts began in 1990 and continued through mid-March 2003, days before the Iraq War began. Most of the numbered passages contain straight, fact-based intelligence reporting, which some cases includes an evaluation of the credibility of the source. This reporting is often followed by commentary and analysis.
The relationship began shortly before the first Gulf War. According to reporting in the memo, bin Laden sent "emissaries to Jordan in 1990 to meet with Iraqi government officials." At some unspecified point in 1991, according to a CIA analysis, "Iraq sought Sudan's assistance to establish links to al Qaeda." The outreach went in both directions. According to 1993 CIA reporting cited in the memo, "bin Laden wanted to expand his organization's capabilities through ties with Iraq."
The primary go-between throughout these early stages was Sudanese strongman Hassan al-Turabi, a leader of the al Qaeda-affiliated National Islamic Front. Numerous sources have confirmed this. One defector reported that "al-Turabi was instrumental in arranging the Iraqi-al Qaeda relationship. The defector said Iraq sought al Qaeda influence through its connections with Afghanistan, to facilitate the transshipment of proscribed weapons and equipment to Iraq. In return, Iraq provided al Qaeda with training and instructors."
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.
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Saddam link to Bin Laden Terror chief 'offered asylum' in Iraq? US says dealings step up danger of chemical weapons attacks
Saddam Hussein's regime has opened talks with Osama bin Laden, bringing closer the threat of a terrorist attack using chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, according to US intelligence sources and Iraqi opposition officials.
The key meeting took place in the Afghan mountains near Kandahar in late December. The Iraqi delegation was led by Farouk Hijazi, Baghdad's ambassador in Turkey and one of Saddam's most powerful secret policemen, who is thought to have offered Bin Laden asylum in Iraq.
The Saudi-born fundamentalist's response is unknown. He is thought to have rejected earlier Iraqi advances, disapproving of the Saddam Hussein's secular Baathist regime. But analysts believe that Bin Laden's bolthole in Afghanistan, where he has lived for the past three years, is now in doubt as a result of increasing US and Saudi government pressure.
News of the negotiations emerged in a week when the US attorney general, Janet Reno, warned the Senate that a terrorist attack involving weapons of mass destruction was a growing concern. "There's a threat, and it's real," Ms Reno said, adding that such weapons "are being considered for use."
US embassies around the world are on heightened alert as a result of threats believed to emanate from followers of Bin Laden, who has been indicted by a US court for orchestrating the bombing last August of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, in which 259 people died. US delegations in Africa and the Gulf have been shut down in recent weeks after credible threats were received.
In this year's budget, President Clinton called for an additional $2 billion to spend on counter-terrorist measures, including extra guards for US embassies around the world and funds for executive jets to fly rapid response investigative teams to terrorist incidents around the world.
Since RAF bombers took part in air raids on Iraq in December, Bin Laden declared that he considered British citizens to be justifiable targets. Vincent Cannistraro, former chief of CIA counter-terrorist operations, said: "Hijazi went to Afghanistan in December and met with Osama, with the knowledge of the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar. We are sure about that. What is the source of some speculation is what transpired."
An acting US counter-intelligence official confirmed the report. "Our understanding over what happened matches your account, but there's no one here who is going to comment on it."
Ahmed Allawi, a senior member of the opposition Iraqi National Congress (INC), based in London, said he had heard reports of the December meeting which he believed to be accurate. "There is a long history of contacts between Mukhabarat [Iraqi secret service] and Osama bin Laden," he said. Mr Hijazi, formerly director of external operations for Iraqi intelligence, was "the perfect man to send to Afghanistan".
Analysts believe that Mr Hijazi offered Mr bin Laden asylum in Iraq, most likely in return for co-operation in launching attacks on US and Saudi targets. Iraqi agents are believed to have made a similar offer to the Saudi maverick leader in the early 1990s when he was based in Sudan.
Although he rejected the offer then, Mamoun Fandy, a professor of Middle East politics at Georgetown University, said Bin Laden's position in Afghanistan is no longer secure after the Saudi monarchy cut off diplomatic relations with, and funding for, the Taleban militia movement, which controls most of the country.
Mr Fandy said senior members of the Saudi royal family told him in recent weeks that they had received assurances from the Taleban leader, Mullah Mohamed Omar, that once the radical Islamist movement secured control over Afghan territory, Bin Laden would be forced to leave. "It's a matter of time now for Osama." He said Bin Laden would have a strong ideological aversion to accepting Iraqi hospitality, but might have little choice.
About this article Saddam link to Bin Ladens article appeared in the Guardian on Saturday February 06 1999 . It was last updated at 03:34 on February 06 1999.
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OSAMA BIN LADIN AND IRAQ
Iraq News, FEBRUARY 10, 1999
By Laurie Mylroie Excerpted from: http://www.fas.org/irp/news/1999/02/990210-in-terror.htm
The central focus of Iraq News is the tension between the considerable, proscribed WMD capabilities that Iraq is holding on to and its increasing stridency that it has complied with UNSCR 687 and it is time to lift sanctions. If you wish to receive Iraq News by email, a service which includes full-text of news reports not archived here, send your request to Laurie Mylroie .
I. OSAMA BIN LADIN AND IRAQ, CORRIERE DELLA SERA, FEB 1
II. OSAMA BIN LADIN AND IRAQ, NEW YORK POST, FEB 1
III. OSAMA BIN LADIN AND IRAQ [1], GUARDIAN, FEB 6
IV. OSAMA BIN LADIN AND IRAQ [2], GUARDIAN, FEB 6
The NYT, yesterday, reported that no traces of the VX precursor,
Empta, nor its degradation product, Empa, could be found in 13 samples
taken from the al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant and its grounds last Oct.
That work was supervised by the chairman of the Boston U. chemistry
department, hired by the law firm representing Salih Idris, owner of the
plant. Also, Idris' lawyers hired Kroll "to conduct a detailed review
of the Shifa controversy. In their report, made available to the New
York Times, Kroll Associates found no evidence of a direct link between
Idris and bin Ladin," even as the White House maintained, "We stand by
our evidence linking this plant to bin Ladin's network."
Vincent Cannistraro, former Chief of Counterterrorism Operations for
the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, has suggested a very sensible and
quite clever explanation for what was going on at al-Shifa--why it
turned out to be a pharmaceutical factory; why the US had compelling
evidence linking it to VX; and why it can't be found now.
When US officials were obliged to defend their decision to attack the
al-Shifa plant, after the Aug 20 strike, they revealed an Iraqi link to
al-Shifa, as reported, for example, in the NYT Aug 25. US officials
also revealed the existence of other sites in Khartoum thought to be
associated with Iraq and VX production. Clinton chose al-Shifa as a
target, because it was the only VX-related site not near a populated
area.
Although the CIA did not know al-Shifa made pharmaceuticals, the
State Dept did, because al Shifa was authorized by the UN sanctions
committee to ship medicines to Iraq. Cannistraro suggested that Empta,
manufactured at another Khartoum site, was stored, even perhaps
packaged, at al-Shifa, to be sent to Baghdad, under UNSCR 986, looking
to all the world like a pharmaceutical product.
That would explain how Empta could be found in a soil sample outside
the facility-a leak/spill?; but also why extensive tests in the facility
subsequently, including of the septic tank, did not detect it. It would
also explain why Iraqi CW personnel had contact with a pharmaceutical
plant. Moreover, Iraqi intelligence would think of something like that.
Indeed, Scott Ritter, in his Sept 3 Senate testimony [see "Iraq News,"
Sept 7], explained that Iraq was importing proscribed and dual use
material under cover of UNSCR 986.
Finally, given the proximity of Iraq's angry suspension of UNSCOM
inspections, Aug 5, and the simultaneous terrorist assaults on the two
US embassies, Aug 7, it would seem that in the Aug 20 strikes, the US,
hit two targets--Osama bin Ladin, in Afghanistan, and Iraq, in Sudan,
even as the White House has tried to blur that, with the claim that bin
Ladin was linked to the al-Shifa plant. The White House did something
similar in June, 1993, in that, when it struck Iraqi intelligence
headquarters then, it did not clearly and fully explain the several
reasons for the attack [see "Iraq News," Jan 27].
On the Jim Lehrer News Hour, Jan 21, 1998, over a year ago, as the
second Iraq crisis began, Clinton, warning of the danger Iraq posed,
said, "Think how many can be killed by just a tiny bit of anthrax, and
think about how it's not just that Saddam Hussein might put it on a Scud
missile, an anthrax head, and send it on to some city he wants to
destroy. Think about all the other terrorists and other bad actors who
could just parade through Baghdad and pick up their stores. . . . This
is a serious thing with me, this is a very serious thing. You imagine
the capacity of these tiny amounts of biological agents to cause great
harm; it's something we need to get after."
Clinton understands the danger, but apparently does not want to
address it in the only way that it can be properly addressed--by getting
rid of Saddam. Clinton also said on that program, justifying the
seemingly tough line he was taking then, "What's the issue? Weapons of
mass destruction. What's the answer? The U.N inspectors." And he also
said that he did not have sex with that woman. It is all of a piece.
"Iraq News" has learned what precipitated the earlier rash of
articles about Bin Ladin and Iraq [see "Iraq News," Jan 27].
A senior Iraqi intelligence official, Farouk Hijazi, newly appointed
as Iraq's ambassador to Turkey, did visit Osama bin Ladin in Afghanistan
in December, as several of those articles reported.
There has been more reporting on bin Ladin and Iraq. All of it
included the suggestion that Iraq is coordinating with bin Ladin on CBW
terrorism.
The Italian paper, Corriere della Sera, reported Feb 1, "Terrorist
cells belonging to the network organized by Osama bin Laden . . . are
ready to go into action in the countries of the Persian Gulf and Europe.
According to a confidential report, the list of targets is ready. It
was agreed in Kandahar (Afghanistan) 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 . . ."
The New York Post, Feb 1, reported, "Saddam Hussein-battered,
humiliated and increasingly isolated-plans to resort to terrorism in
revenge for US airstrikes against his country. . . US officials say the
CIA has received 'credible and reliable' intelligence reports that
Saddam is forging alliances with some of the Middle East's most
bloodthirsty terrorists-including Osama Bin Ladin and Abu Nidal-as part
of an apparently new campaign to strike American targets and possibly
destablise Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. . . . US officials are concerned
about the possibility that Saddam could not only help with funding and
logistics for Bin Ladin's far-flung network, . . . but he could also
help the group acquire chemical and biological weapons."
The Guardian, Feb 6, carried two articles. The shorter article
began, "Saddam Hussein's regime has opened talks with Osama bin Laden,
bringing closer the threat of a terrorist attack using chemical,
biological or nuclear weapons." But as 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."
Also, Cannistraro explained that the Hijazi-bin Ladin meeting occurred
"with the knowledge of the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar." As a reader
remarked, the Taliban are a nasty bunch and the US does not recognize
them as the legitimate Gov't of Afghanistan. Rather, it recognizes the
Afghan Gov't in exile, in Tehran.
The longer Guardian article, entitled, "The Western nightmare: Saddam
and Bin Ladin versus the World," reporting on the Hijzazi-Bin Ladin
meeting, observed, "Thus, the world's most notorious pariah state, armed
with its half-built hoard of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons,
tried to embrace the planet's most prolific terrorist. . . .
"But it is not just the US which finds itself in the putative firing
line. Since RAF bombers took part in air strikes in Iraq in November
[sic], British citizens have also become primary targets. Talking to
the London-based Arabic newspaper, Asharq al-Awsat, a month after the
air strikes on Iraq, Mr. Bin Ladin explicitly added British civilians to
his 'divinely-ordained' list of targets. 'The British and American
people have widely voiced their support for their leaders' decision to
attack Iraq, which makes all those people, in addition to the Jews who
occupy Palestine into people warring [against God],' he said. . . .
Still, as one British-based expert cautioned, "It's dangerous to
characterize [bin Ladin] as the be all and end all of this problem . . .
Political Islam is on the rise and terrorist groups will continue to
organise in spite of all the security measures. And bin Ladin has
faithful lieutenants so even if he's assassinated the phenomenon isn't
going to go away."
Indeed, that would be particularly true, if, as "Iraq News" believes,
the very worst of the terrorism of the Militant Muslim Fundamentalists,
including bin Ladin, is carried out with the technical assistance and
support of terrorist states, and Iraq in particular, as Saddam has some
very major complaints and very big scores to settle. Excerpt from: http://www.fas.org/irp/news/1999/02/990210-in-terror.htm
LONDON, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Mala Krekar, the leader of a Taliban-like Iraqi Kurdish group, has admitted to links with Osama bin Laden, according to an Iraqi Kurdish newspaper report Wednesday.
Kurdistani Nuwe reported that in an interview recorded last November, Krekar, whose real name is Najmuddin Faraj Ahmad, admitted he had met the head of al Qaida network during visits to Afghanistan.
The paper, affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan that controls the eastern part of Iraqi Kurdistan, quoted Ahmad as saying, "I have visited many countries and met Islamic thinkers like Osama bin Laden and his right-hand man Ayman al Zawahiri who are true, faithful Muslims."
Krekar said members of his Ansar al-Islam, or Supporters of Islam, were proud of the jihad they made in Afghanistan, referring to resistance there to the Russian occupation that ended in 1989.
Krekar attracted international attention last week when he headed back to Iraqi Kurdistan from a visit to his family in Norway. Although he had an entry visa from the Iranian Embassy in Oslo, he was not allowed to land at Tehran airport. He then sought to return to Norway but was refused entry there, too.
Krekar ended up in the Netherlands where he is being held in a high-security prison. Jordan has asked for him to be extradited to face drug trafficking charges in Amman and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft reportedly has discussed Ahmad with his Dutch counterpart, Piet Hein Donner.
According to Iraqi Kurdish authorities, Mala Krekar set up his revolutionary Islamist group in the mountains on the Iraqi frontier with Iran at the beginning of September 2001. The Kurds believe that as well as having been funded by al Qaida, the group gets support from Saddam Hussein's regime in Baghdad and has been receiving supplies from Iran.
Western and Kurdish analysts suggested that the reason Iran refused Krekar entry was to try and persuade the United States that it was cracking down on Islamist terrorists.
Ansar is estimated to number some 500 fighters of which about 120 are said to be Arabs who fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan or belonged to al Qaida there.
Soon after their arrival, Ansar members reportedly killed more than 40 PUK militiamen they had taken prisoner, allegedly slaying them with daggers in front of villagers.
In February 2001, secular Kurdish authorities say, Ansar, then known as Jund al Islam (Soldiers of Islam), killed Fransu Hariri, the most prominent Christian political figure in Iraq. Earlier this year the Jund/Ansar attempted but failed to assassinate Barham Salih, prime minister in the PUK area. Excerpt from The Kurdistan Observer at:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~konews/25-9-02-krekar-link-qaeda.html
| September 21, 2001 |
A Saddam connection? |
salon.com
by David Neiwert |
The central trail of evidence appears to show bin Laden's unquestionable complicity, but a second, subtler set of footprints may lead to Saddam's door. That trail originates with the first World Trade Center bombing, with evidence that some analysts believe links the 1993 operation to Iraq. That theory has gained currency over the past few years among some intelligence experts, including former CIA director R. James Woolsey. |
| September 23, 2001 |
Alert by Saddam points to Iraq |
The Telegraph (UK)
by Jessica Berry in Jerusalem, Philip Sherwell and David Wastell in Washington
|
| April 27, 2003 |
The proof that Saddam worked with bin Laden |
The Telegraph (UK)
by Inigo Gilmore |
Iraqi intelligence documents discovered in Baghdad by The Telegraph have provided the first evidence of a direct link between Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'eda terrorist network and Saddam Hussein's regime.
Papers found yesterday in the bombed headquarters of the Mukhabarat, Iraq's intelligence service, reveal that an al-Qa'eda envoy was invited clandestinely to Baghdad in March 1998.
The documents show that the purpose of the meeting was to establish a relationship between Baghdad and al-Qa'eda based on their mutual hatred of America and Saudi Arabia. The meeting apparently went so well that it was extended by a week and ended with arrangements being discussed for bin Laden to visit Baghdad. |
| May 7, 2003 |
Court Rules: Al Qaida, Iraq Linked |
CBS News.com |
A federal judge Wednesday ordered Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and others to pay early $104 million to the families of two Sept. 11 victims, saying there is evidence – though meager - that Iraq had a hand in the terrorist attacks.The closely watched case was the first lawsuit against the terrorists believed responsible for the World Trade Center attack to reach the damages phase.
U.S. District Judge Harold Baer ordered that the damages be paid by bin Laden, al-Qaida, the Taliban, Saddam and the former Iraqi government. The judge ruled against them by default in January after they failed to respond to the lawsuits brought on behalf of two of the trade center dead. |
| May 12, 2003 |
The Al Qaeda Connection: Saddam's links to Osama were no secret. |
The Weekly Standard
by Stephen F. Hayes |
Babil, the official newspaper of Saddam Hussein's government, run by his oldest son Uday, last fall published information that appears to confirm U.S. allegations of links between the Iraqi regime and al Qaeda. It adds one more piece to the small pile of evidence emerging from Iraq that, when added to the jigsaw puzzle we already had, makes obsolete the question of whether Saddam and Osama bin Laden were in league and leaves in doubt only the extent of the connection |
| June 25, 2003 |
Document links Saddam, bin Laden |
The Tennessean
by Gilbert S Merritt |
Federal appellate Judge Gilbert S. Merritt of Nashville is in Iraq as one of 13 experts selected by the U.S. Justice Department to help rebuild Iraq's judicial system.
"Through an unusual set of circumstances, I have been given documentary evidence of the names and positions of the 600 closest people in Iraq to Saddam Hussein, as well as his ongoing relationship with Osama bin Laden."
|
| July 11, 2003 |
The Al Qaeda Connection, cont.: More reason to suspect that bin Laden and Saddam may have been in league. |
The Weekly Standard
by Stephen F. Hayes |
Former Navy Secretary John Lehman, a member of the congressional commission investigating the September 11 attacks, added to the intrigue this week when he flatly declared, "there is evidence" of Iraq-al Qaeda links. Lehman has access to classified intelligence as a member of the commission, intelligence that has convinced him the links may have been even greater than the public pronouncements of the Bush administration might suggest. "There is no doubt in my mind that [Iraq] trained them in how to prepare and deliver anthrax and to use terror weapons." |
| July 13, 2003 |
Bin Laden and Iraq |
FrontPageMagazine.com
by Anonymous |
Sourced quotes from the following journals (no online links):
The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland), December 28, 1999U.S.
Newswire, December 23, 1999
The Observer. December 19, 1999
United Press International. November 3, 1999
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio). October 31, 1999
The Kansas City Star. March 2, 1999
... He (bin Laden) has a private fortune ranging from $250 million to $500 million and is said to be cultivating a new alliance with Iraq's Saddam Hussein, who has biological and chemical weapons bin Laden would not hesitate to use. An alliance between bin Laden and Saddam Hussein could be deadly. Both men are united in their hatred for the United States and any country friendly to the United States....
Los Angeles Times. February 23, 1999
National Public Radio (NPR), February 18, 1999
Agence France Presse. February 17, 1999
Deutsche Presse-Agentur. February 17, 1999
Associated Press Worldstream. February 14, 1999
San Jose Mercury News (California). February 14, 1999
United Press International. January 3, 1999
|
| September 1, 2003 |
'Losing bin Laden' |
Townhall.com
by Robert Novak |
On Oct. 12, 2000, the day of the devastating terrorist attack on the USS Cole, President Clinton's highest-level national security team met to determine what to do. Counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke wanted to hit Afghanistan, aiming at Osama bin Laden's complex and the terrorist leader himself. But Clarke was all alone. There was no support for a retaliatory strike that, if successful, might have prevented the 9/11 carnage.
This startling story is told for the first time in a book by Brussels-based investigative reporter Richard Miniter to be published this week. Losing bin Laden relates that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Secretary of Defense William Cohen, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno and CIA Director George Tenet all said no to the attack. |
| September 19, 2003 |
No Question About It: Saddam and the terrorists
|
National Review Online
by James S. Robbins |
But the premise is facile. The principle that drove Iraq and al Qaeda together is one of the oldest in international-relations theory — the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The motive for their alliance was a common hatred for the United States and Israel.
Saddam Hussein showed no reluctance to support terrorism per se during his career. The fact that he gave money to the families of Palestinian suicide terrorists and had a close working relationship with the PLO was well known, and something he admitted. The Iraqi regime maintained a terrorist training camp at Salman Pak near Baghdad where foreign terrorists were instructed in methods of taking over commercial aircraft using weapons no more sophisticated than knives (interesting thought that). Saddam also harbored Abu Nidal and other members of his international terror organization (ANO) in Baghdad. |
| September 22, 2003 |
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's Account Links 9/11 to '93 WTC Attack |
NewsMax.com
by Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff
|
According to a report Sunday by the Associated Press, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed "told his interrogators he had worked in 1994 and 1995 in the Philippines with Ramzi Yousef, Abdul Hakim Murad and Wali Khan Amin Shah on the foiled Bojinka plot to blow up 12 Western airliners simultaneously in Asia."
Yousef, of course, was the man who plotted and executed the failed 1993 World Trade Center bombing, who entered the U.S. on an Iraqi passport the year before and whose partner in the plot, Abdul Rahman Yasin, was granted sanctuary by Saddam Hussein after the attack. Yasin is still at large.
Unmentioned by the AP, Mohammed's account of meetings with Yousef has been corroborated by Yousef's Bojinka partner, Abdul Hakim Murad. After his capture in 1995, Murad told the FBI that he and Yousef were contacted by Mohammed repeatedly during their time in the Philippines. Murad's FBI 302 witness statements detailing the contacts are reprinted in the new book "1000 Years for Revenge," by investigative reporter Peter Lance. |
| December 29, 2003 |
The Clinton View of Iraq-al Qaeda Ties
Connecting the dots in 1998, but not in 2003. |
The Weekly Standard
by Stephen F. Hayes |
Are al Qaeda's links to Saddam Hussein's Iraq just a fantasy of the Bush administration? Hardly. The Clinton administration also warned the American public about those ties and defended its response to al Qaeda terror by citing an Iraqi connection.
For nearly two years, starting in 1996, the CIA monitored the al Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum, Sudan. The plant was known to have deep connections to Sudan's Military Industrial Corporation, and the CIA had gathered intelligence on the budding relationship between Iraqi chemical weapons experts and the plant's top officials. The intelligence included information that several top chemical weapons specialists from Iraq had attended ceremonies to celebrate the plant's opening in 1996. And, more compelling, the National Security Agency had intercepted telephone calls between Iraqi scientists and the plant's general manager. |
| February 22, 2004 |
Ghost Wars : The CIA and Osama bin Laden, 1997-1999
A Secret Hunt Unravels in Afghanistan
Mission to Capture or Kill al Qaeda Leader Frustrated by Near Misses, Political Disputes
|
Washington Post
by Steve Coll |
As bin Laden's bloodcurdling televised threats against Americans increased in number and menace during 1997, the CIA -- with approval from Clinton's White House -- turned from just watching bin Laden toward making plans to capture him.
At Langley, CIA officers sometimes saw the Clinton cabinet as overly cautious, obsessed with legalities and unwilling to take political risks in Afghanistan by arming bin Laden's Afghan enemies and directly confronting the radical Taliban Islamic militia. But at the Clinton White House, senior policymakers and counterterrorism analysts sometimes saw the CIA's efforts in Afghanistan as timid, naïve, self-protecting and ineffective. |
| April 27, 2004 |
The proof that Saddam worked with bin Laden |
The Telegraph
by Inigo Gilmore |
Iraqi intelligence documents discovered in Baghdad by The Telegraph have provided the first evidence of a direct link between Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'eda terrorist network and Saddam Hussein's regime.
Property Classified
Papers found yesterday in the bombed headquarters of the Mukhabarat, Iraq's intelligence service, reveal that an al-Qa'eda envoy was invited clandestinely to Baghdad in March 1998. |
| June 23, 2004 |
The Connection
Interview with Stephen F. Hayes, the author of The Connection: How al-Qaeda's Collaboration with Saddam Hussein Has Endangered America
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FrontPageMagazine.com
by Jamie Glazov
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In late 1998, according to U.S. intelligence documents and numerous reports in the media, Saddam dispatched Faruz Hijazi, a top intelligence officer and longtime al Qaeda liaison, to Afghanistan to offer Osama bin Laden safe haven in Iraq. Saddam was continuing his policy of denying UN inspectors access to sensitive sites. The inspectors left Iraq and a 70-hour bombing campaign – Desert Fox – ensued. Meanwhile, just five months after the simultaneous al Qaeda bombing of U.S. embassies in East Africa, the Taliban was receiving intense pressure from the West to expel bin Laden. The overture sparked widespread news media coverage of the possibility that, as you say, our two most dangerous foes could be collaborating against us. |
| July 21, 2004 |
There Is a C-O-N-N-E-C-T-I-O-N:
Spelling out what we know about the pre-Iraq-war terror world.
Other articles by Deroy Murdock:
The Road to Hell Is Paved with Acts of Terror: A Saddam friend dies
Saddam's Terror Ties: Iraq-war critics ignore ample evidence
At Salman Pak: Iraq’s terror ties
The 9/11 Connection: What Salman Pak could reveal
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National Review Online
by Deroy Murdock |
The Senate Intelligence Committee's July 9 broadside against the CIA's pre-Iraq-war performance found no "established formal relationship" between Iraq and al Qaeda, as if only a NATO-style treaty between Hussein and bin Laden should have worried civilization.
President Bush has allowed his detractors to paint him into this corner. He has let people forget that America fights a war on global terrorism, not strictly a battle against Osama bin Laden, nor a vendetta against the September 11 conspirators. Saddam Hussein's menace never revolved solely around his association with al Qaeda, any more than, say, the Justice Department lets Teamsters consort with Bonanno and Colombo wise guys provided they avoid the Gambinos.
Despite its foes' claims, the Bush administration never tied Saddam Hussein to the September 11 massacre, although there are indications he may have been involved. It is beyond dispute, however, that he at the very least materially assisted global terrorists elsewhere.
Hussein's $25,000 bounties to the families of Palestinian homicide bombers (who have murdered at least 12 Americans in Israel), his sanctuary for terror master Abu Nidal (killer of 407 innocents, including 10 Americans), the Iraqi diplomatic passport that sprang Achille Lauro hijacker Abu Abbas from Italian custody, and many other proven facts demonstrate that Saddam Hussein supported Islamic extremists. His ouster was a key victory in the War on Terror. |
| September 22, 2004 |
The Third Terrorist |
FrontPageMagazine.com
by Jamie Glazov |
Jayna Davis: The Third Terrorist is the culmination of nearly a decade of exhaustive research. Throughout the course of my investigation, I interviewed eighty potential witnesses, twenty-two of whom I deemed credible because their testimonies could be independently corroborated, and more importantly, their stories did not conflict with the government’s case against McVeigh and Nichols.
In detailed affidavits, these witnesses confidently identified eight specific Middle Eastern men, the majority of whom were former Iraqi soldiers, colluding with the Oklahoma City bombers, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, during various stages of the bombing plot.
All of these suspects immigrated to the United States following the Persian Gulf War, ostensibly seeking political asylum from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein. However, my investigation revealed they were, in fact, false defectors – not outspoken dissidents as they had claimed.
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