Posted on 12/23/2003 11:31:41 AM PST by commiefighter
Those who still insist there “isn’t one scintilla of evidence” or “no proof” of a Saddam Hussein-Osama bin Laden connection must have missed the authoritative article by the noted author and terrorism expert, Stephen F. Hayes, in the November 24th edition of the magazine “Weekly Standard,” (www.weeklystandard.com) with the title “Case Closed.” Hayes has appeared often in the media, and is generally considered an “expert” on international terror. In his article, “Case Closed,” he critiques an official memorandum from Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith to the Chairmen of the Senate Intelligence Committee, citing 50 instances of Iraq-al Qaeda collaboration. The memorandum was written to the committee chairman, Senators Roberts and Rockerfeller, in response to a request for information...”as part of its investigation into prewar intelligence claims made by the administration.” Intelligence reporting included in the 16-page memo come from a variety of domestic and foreign agencies, including the FBI, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency. Hayes writes that “much of the evidence is detailed, conclusive, and corroborated by multiple sources.” Commenting on the evidence before the Senate Intelligence Committee, member Evan Bayh (D-IN) is quoted in the December 22nd Washington Times as saying...“the relationship (Iraq-al Qaeda) seemed to have it roots in mutual exploitation...Saddam Hussein used terrorism for his own aims and Osama bin Laden used a nation-state (Iraq) for those things only a nation-state can provide.”
What emerges from the information reviewed by Hayes is a history of collaboration between two of America’s most determined and dangerous enemies. Eyewitness accounts detail information exchanges, cash payments and weapons transfers--including the support of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda in its Afghan lairs and al Qaeda allies, Ansar al Islam, in its bastion in the northwest of Iraq. Hayes notes that the relationship began shortly before the first Gulf War. According to the CIA in 1993, “bin Laden wanted to expend his organization’s capabilities through ties with Iraq.” When bin Laden’s operatives came to Baghdad in 1993, it did not go unnoticed by courageous reporters from the London Telegraph, who defied Saddam’s security forces by filing a news release, which mostly went unnoticed. Yet, the alert Telegraph staff were among the first of the media to arrive at Iraqi intelligence headquarters immediately after the liberation. Thus, it should be no surprise that the Telegraph’s Con Coughlin reported on December 13th, 2003 the existence of a letter from the Iraqi intelligence chief dated July 1, 2001, that may provide the Iraqi-9/11 attack tie-in. This document reports the international terrorist Abu Nidal’s efforts to train 9/11 attacker/pilot Mohammad Atta in Baghdad. Nidal was given sanctuary by Saddam, and was later murdered by Saddam, probably to cover up Iraq’s assistance in the 9/11 attacks. Also, according to a defector, Iraq sought al Qaeda influence through its connections to Afghanistan to import weapons (from our European “friends”) prohibited by international sanctions, and in return, Iraq provided al Qaeda with training and instructors. In her book “The War Against America: Saddam Hussein and the World Trade Center Attacks, “ author Dr. Laurie Mylroie had made the case for Saddam being behind the 1993 bombing, as well as being implicated in other acts of international terror.
Will over 50 instances of evidence and the evaluation of noted terrorism experts make any difference to those who claim “Bush lied” about the danger from Iraq? Will the evidence of a Saddam-bin Laden connection quiet those who say it may have been proper to liberate Afghanistan, but not Iraq? Probably not. The open-minded, or those to whom evidence matters, may be persuaded.
commiefighter.
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