Document: Afghani Taliban Consul Spoke of a Relationship Between Iraq and Bin Laden See Translation

The documents of pre-war Iraq were published this morning on the Pentagon website, I did a quick search and I found a very interesting document written in Arabic and not yet translated to English. I did the translation and I found the following:

This document is a letter written by a member of Saddam Intelligence apparatus (Al Mukabarat) on 9/15/2001 (shortly after 9/11/2001) where he addressed it to someone higher up and he wrote about a conversation between an Iraqi intelligence source and a Taliban Afghani Consul. In the conversation the Afghani Consul spoke of a relationship between Iraq and Osama Bin Laden prior to 9/11/2001, and that the United States was aware of such a relationship and that there is a potential of US strikes against Iraq and Afghanistan if the destructive operations in the US (most probably he is referring to 9/11 attacks) were proven to be connected to Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban.

Our source in Afghanistan No 11002 (for information about him see attachment 1) provided us with information that that Afghani Consul Ahmad Dahestani (for information about him see attachment 2) told him the following:

1. That Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan are in contact with Iraq and it that previously a group from Taliban and Osama Bin Laden group visited Iraq.

2. That America has proof that the government of Iraq and Osama Bin Laden group have shown cooperation to hit target within America.

3. That in case it is proven the involvement of Osama Bin Laden group and the Taliban in these destructive operations it is possible that American will conduct strikes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

4. That the Afghani Consul heard about the subject of Iraq relation with Osama Bin Laden group during his stay in Iran.

5. In light of this we suggest to write to the Commission of the above information.

And the administration of President Bush went on to keep such awareness from the American public

The administration was very clear about the US being aware of the pre-911 relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda- they brought up Zarqawi's presence in Iraq numerous times, they brought up Iraq's aid and comfort to terrorists in the form of providing identity documents and training, and also made comments on Iraq's use of the Sudanese strongman - I think it was Turabi- as an intermediary between the IIS and with bin Laden and his agents. They also mentioned meetings held between various Iraqi intelligence figures and bin Laden [and his surrogates] in Iraq, Afghanistan and even Pakistan. They only downplayed knowledge of a "direct operational relationship with Iraq and al Qaeda on the planning of the 911 event specifically, though even there they brought up the presence of the Iraqi Hikmat Shakir at the Malaysia meeting where the bombing of the USS Cole was planned and possibly where much of 911 was also planned. To the press, evidence of a "direct operational" relationship means we have a memo signed by Hussein himself using his own blood, which ordered al Qaida to attack the WTC with civilian aircraft- that's something we don't have and likely never will and the administration simply couldn't make that claim.

The MSM was just so sufficiently effective at keeping the knowledge of intel on Iraq's relationship with al Qaeda and al Qaeda figures low-key that no one heard much of what the administration was saying.

Your post got a great mention on NRO:

MORE ON THE RELEASED DOCUMENTS [Jim Robbins]

Good post on Free Republic on one of the documents posted without a translation. It is an Iraqi intelligence report from September 15, 2001. It states:

"1. That Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan are in contact with Iraq and it that previously a group from Taliban and Osama Bin Laden group visited Iraq.

2. That America has proof that the government of Iraq and Osama Bin Laden group have shown cooperation to hit target within America."

Why wasn't this posted with a translation? Wouldn't that qualify as salient information people should know about? Sometimes I really have to wonder if all the components of the government are in this war to win it.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/

"Baghdad has a long history of supporting terrorism," said George Tenet, director of the Central Intelligence Agency. "It has also had contacts with al-Qaeda," he told the Senate's Armed Services Committee. (Source: BBC News, March 19, 2002; "US says Iraq linked to al-Qaeda")

... Lehman said the information, contained in "captured documents," was obtained after the commission report was written that stated there was no evidence of a "collaborative relationship" between Iraq and al Qaeda. "Some of these documents indicate that (there was) at least one officer of Saddam's Fedayeen, a lieutenant colonel, who was a very prominent member of al Qaeda," Lehman said. "That still has to be confirmed, but the vice president (Dick Cheney) was right when he said that he may have things that we don't yet have," said Lehman, a former Navy secretary. Cheney and President Bush continued to insist that Iraq had ties to al Qaeda after the commission report issued last week found no evidence that Iraq collaborated with al Qaeda. ...----- "Iraq Officer Tied to Al-Qadea," by Peter Kaplan, Reuters, 6/20/2004

OCTOBER 27, 2003 : (FEITH MEMO IS SENT TO SENATORS ROBERTS & ROCKEFELLER) The memo, dated October 27, 2003, was sent from Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas J. Feith (search) 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 in some cases includes an evaluation of the credibility of the source. This reporting is often followed by commentary and analysis. - The Weekly Standard, Nov. 24, 2003

JANUARY 27, 2004 : (FEITH MEMO TO SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE : CHENEY REFERS TO A STEPHEN F. HAYES ARTICLE "THE US GOVERNMENT'S SECRET MEMO DETAILING COOPERATION BETWEEN SADDAM HUSSEIN AND OSAMA BIN LADEN " IN THE NOVEMBER 24, 2003 ISSUE OF THE WEEKLY STANDARD, WHICH CONTAINED LEAKED CLASSIFIED INFORMATION, AS THE 'BEST SOURCE OF INFORMATION' ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IRAQI LEADER HUSSEIN & AL QAEDA) In today's Washington Post, Dana Milbank reported that "Vice President Cheney . . . in an interview this month with the Rocky Mountain News, recommended as the 'best source of information' an article in The Weekly Standard magazine detailing a relationship between Hussein and al Qaeda based on leaked classified information."
(The leaked info would be memo by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy douglas J. Feith to senators Pat Roberts and Jay Rockefeller of the Senate intelligence Committee - see above) - Dana Milbank of the Washington Post, January 27, 2004

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.