Ex-Officials Dispute Iraq Tie to al-Qaida (More DNC Hate---MEGABARF!!!!)

AP News wire ^ | 7/12/2003 | MATT KELLEY

[RobbyS]

As the National Review put it, the sooner we get a Iraqi government going the better it will be. Let them fight out who gets to rule. We need to retain a veto to the extent that no government will work against our interests.

[Peach]

I don't understand why anyone would be interested in what this guy has to say, since, as you said, he retired in '86. That's 17 years ago for crying out loud.

[William McKinley]

"After earning his bachelor's degree in political science, with honors, A. Greg Thielmann went on to work for then-Congressman John Culver. He studied international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton, then entered the United States Foreign Service where he has compiled a distinguished service record during a career of 25 years. Although he has filled a variety of assignments, he has been most deeply involved in arms control and security issues. He is currently acting director of the Strategic, Proliferation, and Military Affairs Office in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the State Department."

And

"An outstanding economist and geneticist, Henry Wallace (1888-1965) was also the personification of New Deal liberalism. In this splendid biography, former senator Culver and journalist Hyde brilliantly illuminate Wallace's complex life and struggles. As FDR's agriculture secretary and later vice president, Wallace always stood to the president's left politically (Hamilton Fish called him 'Stalin's ambassador to the court of Roosevelt')."

From these two blog entries: 1 2

[Peach]

I rather like the timing of some of these articles. On the very day articles appear in major publications that the Bush administration overstated the connection between AQ and Iraq, we have breaking news on Fox with a statement coming out of Iraq.

The statement says that the attacks on our soldiers in Iraq have been carried out by a wing of AQ located in Iraq. It's receiving far too little attention and we'll see how the media handles it tomorrow, but I fully expect the story to be underplayed.

[Peach]

Interesting blog! I can see you've done a lot of research.

[cyncooper]

As the National Review put it, the sooner we get a Iraqi government going the better it will be.

Well, they're starting. Did you hear how the newly formed Iraqi Council formally abolished all Saddam related holidays?

And they made a new one-----April 9, the day the statue came down, is their new liberation holiday! A fine start, I say.

[SandRat]

Oh yes! The link to the source of the story is the one that I sent to the local paper here to offer them a chance to prove that they do not have their heads stuck somewhere it should not be.

Doubt that they'll take the offering though, our paper is run by Wick Communications, a bunch of liberals out of Denver.

[SandRat]

Maybe the DimoWits should change their party symbol for the "Jackass" to the "Big-Mouthed Bass." Much like the bass every time they open their big mouths they end up getting a hook in it and caught.

[TBP]

Both former President Havel and the current Czech Preisdent say that Iraqi intelligence and Atta met in Prague befoe 9/11.

Our troops found 2 Al Qaeda training camps in northern Iraq.

No, there's obviously no connection.

[SandRat]

If you think about it the missing connection is in the synapses of the DimoWits empty heads.

[ravingnutter]

FYI...while the Prague meeting has been refuted by some officials, people seem to forget that Farouk Hijazi, an Iraqi intelligence officer met with bin Laden in Kandahar in Dec 1998.

Also forgotten is that in 1998, two of bin Laden’s senior military commanders, Muhammad Abu-Islam and Abdullah Qassim, visited Baghdad for discussions with Qusay Hussein. This and info on other meetings can be found here.

Also in 1998, an Arab intelligence officer, who knows Saddam personally, predicted in Newsweek: "Very soon you will be witnessing large-scale terrorist activity run by the Iraqis." The Arab official said these terror operations would be run under "false flags" --spook-speak for front groups--including bin Laden's organization.

Then there were the predictions by an Iraqi with ties to Iraqi intelligence, Naeem Abd Mulhalhal, in Qusay's own newspaper several weeks before the attacks that stated bin Laden would “demolish the Pentagon after he destroys the White House and ”bin Laden would strike America “on the arm that is already hurting.” (referencing a second IRAQI sponsored attack on the World Trade Center). Another reference to New York was “[bin Laden] will curse the memory of Frank Sinatra everytime he hears his songs.” (e.g., “New York, New York”) which identified New York, New York as a target. Mulhalhal also stated, “The wings of a dove and the bullet are all but one and the same in the heart of a believer." which references an airplane attack.

The Arabic language daily newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabic also cited the cooperation between Iraq, bin Laden and Al December 1998 editorial, which predicted that “President Saddam Hussein, whose country was subjected to a four day air strike, will look for support in taking revenge on the United States and Britain by cooperating with Saudi oppositionist Osama Bin-Laden, whom the United States considers to be the most wanted person in the world.” This info is in the link provided in the para above. How could these people have had foreknowledge without Iraq being involved?

And what about Ramzi Yousef (known to his associates as "Rashid the Iraqi.") and his uncle Khalid Shaikh Mohammed?

There are just too many things that point to Iraqi involvement, even without the refuted evidence.

[jethropalerobber]

Our troops found 2 Al Qaeda training camps in northern Iraq.

...in the region controlled by our kurdish allies. whoops!

[huck von finn]

I'm curious about that camp because it was my understanding that they were terrorist but weren't al Qaeda. Were they al Qaeda? I remember reading something about this but cannot find it now.

[TBP]

The Prague meeting was reaffirmed by the current and immediate past President of the Czech Republic. I'll take their word for it, not some Democrat's.

[TBP]

Our Kurdish allies busted up the camps and they were he ones who helped our troops find them.

It's clear that these were not supported by the Kurds but by Saddam Hussein.

[jethropalerobber]

It's clear that these were not supported by the Kurds but by Saddam Hussein.

what exactly makes that clear to you, TBP?

i never said they were 'supported' by the kurds *or* hussein. there is certainly no evidence, direct or indirect, to suggest that either was the case.

[cyncooper]

William we have another name to research...

Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA counterterrorism chief

Mia T posted a thread today about news in 1999 of a purported bin Laden/Iraq connection: Bin Laden and Iraq

This made me curious to do my own research so I Googled "Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein 1999". In my research I found and linked at #28 on that thread excerpts from a February 10, 1999 article by Laurie Mylroie that references news sources in that timeframe and having read this thread the other day, the name Vincent Cannistraro jumped out at me in her column. After posting my link and excerpts on Mia's thread, I went looking for this discussion to let you know of what Cannistraro had to say back then:

OSAMA BIN LADIN AND IRAQ

Excerpt:

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.

[cyncooper]

Having skimmed Mia's article (See my first link above) I missed that the NPR excerpt in it has Cannistraro's name:

National Public Radio (NPR)

MORNING EDITION (10:00 AM on ET) February 18, 1999.

THOUGH AFGHANISTAN HAS PROVIDED OSAMA BIN LADEN WITH SANCTUARY, IT IS UNCLEAR WHERE HE IS NOW. ANCHORS: BOB EDWARDS

REPORTERS: MIKE SHUSTER

... There have also been reports in recent months that bin Laden might have been considering moving his operations to Iraq. Intelligence agencies in several nations are looking into that. According to Vincent Cannistraro, a former chief of CIA counterterrorism operations, a senior Iraqi intelligence official, Farouk Hijazi(ph), sought out bin Laden in December and invited him to come to Iraq.

Mr. VINCENT CANNISTRARO (Former Chief of CIA Counterterrorism Operations): Farouk Hijazi, who was the Iraqi ambassador in Turkey ... known through sources in Afghanistan, members of Osama's entourage let it be known that the meeting had taken place.

SHUSTER: Iraq's contacts with bin Laden go back some years, to at least 1994, when, according to one U.S. government source, Hijazi met him when bin Laden lived in Sudan. According to Cannistraro, Iraq invited bin Laden to live in Baghdad to be nearer to potential targets of terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. There is a wide gap between bin Laden's fundamentalism and Saddam Hussein's secular dictatorship. But some experts believe bin Laden might be tempted to live in Iraq because of his reported desire to obtain chemical or biological weapons. CIA director George Tenet referred to that in recent testimony....

End Excerpt

SO, is all of this "inoperative" now that clinton isn't president or what?