[arderkrag]

Links. Ties. Operational links. Sponsorship. These terms have vastly different meanings to different members of the media

And to different members of the general public. For example, I see it this way:

Link - Group A has interacted with Group B, maybe positively, maybe not.
Ties - As Link, but contact is frequent.
Operational Links - Operations are similar: using the same tactics, fighting with the same weapons, same organizational structure, etc.
Sponsorship - direct funding and support by Group A of Group B, or vice versa.
(I might be wrong on some of these.)

The press intentionally muddles the meanings of these words to indice confusion. Confusion leads to panic. Panic means more people read papaers and watch news.

[ikez78]

Good points arderkrag. I discussed them with them and pretty much told them as much. I said they should put all the specifics out there and let readers decide instead of just making that decision for them.

Joseph,
Thanks. Still gonna do something on al Qaeda being in Iraq prewar using your work. There is a lot on that topic from al Qaeda docs and Saddam’s docs.

[griswold3]

Word?!!? Just Words!?!!!