Bush administration releases secret documents from Saddam's spy ag

[Montgomery Burns]

So far this has been getting as much attention from the MSM as Judge Harold Baer's legal ruling ruling that Saddam was complicit in 9-11, i.e., virtually no attention.

Investor's Business Daily:

The government is finally getting around to unloading some of Saddam Hussein's secret documents. A look at just a few pages already leads to some blockbuster revelations. Among the enduring myths of those who oppose the war is that Saddam, though murderous when it came to his own people, had no weapons of mass destruction and no terrorist designs outside his own country. Both claims now lie in tatters.

As we've reported several times, a number of former top military officials in Saddam's regime have come forward to admit that, yes, Saddam had WMD, hid them and shipped them out of the country so they couldn't be detected. And he had plans to make more. Now come more revelations that leave little doubt about Saddam's terrorist intentions. Most intriguing from a document dump Wednesday night is a manual for Saddam's spy service, innocuously listed as CMPC-2003-006430. It makes for interesting reading.

Here, for instance, are the marching orders for Directorate 8, the Mukhabarat's "Technical Affairs" department: "The Eight Directorate is responsible for development of materials needed for covert offensive operations. It contains advanced laboratories for testing and production of weapons, poisons and explosives."

It goes on. Directorate 9, we discover, "is one of the most important directorates in the Mukhabarat. Most of its work is outside Iraq in coordination with other directorates, focusing on operations of sabotage and assassination."

The document also discusses the Mukhabarat's Office 16, set up to train "agents for clandestine operations abroad." The document helpfully adds that "special six-week courses in the use of of terror techniques are provided at a camp in Radwaniyhah."

Got that? Terror techniques.

Saddam had close ties to al-Qaida. That's not just our opinion, but also that of the 9-11 Commission Report that so many in the media have selectively cited to bolster the case against the war. As Chairman Thomas Kean said the day the report was released: "There was no question in our minds that there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida."

As such, we were heartened to see that President Bush on Thursday reaffirmed the U.S. will continue to fight a pre-emptive war on terror....Polls be damned — that's how a war is fought.

Let the excuses begin! I've got a feeling that chiropracters are going to see an upsurge in business as the lefties twist, turn, and contort themselves into all kinds of bizarre positions to try and discredit these documents.

P.S. Here's the translation (with the Pentagon link) of a letter discussing Al Qaeda's ties with Iraq.

[sharkman]

The main reason the MSM is pretty much silent on this is they are still busy digging and researching to discredit as much of this stuff as they can. Since these documents support Bush, the MSM will move heaven and earth to put a negative spin on it. Have patience Monty, they will soon finish their work and the propaganda machine will swing into action.

[gerryhatrick]

The government is finally getting around to unloading some of Saddam Hussein's secret documents. A look at just a few pages already leads to some blockbuster revelations.

Actually, this has been dubunked. Maybe that's why the MSM isn't picking it up, they do thier homework.

The portions reported by that investors website as being from Saddams documents in fact are not.

Rightwingers are getting desperate to connect Saddam to terror!

[geoffrey]

Gasing Kurds is enough for me to call him a terrorist.

[Shady]

Rightwingers are getting desperate to connect Saddam to terror!

Hmm, what about the funding of suicide bombers in Israel? Is that desperate propaganda as well? Nope. Anyone that hasn't realized by now that Saddam Hussein was neck deep in terrorism, may as well belong to the Flat Earth Society.

(CNN) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country warned the United States several times that Saddam Hussein's regime was planning terror attacks on the United States and its overseas interests.

CNN

A Hamas suicide bomber's family got $25,000 while the others - relatives of militants killed in fighting or civilians killed during Israeli military operations - all received $10,000 each

BBC

But the tapes do show the degree to which the hard-line Baghdad regime went in the mid-1990s to trick U.N. weapons inspectors. They also show Saddam and his henchmen had the full intention of rebuilding an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction once U.S. sanctions were lifted

WT

The evidence of an Iraq/al-Qaida connection hasn't gone away

Slate

That OBL and the Taliban are in contact with Iraq and that a group of Taliban and bin Laden group members visited Iraq

That the U.S. has proof the Iraqi government and "bin Laden's group" agreed to cooperate to attack targets inside America

That in case the Taliban and bin Laden's group turn out to be involved in "these destructive operations," the U.S. may strike Iraq and Afghanistan

That the Afghani consul heard about the issue of Iraq's relationship with "bin Laden's group" while he was in Iran.

ABC News

To suggest this material has been "debunked" is disingenious at the very least. I still can't figure out how so many "progressives" can so easily brush all this information aside. It's terribly irresponsible.

[Montgomery Burns]

The main reason the MSM is pretty much silent on this is they are still busy digging and researching to discredit as much of this stuff as they can. Since these documents support Bush, the MSM will move heaven and earth to put a negative spin on it. Have patience Monty, they will soon finish their work and the propaganda machine will swing into action.

Actually one of the MSM has been on this story. Guess which *cough* Faux News *cough* one?

As for discrediting these documents, ABC is first out of the gate:

Document dated Sept. 15, 2001

An Iraqi intelligence service document saying that their Afghani informant, who's only identified by a number, told them that the Afghani Consul Ahmed Dahastani claimed the following in front of him:

That OBL and the Taliban are in contact with Iraq and that a group of Taliban and bin Laden group members visited Iraq.

That the U.S. has proof the Iraqi government and "bin Laden's group" (ABC's sneer quotes, not from the documents--MB) agreed to cooperate to attack targets inside America.

That in case the Taliban and bin Laden's group turn out to be involved in "these destructive operations," ABC's sneer quotes, not from the documents--MB) the U.S. may strike Iraq and Afghanistan.

That the Afghani consul heard about the issue of Iraq's relationship with "bin Laden's group" (ABC's sneer quotes, not from the documents--MB) while he was in Iran.

At the end, the writer recommends informing "the committee of intentions" (ABC's sneer quotes, not from the documents--MB) about the above-mentioned items. The signature on the document is unclear.

(Editor's Note: The controversial claim that Osama bin Laden was cooperating with Saddam Hussein is an ongoing matter of intense debate. While the assertions contained in this document clearly support the claim, the sourcing is questionable — i.e. an unnamed Afghan "informant" reporting on a conversation with another Afghan "consul." The date of the document — four days after 9/11 — is worth noting but without further corroboration, this document is of limited evidentiary value.)

Got that? Afghani Consul Ahmed Dahastani is just another Afghan "consul" and the other Afghan "informant" is of limited evidentiary value because we are not given his full name, address, next of kin, height, weight, penis size, etc.

Good grief! No wonder the MSM has lost so much credibility! :angry:

But they have to dismiss this. Otherwise, how could anyone trust the MSM anymore?

They lied. They lied to us. How foolish can you be to immediately deny that Saddam had any links to Al Qaeda? Why couldn't have they held off?

Oh right. They didn't hold off because if the public ever found out that Saddam was linked to Al Qaeda (as Judge Harold Baer legally ruled in 2003--a ruling the MSM out a blackout on) that would have aided Bush. Can't have that!

[gerryhatrick]

Gasing Kurds is enough for me to call him a terrorist.

I guess that makes Bush a terrorist for using white phosperous also then, huh?

[newbie]

Gee, is it a coincidence that Bush is the lowest he's ever been in the polls and all of a sudden we have these "secret documents" floating around?

[geoffrey]

Gasing Kurds is enough for me to call him a terrorist.

I guess that makes Bush a terrorist for using white phosperous also then, huh?

No. Bush didn't order, hey, lets go burn some civilians with white phosperous today!

It was more like "hey, lets use it to light targets for our planes." Tragically, some civilians got hit with the stuff and the US should help 'em out with some medical attention.

Saddam intentionally committed genocide against a dissenting proportion of his own population. He did wake up one morning and say, hey, lets go kill our people because I don't like their race, we'll use a painful gasing technique to wipe out whole villages!

Do you have any evidence that white phosperous has killed anyone, let alone a few thousand people, selected specifically for their race?

[newbie]

So far this has been getting as much attention from the MSM as Judge Harold Baer's legal ruling ruling that Saddam was complicit in 9-11, i.e., virtually no attention.

Uh, could be because the 9/11 Commission released a report saying that there was no "collaborative relationship" between Al Qaeda and Iraq. I'll take the commission's view over this looney judge who claimed Saddam was behind 911. Even Dubya quit going there.

[JerrySeinfeld]

So far this has been getting as much attention from the MSM as Judge Harold Baer's legal ruling ruling that Saddam was complicit in 9-11, i.e., virtually no attention.

Uh, could be because the 9/11 Commission released a report saying that there was no "collaborative relationship" between Al Qaeda and Iraq. I'll take the commission's view over this looney judge who claimed Saddam was behind 911. Even Dubya quit going there.

When it comes to the middle east, EVERYTHING is connected.

[Montgomery Burns]

So far this has been getting as much attention from the MSM as Judge Harold Baer's legal ruling ruling that Saddam was complicit in 9-11, i.e., virtually no attention.

Uh, could be because the 9/11 Commission released a report saying that there was no "collaborative relationship" between Al Qaeda and Iraq. I'll take the commission's view over this looney judge who claimed Saddam was behind 911. Even Dubya quit going there.

Chairman Thomas Kean said the day the 9-11 report was released: "There was no question in our minds that there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida."

I'll take the word of a judge who listened to evidence over the discredited NY Times.

[Montgomery Burns]

Newbie, don't click this link. I don't want you to go blind!

Captured documents in Iraq show Saddam Hussein provided financial support to Abu Sayyaf, the al Qaeda-linked jihadist group founded by Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law in the Philippines in the late 1990s

[Riverwind]

Chairman Thomas Kean said the day the 9-11 report was released: "There was no question in our minds that there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida."

Clearly the chairman has not read his own report.

Read "Chapter 2 - The Foundation of the New Terrorism" and you will see no reference to collaboration between Iraq and Al Qaeda. In fact, the commission confirms that Bin Laden and Hussein were enemies working against each other. Ironically, the 9-11 report details extensive collaboration between the gov't of Sudan and Al Qaeda which confirms that the Bush administration's obsession with Iraq has nothing to do with the war on terror. If 'regime change' was really necessary to stop terrorism then it should have started with Sudan - not Iraq.

[newbie]

Clearly the chairman has not read his own report.

It appears that MB hasn't read it either.

[Montgomery Burns]

Chairman Thomas Kean said the day the 9-11 report was released: "There was no question in our minds that there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida."

Clearly the chairman has not read his own report.

Read "Chapter 2 - The Foundation of the New Terrorism" and you will see no reference to collaboration between Iraq and Al Qaeda. In fact, the commission confirms that Bin Laden and Hussein were enemies working against each other. Ironically, the 9-11 report details extensive collaboration between the gov't of Sudan and Al Qaeda which confirms that the Bush administration's obsession with Iraq has nothing to do with the war on terror. If 'regime change' was really necessary to stop terrorism then it should have started with Sudan - not Iraq.

Umm. I did read Chapter 2. I suggest you do the same. Or does the name Abdul Rahman Yasin (the Al Qaeda terrorist - wanted by the Clinton administration for his complicity in the 1993 World Trade Center terrorist attack - mean nothing to you? It's in the damn 9-11 report, ffs! The same Yasin who fled to Iraq after mixing the chemicals in the World Trade Center attack and was given housing and a monthly salary by Saddam. Wtf, do you get all your news from the NY Times and the CBC? Indeed it makes sense. Both Al Qaeda and Saddam were religious zealots (as we've seen in the recently released Iraq documents, not to mention Saddam changing the Iraq flag to put the words Allah Akbar on it). The 9-11 commission did not conclude that Iraq and Al Qaeda were enemies. Read the report instead of gobbling down NY Times/CBC headlines.

Good grief. There are numerous incidents of Al Qaeda and Iraq links.

Your claim that Iraq had nothing to do with the war on terror is utterly asinine. There are photos of Saddam's cheques to displaced Arab (MSM calls them Palestinians) all over the bloody internet! Zarqawi fled to Iraq after Afghanistan fell and was treated for an injury at Baghdad's Olympic hospital, a hospital run by Uday Hussein.

Have you forgotten Christopher Hitchens bitch-slapping of Ronald Reagan, Jr on TV:

CH: Do you know nothing about the subject at all? Do you wonder how Mr. Zarqawi got there under the rule of Saddam Hussein? Have you ever heard of Abu Nidal?

RR: Well, I'm following the lead of the 9/11 Commission, which...

CH: Have you ever heard of Abu Nidal, the most wanted man in the world, who was sheltered in Baghdad? The man who pushed Leon Klinghoffer off the boat, was sheltered by Saddam Hussein. The man who blew up the World Trade Center in 1993 was sheltered by Saddam Hussein, and you have the nerve to say that terrorism is caused by resisting it? And by deposing governments that endorse it? ... At this stage, after what happened in London yesterday?...

RR: Zarqawi is not an envoy of Saddam Hussein, either.

CH: Excuse me. When I went to interview Abu Nidal, then the most wanted terrorist in the world, in Baghdad, he was operating out of an Iraqi government office. He was an arm of the Iraqi State, while being the most wanted man in the world. The same is true of the shelter and safe house offered by the Iraqi government, to the murderers of Leon Klinghoffer, and to Mr. Yassin, who mixed the chemicals for the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. How can you know so little about this, and be occupying a chair at the time that you do?

As 9/11 Commission Vice-Chairman (and former Democratic Congressman) Lee Hamiliton stated in comments that were largely ignored because they didn't fit the anti-war storyline some people were pushing:

"The vice president [Cheney] is saying, I think, that there were connections between Al Qaeda and the Saddam Hussein government. We don't disagree with that. What we have said is what the governor (Commission Chairman Thomas Kean) just said, we don't have any evidence of a cooperative, or a corroborative, relationship between Saddam Hussein's government and these Al Qaeda operatives with regard to the attacks on the United States."

While there may not be slam dunk evidence that Saddam and Al Qaeda cooperated together in attacks on the US, the evidence that Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Al-Qaeda worked together is absolutely undeniable! Only someone with their head stuck up their rear-end would deny this.

From former CIA Director George Tenet in a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee on October 7, 2002:

Credible reporting states that al Qaeda leaders sought contacts in Iraq who could help them acquire WMD capabilities. The reporting also stated that Iraq has provided training to al Qaeda members in the areas of poisons and gases and making conventional bombs.

And from Richard Miniter:

1) Abdul Rahman Yasin was the only member of the al Qaeda cell that detonated the 1993 World Trade Center bomb to remain at large in the Clinton years. He fled to Iraq. U.S. forces recently discovered a cache of documents in Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, that show that Iraq gave Mr. Yasin both a house and monthly salary.

2) Bin Laden met at least eight times with officers of Iraq's Special Security Organization, a secret police agency run by Saddam's son Qusay, and met with officials from Saddam's mukhabarat, its external intelligence service, according to intelligence made public by Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was speaking before the United Nations Security Council on February 6, 2003.

3) In 1998, Abbas al-Janabi, a longtime aide to Saddam's son Uday, defected to the West. At the time, he repeatedly told reporters that there was a direct connection between Iraq and al Qaeda.

4) Mohamed Mansour Shahab, a smuggler hired by Iraq to transport weapons to bin Laden in Afghanistan, was arrested by anti-Hussein Kurdish forces in May, 2000. He later told his story to American intelligence and a reporter for the New Yorker magazine.

And from Weekly Standard bulldog columnist Stephen Hayes:

Evan Bayh, Democrat from Indiana, has described the Iraq-al Qaeda connection as a relationship of "mutual exploitation." Joe Lieberman said, "There are extensive contacts between Saddam Hussein's government and al Qaeda." George Tenet, too, has spoken of those contacts and goes further, claiming Iraqi "training" of al Qaeda terrorists (Iraq's terror training camp at Salman Pak with a Boing jet) on WMDs and provision of "safe haven" for al Qaeda in Baghdad. Richard Clarke once said the U.S. government was "sure" Iraq had provided a chemical-weapons precursor to an al Qaeda-linked pharmaceutical plant in Sudan. Even Hillary Clinton cited the Iraq-al Qaeda connection as one reason she voted for the Iraq War.

I am getting sick and tired of constantly typing and copying and pasting this stuff week after week after week on this forum! :angry:

Is there extensive evidence that Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda worked together to hit targets in the US? No. But, is there extensive evidence that they had ties and worked together at times? Absolutely.

There's the old refrain that liberalism is a mental disorder. I always chuckled at that claim, but thought that was taking things too far. However after seeing some of the writings from people on this forum, I am starting to think that it is true!

[Shady]

Great post Monty! Unbelievable! I'm not exactly sure how anyone can attempt to undermine so many facts. Their heads must be spinning by now. I'd just like to humbly add a few points.

To those who may be ignorant of the fact. Allah Akbar translated means "God Is Great". This was added to the Iraqi flag a short period of time after the first gulf war.

As Monty has stated.

Iraqi leader's Koran 'written in blood'

BBC

President Saddam Hussein has taken delivery of a copy of the Koran written using his own blood.

Do you people understand that? He had the Koran written entirely in his own blood. His own blood! Yet some of you ignorant Saddam Hussein apologists continue to spout the "he couldn't have connections to Al Qaeda, he's secular" bullshit. Wake up and smell the freaking coffee, please. Connect the GD dots.

Also.

Abdul Rahman Yasin (the Al Qaeda terrorist - wanted by the Clinton administration for his complicity in the 1993 World Trade Center terrorist attack. Absolutely true. I'm not sure how anyone can overlook this so easily as the "progressives" do.

Abu Nidal, the most wanted man in the world, who was sheltered in Baghdad. Absolutely true, and again, I'm not sure how open-minded "progressives" can so easily overlook this fact.

Zarqawi fled to Iraq after Afghanistan fell and was treated for an injury at Baghdad's Olympic hospital, a hospital run by Uday Hussein. Absolutely true. Again, how can the "progressives" simply brush these facts aside.

The absolute denial of these types of FACTS is what I mean by Flat Earth Society thinking. Stop being partisan, stop the Bush hating for just one second, and examine the possibilities, especially in the face of so much information and evidence.

[Riverwind]

Umm. I did read Chapter 2. I suggest you do the same. Or does the name Abdul Rahman Yasin

The name 'Yasin' does not show up anywhere in the report - you can do the text search yourself. You are simply making things up.

Here is a quote from the report (Page 60):

Bin Ladin himself is said to have asked for space to establish training camps, as well as assistance in procuring weapons, but there is no evidence that Iraq responded to this request

There are other similar statements that make it very clear that Iraq/Saddam was not involved in the 9-11 attack . On the other hand, there is overwhelming evidence that Sudan was intimately involved with Bin Ladin. So why didn't Bush invade Sudan?

The absolute denial of these types of FACTS is what I mean by Flat Earth Society thinking. Stop being partisan, stop the Bush hating for just one second, and examine the possibilities, especially in the face of so much information and evidence.

Why don't you try to look at the facts instead of what is posted in some right wing blog. The 9-11 report is very clear - there was no connection between Iraq and Bin Ladin and 9-11 other than a few meetings between Iraqi officials and Bin Ladin which mean nothing.

[newbie]

It's funny that with all the so-called "evidence" you provide that dear Dubya would say the following:

from the speech at the City Club of Cleveland on Monday March 20/06.

Their (the terrorist's) goal is to use Iraq as a base from which to launch attacks against America. To achieve this goal, they're recruiting terrorists from the Middle East to come into Iraq to infiltrate its cities, and to sow violence and destruction so that no legitimate government can exercise control

"The hatred of the radicals existed before Iraq was an issue" - Oct. 7/05 National Endowment for Democracy in Washington

CIA also had doubts:

Before the U.S. invasion, the CIA said Saddam Hussein had only circumstantial ties with several al Qaeda members. Osama bin Laden rejected the idea of forming an alliance with Hussein and viewed him as an enemy of the jihadist movement because the Iraqi leader rejected radical Islamic ideals and ran a secular government.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2005Jan13.html

This is a very tired argument and hopefully my last comments on this bloody Bush blunder. I leave you with this: A majority of the American people now believes that the president intentionally misled the country into a war that has now cost hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of lives. The only question that remains is: will he and his administration be held accountable?

http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/

[newbie]

You are simply making things up.

This is what the right does best.

[Montgomery Burns]

Riverwind:

Here is a quote from the report (Page 60):

Bin Ladin himself is said to have asked for space to establish training camps, as well as assistance in procuring weapons, but there is no evidence that Iraq responded to this request

There is no such quote on Page 60. You are clearly making things up.

Instead of reacting to headlines by leftwing media sources, I suggest you take a long hard look at the 9-11 commission report.

As Lee Hamilton and Thomas Kean clearly stated:

KEAN: Well, there was no question in our minds that there was a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaida. At one point, there was thought maybe even Al Qaida would find sanctuary in Iraq. And there were conversations that went on over a number of years, sometimes successful, sometimes unsuccessfully.

While we don't know about weapons collaboration, particularly chemical collaboration, there was a suspicion in the Clinton administration that when they fired that bomb at that factory, that if, in fact, there were chemicals there, they may have come from Iraq.

So there was a relationship.

Anyone who denies that Yasin fled to Iraq after mixing the chemicals for the 1993 World Trade Center terrorist attack, or denies that Zarqawi wasn't in Baghdad after the Taliban fell (look at the Iraqi intelligence pics of Zarqawi in the newly released Iraqi documents) is simply stuck on stupid. I'm sorry but I don't know any other way to explain this.

[Montgomery Burns]

Great post Monty! Unbelievable! I'm not exactly sure how anyone can attempt to undermine so many facts. Their heads must be spinning by now. I'd just like to humbly add a few points.

To those who may be ignorant of the fact. Allah Akbar translated means "God Is Great". This was added to the Iraqi flag a short period of time after the first gulf war.

As Monty has stated.

Iraqi leader's Koran 'written in blood'

BBC

President Saddam Hussein has taken delivery of a copy of the Koran written using his own blood.

Do you people understand that? He had the Koran written entirely in his own blood. His own blood! Yet some of you ignorant Saddam Hussein apologists continue to spout the "he couldn't have connections to Al Qaeda, he's secular" bullshit. Wake up and smell the freaking coffee, please. Connect the GD dots.

Also.

Abdul Rahman Yasin (the Al Qaeda terrorist - wanted by the Clinton administration for his complicity in the 1993 World Trade Center terrorist attack. Absolutely true. I'm not sure how anyone can overlook this so easily as the "progressives" do.

Abu Nidal, the most wanted man in the world, who was sheltered in Baghdad. Absolutely true, and again, I'm not sure how open-minded "progressives" can so easily overlook this fact.

Zarqawi fled to Iraq after Afghanistan fell and was treated for an injury at Baghdad's Olympic hospital, a hospital run by Uday Hussein. Absolutely true. Again, how can the "progressives" simply brush these facts aside.

The absolute denial of these types of FACTS is what I mean by Flat Earth Society thinking. Stop being partisan, stop the Bush hating for just one second, and examine the possibilities, especially in the face of so much information and evidence.

Let's just say that the leftwing clients of chiropracters are going to be doing a good business in the next few months, working out the kinks of their twisting, turning, and contorting of facts.

And it is going to get worse according to the documents that Stephen Hayes has seen (my link to Saddam funding an Al Qaeda organization in the Phillipines). Black Dog has already fled this forum; expect more leftists to cut and run.

[Riverwind]

Here is a quote from the report (Page 60):

Bin Ladin himself is said to have asked for space to establish training camps, as well as assistance in procuring weapons, but there is no evidence that Iraq responded to this request

There is no such quote on Page 60. You are clearly making things up.

Sorry, my mistake - bottom of the page with the number 61 in the top right corner.

KEAN: Well, there was no question in our minds that there was a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaida. At one point, there was thought maybe even Al Qaida would find sanctuary in Iraq. And there were conversations that went on over a number of years, sometimes successful, sometimes unsuccessfully.

Not according to the written report which says there is no evidence that Iraq [assisted Al Qaida]. Of course you actually have to read the report to find that out.

[Montgomery Burns]

Here is a quote from the report (Page 60):

Bin Ladin himself is said to have asked for space to establish training camps, as well as assistance in procuring weapons, but there is no evidence that Iraq responded to this request

There is no such quote on Page 60. You are clearly making things up.

Sorry, my mistake - bottom of the page with the number 61 in the top right corner.

KEAN: Well, there was no question in our minds that there was a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaida. At one point, there was thought maybe even Al Qaida would find sanctuary in Iraq. And there were conversations that went on over a number of years, sometimes successful, sometimes unsuccessfully.

Not according to the written report which says there is no evidence that Iraq [assisted Al Qaida]. Of course you actually have to read the report to find that out.

I'm sorry but I do not see anything on Page 61 to back your claims. You should read the report more closely before making such claims.

Saddam and Al Qaeda worked together. There is absolutely no doubt about this. Indeed, the documents released the last few days make this perfectly clear.

[newbie]

What you have Monty is an act of desperation from the Bush administration. Mr. Bush and his cronies are simply not credible to me and the majority of American voters. These "documents" suddenly appear out of nowhere? Come on.