Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas J. Feith sent an interesting memo to Senators Pat Roberts and Jay Rockefeller. The memo is a Cliffs Notes version of intelligence that links Osama Bin Laden to Saddam Hussein. The Weekly Standard lays out the memo and offers commentary. Here’s a couple of interesting pieces:
17. . . . Iraq sent an intelligence officer to Afghanistan to seek closer ties to bin Laden and the Taliban in late 1998. The source reported that the Iraqi regime was trying to broaden its cooperation with al Qaeda. Iraq was looking to recruit Muslim "elements" to sabotage U.S. and U.K. interests. After a senior Iraqi intelligence officer met with Taliban leader [Mullah] Omar, arrangements were made for a series of meetings between the Iraqi intelligence officer and bin Laden in Pakistan. The source noted Faruq Hijazi was in Afghanistan in late 1998.
26. During a custodial interview, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi [a senior al Qaeda operative] said he was told by an al Qaeda associate that he was tasked to travel to Iraq (1998) to establish a relationship with Iraqi intelligence to obtain poisons and gases training. After the USS Cole bombing in 2000, two al Qaeda operatives were sent to Iraq for CBW-related [Chemical and Biological Weapons] training beginning in Dec 2000. Iraqi intelligence was "encouraged" after the embassy and USS Cole bombings to provide this training.
31. An Oct. 2002 . . . report said al Qaeda and Iraq reached a secret agreement whereby Iraq would provide safe haven to al Qaeda members and provide them with money and weapons. The agreement reportedly prompted a large number of al Qaeda members to head to Iraq. The report also said that al Qaeda members involved in a fraudulent passport network for al Qaeda had been directed to procure 90 Iraqi and Syrian passports for al Qaeda personnel.
The idea that these Middle Eastern Terrorists were working alone has been a big Democrat talking point. That this intelligence was uncovered during the Clinton Administration would make one wonder what Al Gore was thinking when he gave this speech.
There are plenty of Democrats who hate Bush as much as Republicans hate Clinton. But do Democrats really think the country would be safer if a Democrat were President now? The only issue that really matters is safety and Bush is the only viable candidate that has anything credible to say. The others just react to Bush and offer some vague plan about getting al Qaeda instead of Iraq. They’re not going to win a majority on the Iraq issue. It will be interesting to see their next plan of attack.
UPDATE: Jack Shafer at Slate wants to know why this story is being ignored.
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