Tell us it aint so.
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I'm still not sure I found the original NYT story Safire referenced (it may be U.S. Aides Report Evidence Tying Al Qaeda to Attacks)
There is also this:
The 'Al Qaeda' memo, Zarqawi, and civil war in Iraq at the Christian Science Monitor.
However, a quick (perhaps too-quick) read through these articles does not clarify the relevant questions: (1) Was there a link before the US invasion?; and (2) If there was a link before the war, did we know about it or was it merely speculative?
Hi Bill,
Yes, those are some links to the latest references of connections but they go back a bit farther.
Try http://www.casi.org.uk/discuss/2002/msg00966.html (actually biased against any claim of ties, BUT it tries to present both sides of the claim and can be looked at in the light of the latest intelligence discovery).
This one at www.washingtoninstitute.org has quite a bit of info that the 17 page memo appears so far to be confirming.
In August 2001, leaders of several Kurdish Islamist factions reportedly visited the al-Qaeda leadership in Afghanistan with the goal of creating an alternate base for the organization in northern Iraq. Their intentions were echoed in a document found in an al-Qaeda guest house in Afghanistan vowing to "expel those Jews and Christians from Kurdistan and join the way of Jihad, [and] rule every piece of land . . . with the Islamic Shari'a rule." Soon thereafter, Ansar al-Islam was created using $300,000 to $600,000 in al-Qaeda seed money, in addition to funds from Saudi Arabia.
... that Al Qadea is actively involved NOW in trying to kill Americans in Iraq and drive us out. That says NOTHING about Iraqi ties to them before the invasion.
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