Apparently a Pentagon-backed study will be out in a few days that says there was no operational link between Iraq and al-Qaeda and some of the cherry picked quotes were leaked to the MSM:
An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein’s regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terrorist network.
The key word here is operational. We here at Flopping Aces have our own exhaustive work on the TIES between the two which can be found here if you have the time. Lots of stuff there.
The problem with all this is that they, meaning the MSM, are coming to the conclusion that because they were not operating together then there were no ties between the two. Which is complete and utter baloney. The many documents we highlighted here bear this out as being baloney.
At least the media does concede one point:
The Pentagon-sponsored study, scheduled for release later this week, did confirm that Saddam’s regime provided some support toother terrorist groups, particularly in the Middle East , U.S. officials told McClatchy .
Saddam supported terrorism.
Should I say it again? Saddam supported terrorism……period.
I like Rob’s take on this: (from Say Anything)
Trying to obfuscate that fact by saying he didn’t support al Qaeda “directly” is like saying that Charles Manson is an ok guy because child molestation didn’t happen to be among his crimes against society.
Hell, take a look of this footage that aired on Iraqi TV in August of 2005 of terrorist Ramzi Hashem Abed explaining his work with al-Zarqawi, the fact that Zarqawi was part of Osama’s organization, AND that AQ had been training in Fallujah prior to the invasion. (h/t Amy Proctor)
But this is where the media really goes over the deep end:
As recently as last July, Bush tried to tie al Qaida to the ongoing violence in Iraq . “The same people that attacked us on September the 11th is a crowd that is now bombing people, killing innocent men, women and children, many of whom are Muslims,” he said. . . .
Sen. John McCain , the presumptive GOP nominee, mocked Sen. Barack Obama , D-Ill, recently for saying that he’d keep some U.S. troops in Iraq if al Qaida established a base there.
“I have some news. Al Qaida is in Iraq ,” McCain told supporters.
Are they serious? Are they trying to say that al-Qaeda isn’t in Iraq now?
Coalition forces near Ad Dawr targeted the leader of a terror cell for the southern Karkh al Qaeda in Iraq network. Intelligence led coalition forces to a location where the wanted individual was believed to be operating. The ground force detained one suspect, who then provided information on the whereabouts of another alleged terrorist.
Northeast of Samarra, coalition forces targeted an alleged al Qaeda in Iraq leader for the Kanan village. In the raid, forces killed eight terrorists, including the wanted individual. Seven suspects were detained.
Also in Samarra, forces captured three suspected terrorists. One of the suspects allegedly is a leader for the al Qaeda in Iraq network in Samarra. Another is believed to be a direct associate of al Qaeda in Iraq senior leadership.
As security improves across Iraq, Iraqi security forces and coalition forces are continuing to put pressure on the al Qaeda in Iraq network, specifically its senior leaders, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman said today.
In recent weeks, Iraqi and coalition forces have captured or killed 26 senior al Qaeda in Iraq network leaders, Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner told reporters in Baghdad. Of the 26, eight were emirs who exercised responsibility for a geographic or functional area, five were cell leaders, and 13 were terrorist facilitators.
The emirs captured included the emir of Sharqat, who was wanted for attacks against Iraqi and coalition security forces and civilians; the emir of Tikrit, who led efforts to import foreign terrorists and to make and move weapons for terror attacks; and the military emir of Karkh, who coordinated and carried out car-bomb attacks in the western and southern areas of Baghdad.
Coalition forces killed Abu Yasir al-Saudi, also known as Jar Allah, who was the al Qaeda emir for southeastern Mosul and directed the terror network there, Bergner said. The coalition also killed Abu Hassam, who was the deputy military emir for Diyala province.
Thats just in the last week. If they are seriously going to go this route with their reporting then they are opening themselves up for ridicule they have yet to see up to this point.
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