[tie]

Here is some solid evidence about Iraq/Al Qaeda links from today's NY Times:

Report Warned Bush Team About Intelligence Doubts

A top member of Al Qaeda in American custody was identified as a likely fabricator months before the Bush administration began to use his statements as the foundation for its claims that Iraq trained Al Qaeda members to use biological and chemical weapons, according to newly declassified portions of a Defense Intelligence Agency document.

The document, an intelligence report from February 2002, said it was probable that the prisoner, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, “was intentionally misleading the debriefers’’ in making claims about Iraqi support for Al Qaeda’s work with illicit weapons.

The document provides the earliest and strongest indication of doubts voiced by American intelligence agencies about Mr. Libi’s credibility. Without mentioning him by name, President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Colin L. Powell, then secretary of state, and other administration officials repeatedly cited Mr. Libi’s information as “credible’’ evidence that Iraq was training Al Qaeda members in the use of explosives and illicit weapons.

Among the first and most prominent assertions was one by Mr. Bush, who said in a major speech in Cincinnati in October 2002 that “we’ve learned that Iraq has trained Al Qaeda members in bomb making and poisons and gases.’’

A few more selections:

At the time of his capture, Mr. Libi was the most senior Qaeda official in American custody. ...
In outlining reasons for its skepticism, the D.I.A. report noted that Mr. Libi’s claims lacked specific details about the Iraqis involved, the illicit weapons used and the location where the training was to have taken place.

“It is possible he does not know any further details; it is more likely this individual is intentionally misleading the debriefers,’’ the February 2002 report said. “Ibn al-Shaykh has been undergoing debriefs for several weeks and may be describing scenarios to the debriefers that he knows will retain their interest.’’

Mr. Powell relied heavily on accounts provided by Mr. Libi for his speech to the United Nations Security Council on Feb. 5, 2003, saying that he was tracing “the story of a senior terrorist operative telling how Iraq provided training in these weapons to Al Qaeda.’’

At the time of Mr. Powell’s speech, an unclassified statement by the C.I.A. described the reporting, now known to have been from Mr. Libi, as “credible.’’ But Mr. Levin said he had learned that a classified C.I.A. assessment at the time stated “the source was not in a position to know if any training had taken place.’’
...
“Saddam’s regime is intensely secular and is wary of Islamic revolutionary movements,’’ the D.I.A. report said in one of two declassified paragraphs. “Moreover, Baghdad is unlikely to provide assistance to a group it cannot control.’’ ...

I think this report provides what solid evidence from a credible source about Iraq/Al Qaeda links, and also about Bush's lies. I'll have to look back at Powell's speech, but more and more it seems it was all fabricated. First it turned out Powell lied about what US intelligence knew about the aluminum tubes, then this.

I posted this in mojo's other thread, where he was quoting anonymous exiled Iraqi opposition leaders as evidence of Iraq's Al Qaeda links, but the forum software doesn't seem to be working, so...

[spacefreak]

The evidence of Saddam's government providing safe haven and comfort to fugitive al Qaeda members before the war is overwhelming. It's time for you to move on.

[Wiskedjak]

Originally Posted by spacefreak

The evidence of Saddam's government providing safe haven and comfort to fugitive al Qaeda members before the war is overwhelming. It's time for you to move on.

The evidence that your evidence of Saddam's government providing safe haven and comfort to fugitive al Qaeda members before the war was fabricated is overwhelming. It's time for you to move on.

[Troll]

I'm game. What colours you got?

[Weyland-Yutani]

This thread is about ties, by tie, contains ties but not any between Saddam and OBL. They just don't share the same taste in ties.

Ties between OBL and Saddam did not exist, existance of such was fabricated and now they are an urban myth with certain right wing people.

One question: spacefreak, do you still have the plastic over your windows?

cheers

W-Y

[Pendergast]

Well what if Saddam Hussein and OBL got married and had children?

The world would really be near the end.

I'd suspect that plastic wrap over windows and tin foil would be necessary.

Now I know where to put my money! So long, losers!

[black bear theory]

Originally Posted by Pendergast

Well what if Saddam Hussein and OBL got married and had children?

didn't you know the gay-marriage issue is really just part of the WoT?

hmm, i just wrapped the windows in my place with plastic :/

[Pendergast]

Originally Posted by black bear theory

didn't you know the gay-marriage issue is really just part of the WoT?

hmm, i just wrapped the windows in my place with plastic :/

I hope I am not gay...

[spacefreak]

Originally Posted by Wiskedjak

The evidence that your evidence of Saddam's government providing safe haven and comfort to fugitive al Qaeda members before the war was fabricated is overwhelming. It's time for you to move on.

Daily Times: Iraqi PM: "Saddam Hussein had link with Al Qaeda"
The Weekly Standard: The Clinton View of Iraq-al Qaeda Ties
TCS: The Iraq -- Al Qaeda Connections
Weekly Standard: The Clinton View of Iraq-al Qaeda Ties
National Review: Iraq & al Qaeda -- 9/11 Commission raises more questions
Washington Times: Iraq-al Qaeda link comes in focus
Global Security.org: Salman Pak -- Iraq Terrorist Training Facilities
Putin Warning
Frontpagemag.com: More Connections Between Saddam and Osama
Weekly Standard: Saddam always had links with international terrorist organizations

[AKcrab]

All from 2003-2004.

/golfclap

[tie]

Too much, spacefreak, too much. Do you even read your own articles? I guess not:

Allawi's declaration that the Iraqi regime supported al Qaeda terrorists before the war in Iraq is intriguing not because of the claim itself, but because of the man making it. Allawi for years ran an Iraqi exile group called the Iraqi National Accord. In recent years, he was the Iraqi exile closest to the CIA. And although George Tenet has spoken repeatedly about the prewar Iraq-al Qaeda connection, he has been at odds with many in the bureaucracy beneath him.

Allawi's claims about the Iraq-al Qaeda connection--claims he has made for several years--have not always been solid. In December, Allawi provided journalists with a document indicating that September 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta trained in Iraq weeks before the 9/11 hijackings. That same three-page document also claimed that Iraq had--as President Bush claimed in his State of the Union Address--sought uranium from Niger. The report was a bit too politically convenient and was quickly dismissed as a forgery.