This link between Islamist zealot and secular fascist just doesn't add up…
Moreover, an al-Qaida-Saddam alliance defies common sense. Osama bin Laden is an Islamist zealot who despises secular fascists such as Saddam. I heard from Bin Laden himself that he is no fan of Saddam. When I met with the Saudi exile in Afghanistan five years ago he volunteered that he thought the Iraqi dictator was a “bad Muslim”. For Bin Laden, that's as bad as it gets.
…
This leader is identified as Abu Musab Zarqawi, who, curiously, is so important that he does not appear on the FBI's list of the 22 most wanted terrorists. Indeed, key US investigators tell me that Mr Zarqawi is not a significant player in al-Qaida. In fairness, European intelligence officials do believe that Mr Zarqawi may have played an important role in al-Qaida operations in Europe.
If al-Qaida's connection with Iraq is far from proven, its links with Saudi Arabia are real. This is not to suggest that the Saudi government, which is also a target of al-Qaida, has actively supported the group. However, Saudi citizens have provided financial and logistical support to al-Qaida and the Saudi government has been unwilling or unable to stop them.
Despite the fact that most of the September 11 hijackers were Saudi, the government is barely cooperating with the US investigation into the attacks. The printable words US investigators use to describe the Saudi attitude towards their inquiries are “obstructionist”, “useless” and “despicable”.
…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,12469,885139,00.htmlDUBAI - A taped message believed to be from fugitive militant Osama bin Laden on Tuesday warned Arab nations against supporting a war against Iraq as threatened by the United States -- but branded Saddam Hussein an infidel.
…
But the statement did not express support for Saddam. It said Muslims should support the Iraqi people rather than the country's government.
Concern that the United States has not made a valid case for war against Iraq has already divided the NATO Western alliance, with France, Germany and Belgium refusing to back preparations to assist fellow-member Turkey in the event of war.
A NATO official in Brussels said after two days of deadlock that efforts to break the impasse in the alliance would continue through the night, with a meeting of its North Atlantic Council set for 3:45 a.m. EST on Wednesday.
While urging Muslims to support the Iraqi people and repel any attack on their country, the tape said Saddam's secular “socialist” government had lost credibility.
“Socialists are infidels wherever they are,” the statement said. But it added: “It does not hurt that in current circumstances, the interests of Muslims coincide with the interests of the socialists in the war against crusaders.”
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0211-11.htmFBI website: The 19 suspected hijackers (Note 8 of them are listed as “Possible Saudi national” and Iraq or Iraqi is not found anywhere on the page)
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/092701hjpic.htmGhost of al-Qaeda left out of storyLinks between Saddam and the terrorist group were cited among reasons to prosecute a war. Jason Burke finds little to support the claims
…
A report published last week by a US congressional committee makes hard reading for them and for all those who, like Blair, appear to have sucked in their propaganda. Not for what it includes, but for what it omits. The report runs to nearly 900 pages and is as comprehensive an account of the unfurling of the plot to attack the Twin Towers as is likely to be published in the near future. But, even in the 28-page special section that is being kept secret, it does not mention Iraq. The foreign nation singled out for criticism is Saudi Arabia.
…
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1006663,00.htmlWhite House 'delayed 9-11 report'WASHINGTON, July 25 (UPI) -- A member of the independent commission set up to investigate the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks has accused the Bush administration of deliberately delaying publication of an earlier congressional inquiry into the attacks.
Former Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., told United Press International that the White House did not want the report made public before launching military action in Iraq. He said the administration feared publication might undermine the administration's case for war, which was based in part on the allegation that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had supported Osama bin Laden -- and the attendant possibility that Iraq might supply al-Qaida with weapons of mass destruction.
“The administration sold the connection (between Iraq and al-Qaida) to scare the pants off the American people and justify the war,” said Cleland. “There's no connection, and that's been confirmed by some of bin Laden's terrorist followers ... What you've seen here is the manipulation of intelligence for political ends.”
Cleland accused the administration of deliberately delaying the report's release to avoid having its case for war undercut.
“The reason this report was delayed for so long -- deliberately opposed at first, then slow-walked after it was created -- is that the administration wanted to get the war in Iraq in and over ... before (it) came out,” he said.
“Had this report come out in January like it should have done, we would have known these things before the war in Iraq, which would not have suited the administration.”
…
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030723-064812-9491r