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WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) issued “The Bush Administration
Misstatement of the Day” on the link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda.
Even
though this claim
has been widely refuted, President Bush stood firm by his assertion
that there was, in fact, a relationship between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda.
President Bush said:
“Zarqawi
is the best evidence of connection to al Qaeda affiliates and al Qaeda.
He’s the person who’s still killing. He’s the person -- and remember the
email exchange between al Qaeda leadership and he, himself, about how to
disrupt the progress toward freedom?” [Bush Remarks, 6/15/04]
Vice
President Cheney repeated the same claim. He said: “In Iraq, Saddam
Hussein was in power, overseeing one of the bloodiest regimes of the 20th
century… He had long established ties with al Qaeda.” [VP Cheney, Orlando,
FL, 6/14/04]
Today,
however, CNN reported: The panel investigating the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks found that there was "no credible evidence that Iraq
and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States…”
9/11
staff: No al Qaeda cooperation with Iraq
WASHINGTON
(CNN) – June 16, 2004 – The panel investigating the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks found that there was "no credible evidence that Iraq
and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States," according
to a staff report issued on Wednesday.
The
report says Osama bin Laden "explored possible cooperation with Iraq during
his time in Sudan, despite his opposition to (Saddam) Hussein's secular
regime. Bin Laden had in fact at one time sponsored anti-Saddam Islamists
in Iraqi Kurdistan.
"The
Sudanese, to protect their own ties with Iraq, reportedly persuaded bin
Laden to cease this support and arranged for contacts between Iraq and
al Qaeda."
A
senior Iraqi intelligence officer reportedly made three visits to Sudan,
finally meeting bin Laden in 1994.
Bin
Laden is said to have requested space to establish training camps, as well
as assistance in procuring weapons, but Iraq apparently never responded.
"There
have been reports that contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda also occurred
after bin Laden had returned to Afghanistan, but they do not appear to
have resulted in a collaborative relationship," the report said.
"Two
senior bin Laden associates associates have adamantly denied" any relationship,
the report said.
The
report also found that there was no "convincing evidence that any government
financially supported al Qaeda before 9/11" other than the limited support
provided by the Taliban when bin Laden arrived in Afghanistan.
It
found that Saudi Arabia was a rich fund-raising ground for al Qaeda, but
that it had found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution
or senior officials within the Saudi government funded al Qaeda.
The
commission, which is scheduled to release its final report on the attacks
at the end of July, is holding its last hearings Wednesday and Thursday.
Among
those testifying at Wednesday's hearing will be a number of CIA officials,
who will not be identified in order to protect their anonymity should they
be sent on overseas assignments in the future.
Commission
chairman Thomas Kean told CNN that the panel would focus on learning more
about bin Laden's terrorist network.
"We
want to know why these people hate us so much. We're going to follow some
of these conspirators from one step to the other as they plan the attack.
Then we're going to turn to the response. What did our leaders do? What
decisions did they have to make? How did they get planes in the air? How
did they do all those things? Mistakes were made on both sides," Kean said.
The
panel is expected to discuss reports that al Qaeda had planned to launch
the attacks in May or June of 2001, but postponed them because Mohammed
Atta and his group were not ready.
"It
tells you they're very cautious and careful and an enemy we cannot underestimate.
They're entrepreneurial and we've just got to be ready for whatever they
have in mind," Kean said.
The
panel will also look at the U.S. response to the attacks, which struck
the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. A fourth plane crashed
in a Pennsylvania field. Almost 3,000 people died in the attacks.
Last
month, the commission met in New York, where it heard testimony about the
emergency response to the attacks.
The
panel has also questioned President Bush and Vice President Cheney, former
President Bill Clinton, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and
Attorney General John Ashcroft.} |
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