As tens of liberals around the world gathered this weekend to protest the Iraq war, more documents continue to be released to the public indicating Iraq’s pre-war ties to terrorist groups, including al-Qaida.

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S REGIME PROVIDED FINANCIAL support to Abu Sayyaf, the al Qaeda-linked jihadist group founded by Osama bin Laden’s brother-in-law in the Philippines in the late 1990s, according to documents captured in postwar Iraq. An eight-page fax dated June 6, 2001, and sent from the Iraqi ambassador in Manila to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad, provides an update on Abu Sayyaf kidnappings and indicates that the Iraqi regime was providing the group with money to purchase weapons.

…

These documents add to the growing body of evidence confirming the Iraqi regime’s longtime support for terrorism abroad. The first of them, a series of memos from the spring of 2001, shows that the Iraqi Intelligence Service funded Abu Sayyaf, despite the reservations of some IIS officials. The second, an internal Iraqi Intelligence memo on the relationships between the IIS and Saudi opposition groups, records that Osama bin Laden requested Iraqi cooperation on terrorism and propaganda and that in January 1997 the Iraqi regime was eager to continue its relationship with bin Laden. The third, a September 15, 2001, report from an Iraqi Intelligence source in Afghanistan, contains speculation about the relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda and the likely U.S. response to it.

But hey, it’s really about oil… or somethin’.

1. So, how does this support the mantra “Bush lied”? Oh, that’s the point isn’t it? (Just trying to help clarify for our left-leaning friends.)

   Comment by Old Soldier — 10:11 am
   

2. […] Update: I’m curious about this new Senate report’s findings in light of the documents that had been uncovered showing Saddam’s financial ties to al-Qaida offshoot, Abu Sayyaf or the directive for his aides to “develop the relationship” with the bin Laden. Or what of the “Saddam Papers“? Or the “Pentagon Papers“? Or even the first Senate Intelligence Committee Report? Or Richard Clarke’s claim about Iraqi nerve gas agents working with al-Qaida at El Shifa? […]

   Pingback by Texas Rainmaker » Monday Morning Quarterbacks Hypocrites — 12:08 pm
   

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

You must be logged in to post a comment.