CONNECTION BETWEEN AL QAEDA AND SADDAM

I often hear liberals and Democrats on talk shows attacking Bush for invading Iraq and using the rationale that somehow Saddam and al Qaeda were cooperating. They use the 9/11 Commission report as the proof that Saddam had nothing to do with al Qaeda. Actually what the 9/11 Commission said can be found on page 22 of the report (pdf version). There was communication between Saddam or his officials and al Qaeda, but it did not reach the level of planning joint operations (according to the report).

According to the reporting, Iraqi officials offered Bin Ladin a safe haven in Iraq. Bin Ladin declined, apparently judging that his circumstances in Afghanistan remained more favorable than the Iraqi alternative. The reports describe friendly contacts and indicate some common themes in both sides' hatred of the United States. But to date we have seen no evidence that these or the earlier contacts ever developed into a collaborative operational relationship. Nor have we seen evidence indicating that Iraq cooperated with al Qaeda in developing or carrying out any attacks against the United States.