What we have found is, were there contacts between al-Qaida and Iraq, yes. Some of them were shadowy but they were there, - Tom Kean, the Republican former governor of New Jersey and chairman of the 9-11 commission.

The record of Saddam shows very well his connections to international terrorists, like Carlos and Abu Nidal. We know for sure that he had established links with chieftains in Sudan, to work closely with Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda style organizations. - Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

Though this subject has temporarily been absent from the front page it continues to reemerge on a regular basis and will certainly do so multiple times before the November election as well as for many years to come. The degree of the cooperation between Saddam and bin Laden, or more specifically the supposed lack thereof, is one of the two main pillars of the “Bush lied” bumper sticker slogan crowd. (The other being the WMD question which we will have to visit another time). The question of the depth of the collaboration between two of the greatest enemies of the Republic and the West is one worthy of in-depth examination and analysis.

The fact that  the most partisan among us use this issue as a vicious political weapon is unfortunate and flies in the face of the growing amount of evidence that suggests a complicated relationship between Saddam’s Iraq and bin Laden’s Al-Queda network.  For as surely as a headline from WWII stating “No links found between Germany and Japan” would ring hollow, just as certainly the modern day headlines of “No links found between Iraq and bin Laden” are a blatant attempt to ignore the evidence and deceive the public.

Coalition intelligence and the new Iraqi government have just begun the momentous task of sifting through and translating the millions of documents relating to Saddam’s regime. Already some amazing findings have come to life. For example, a recently discovered Iraqi intelligence document places lead 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta in Baghdad two months before the attacks.

Imagine a ten thousand piece puzzle being put together without benefit of the box top. It would be a difficult project and one that would take a considerable amount of time before it was completed. But with just a few hundred pieces on the table the outline of the picture, though vague and incomplete, has begun to take shape.

We are now able to see a level of cooperation and collaboration that is virtually undeniable and shows that the claims of the Democrat party, the 9-11 commission, and the naysayers were extremely premature. The War on Terror has revealed the convoluted ties between a wide variety of Islamic sects, secularists, regimes, and ethnic groups united in an unholy alliance against their common enemy. For nearly a decade, in the best tradition of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Al-Queda and various other Islamic terrorist groups put aside their fundamental differences to join in a jihad against the Great Satan, its allies, and its national interests. 

Virtually none of the evidence defining the innumerable ties between the twins of terror has been explained away by those who seek to deny its existence. It is much easier to shout ‘Bush lied’ and giggle about the good looks of John Edwards than to take an objective and non-partisan look at the terrorist intrigues that are being exposed. It is almost comforting to be political sheep and believe only the watered down gruel we are spoon fed on a daily basis. To actually take the time and make the mental effort to put the puzzle together is too difficult or uncomfortable for most.   The spoiled Western mind seems to have great difficulty in digesting the depth of the hatreds directed towards it. For those who study history, such global ties in the struggles of power, prestige and the fervor of ideology and religion are not surprising. In fact, it would be much more surprising if there were not interactions and scheming between the various muddled mentalities in the Middle East who seek our destruction.

We have seen the extensive web of terror that has been revealed since the war began. There were North Koreans in Iran and Libya helping them with their nuclear programs as well as the missiles that would deliver such deadly cargo. There was the massive black market network of nuclear technology ran by the Pakistani Khan organization that spread all over the Islamic world across the various ideologies and sects of Islam in the hopes of developing 'the Islamic bomb'. And yet no one can seem to swallow the thought that France and Germanys most important and valuable ally might be in cahoots with a terrorist group that shared a common enemy?  I think those of us who sift for the golden nugget of truth in the raging river of lies, misinformation, propaganda and ignorance can sense the truth and agenda in this situation.

We have truly only discovered the tip of iceberg.  More documents will be found and interpreted. More former Baathist regime members will come forward to give up their small piece of the puzzle.  The nature of the Saddam/Osama relationship is not only much more than could possibly be outlined in the space allotted me but would, and does, fill entire volumes. Instead, I have chosen to share some select internet columns and postings that outline the hidden alliance and the amazing amount of agreements, collaboration, funding, support, training, and arming that occurred among some of the world’s most sordid characters. This is the quintessential reading list that will open your eyes to the dark world of terror craft and international intrigue.

According to the United States Information Agency a Manhattan federal court found well before the 9-11 attacks and the presidency of George Bush that  ...bin Laden and al Qaeda forged alliances with the National Islamic Front in Sudan and with representatives of the Government of Iran and its associated terrorist group Hezbollah with the goal of working together against their common enemies in the West, particularly the United States. In addition, al Qaeda reached an understanding with the Government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the Government of Iraq. The entire article is available at: http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/terror/98110402.htm

The Link between Iraq and Al-Qaeda http://www.insightmag.com/news/2004/06/11/World/Stories.Back.In.The.Newsthe.Link.Between.Iraq.And.AlQaeda-688380.shtml

Case Closed: The U.S. government's secret memo detailing cooperation between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.                   http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/378fmxyz.asp

The Connection: Not so long ago, the ties between Iraq and al Qaeda were conventional wisdom. The conventional wisdom was right. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/152lndzv.asp

Saddam’s Ambassador to al-Qaeda                                      http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=12292

Document links Saddam, bin Laden                                                                          http://tennessean.com/nation-world/archives/03/06/34908297.shtml?Element_ID=34908297

The proof that Saddam worked with bin Laden:                                                                                                             

Iraqi intelligence documents provide evidence of direct link                                                                                 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtmlhml=/news/2003/04/27/walq27.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/04/27/ixnewstop.html

Osama's Best Friend: The further connections between al Qaeda and Saddam. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/296fmttq.asp

Pre-Bush timeline/list of Iraq’s Ties to Al Queda:                                                                                                     

Sam Pender-author of Iraq's Smoking Gun and other books on the matter                   

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1152923/posts

Clinton Indictment Cited Iraq-bin Laden Link http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/6/13/224948.shtml

EnemiesTogether:                                                                                            

Clinton was right: Saddam and al Qaeda had numerous connections.                                        

http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110005249

No Question About It: Saddam and the terrorists http://www.nationalreview.com/robbins/robbins091903.asp

The Al Qaeda Connection: More reason to suspect that bin Laden and Saddam may have been in league.                              http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/889jldct.asp

Iraq & Militant Islam: Saddam’s al Qaeda links were a worthy rationale for toppling his regime. http://nationalreview.com/mccarthy/mccarthy200406010821.asp

Saddam's al Qaeda Connection http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/033jgqyi.asp

Iraq’s State Sponsorship of Osama bin-Laden and the al-Qaeda Terror Network http://www.washingtondispatch.com/cgibin/artman/exec/view.cgi/16/32

The Iraq -- Al Qaeda Connections                                                                                                 

Richard Miniter: author of “Losing bin Laden: How Bill Clinton’s Failures Unleashed Global Terror”    http://www.techcentralstation.com/092503F.html

The Story of Salmon Pak                                     http://edwardjayepstein.com/2002question/salmanpak.htm

The Iraqi-Bin Laden Connection                                 http://www.geocities.com/republican_strategist/Iraq-Bin-Laden.html

I believe the evidence points to a web of both cooperation and meetings between Saddam's Iraq, particularly the intelligence services as well as the Fedayeen, and various cells and allied groups of Al-Queda. There is no dispute that the Taliban-like Al Ansar Islam group in Northern Iraq provided safe haven for hundreds of Taliban and Al Queda fighters fleeing Afghanistan and were secretly armed and funded by Saddam Hussein. Dare I even mention the star treatment and medical treatment of al-Zarqawi while in Baghdad, as well as the organization of dozens of terrorist sleeper cells in Saddam’s pre-invasion Iraq by the now infamous, beheading butcher and master terrorist? The agreement in the early nineties between Saddam and Al-Queda laid the groundwork for cooperation between the two against a common enemy. There is also a very strong probability that Iraqi agents and Al Queda terrorists assisted each other in multiple terrorist attacks in the years leading up to 9-11.

I will leave you with one last, intriguing possible piece of the puzzle.  A little less than two months before 9/11/01, the state-controlled Iraqi newspaper “Al-Nasiriya” carried a column headlined, “American, an Obsession called Osama Bin Ladi.” (July 21, 2001).  Baath Party writer Naeem Abd Muhalhal uncannily predicted that bin Laden would attack the US “with the seriousness of the Bedouin of the desert about the way he will try to bomb the Pentagon after he destroys the White House.” The state-approved column also said that bin Laden “will strike America on the arm that is already hurting,” and that the US “will curse the memory of Frank Sinatra every time he hears his songs” (“New York, New York”).

The search for the truth continues.