war on iraq, a waste of time?

[iaapac]

Just more on the White Phosphorous debate, the documentary in question shows white phosphorous flares which aren't a big threat (could set a house on fire, but pretty much impossible to kill civilians en mass) being launched from planes (probably c-130s), the Documentary also referes to bodies where they appear to have been burned, yet the clothes are fine. For someone to have been burned to death by white phosphorous, you can pretty much gaurentee the clothes aren't going to be surviving, from more research it would appear that the majority of WP accidents involving people tend to be from clothes being ignited by the super hot cloud.

Yes it is possible WP grenades were used on insurgent positions as a "!@#$ you" (assuming troops are still equipped with them), but i don't see any practical application in either using them against the civilian population.

Also, from reading about the bodies, it is more likely they are a product of the wonderfully warm climate of the middle east. Not a pretty site.

By some reports, the burning of flesh but not of clothing is characteristic of the new WP.

"A biologist in Fallujah, Mohamad Tareq, interviewed for the film, says: "A rain of fire fell on the city, the people struck by this multi-coloured substance started to burn, we found people dead with strange wounds, the bodies burned but the clothes intact."

The documentary, entitled Fallujah: the Hidden Massacre, also provides what it claims is clinching evidence that incendiary bombs known as Mark 77, a new, improved form of napalm, was used in the attack on Fallujah, in breach of the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons of 1980, which only allows its use against military targets."

The BBC also spoke of this documentary and WP. "It then shows a series of photographs from Falluja of corpses with the flesh burnt off but clothes still intact - which it says is consistent with the effects of white phosphorus on humans."

[bathory]

well thats a load of crap because the odds of people dying for WP burns with their clothig intact would be similar someone getting napalmed and experiencing a similar thing.

the pictures of corpses in the documentary appear to be noithing more than rotting corpses, ever see any pictures of a corpse in a high temperature environment? its going to be consistant with what they described. Regardless I'm sure some people may have been hit with WP fragments, thats definately a possibility but it is pretty much impossible for it to be done in significant quantities to have any kind of weaponised effect on the population. Seriously, go read up on how WP works, if all the flesh is burned off, the clothes are not going to have survived either. A new characteristic? the temperature of the burning WP is what caused things to combust, you CANNOT discriminate between flesh and clothes.

""A biologist in Fallujah, Mohamad Tareq, interviewed for the film, says: "A rain of fire fell on the city, the people struck by this multi-coloured substance started to burn, we found people dead with strange wounds, the bodies burned but the clothes intact.""

A rain of fire? ok flares are a good possibility, i'll even accept that some people could have been struck by fragments, he doesn't qualify how many people so that doesn't help his case.

New statement, we found people dead with strangewounds...now people make a big assumption. Incendiary bombs aren't going to leave anything behind beyond charred remains.

Edited November 10, 2005 by bathory

[BCJim]

iraq had nothin to do with 911.

The country of iraq is a sovereign nation that waz attacked by an aggressive invading force.

Now i thin we have no choice but to try and end it and get out as quickly as we can.

I admire the regular footsoldier of all the allied nations involved. They should not be put into harms way to further this foolish non winable war. Iraq is turning into another vietnam.

[whoa182]

Iraq is turning into another vietnam.

There is no comparison with vietnam

Sounds like you are just listening to the media and ignoring all the good things that are going on iraq, why not listen to the soldiers themselves? you can start by reading and looking at the pictures in this diary.

http://www.adriancomputers.com/showthread.php?t=7154

A lot of iraq is peacful and infrastructure is being built up, the news just focuses on the bad things, of course.

THINK ABOUT THEIR FUTURE!

and don't be so silly to thinking the troops should pull out.

Edited November 10, 2005 by whoa182

[Stellar]

Now i thin we have no choice but to try and end it and get out as quickly as we can.

The US is trying to end it and get out as quickly as possible...

[Celumnaz]

Okay Celumnaz, what's your plan? And after that is enacted, what's the plan from there?

Thankfully one's already been made, that will work. But if you have a team mate that sits on the bench with his arms folded defiantly saying "THIS WILL NOT WORK" it's kinda hard to make it work... but it'll work.

I agree with your point but how do we link those attacks to Iraq?

You dont.

http://www.ciaonet.org/pbei/winep/policy_2002/2002_652.html

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports....E20041004a.html

http://www.husseinandterror.com/

Iraq is turning into another vietnam.

Media propaganda.

woah182, those pics... I wanna give those kids a big hug.

[iaapac]

Thankfully one's already been made, that will work. But if you have a team mate that sits on the bench with his arms folded defiantly saying "THIS WILL NOT WORK" it's kinda hard to make it work... but it'll work.

http://www.ciaonet.org/pbei/winep/policy_2002/2002_652.html

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports....E20041004a.html

http://www.husseinandterror.com/

Media propaganda.

Isn't it odd that you can give us references based upon White House press releases but when someone offers a reference to you it become media propaganda? I think the biggest propaganda machine in the world is in the White House, not in press rooms.

[iaapac]

Thankfully one's already been made, that will work. But if you have a team mate that sits on the bench with his arms folded defiantly saying "THIS WILL NOT WORK" it's kinda hard to make it work... but it'll work.

So after all this, you don't really have a plan. Just jump on the Bush bandwagon and assume that this plan is going to be as successful as everything else this idiot has done?

[Celumnaz]

huh? I've seen the Veitnam connection from the media since BEFORE WE WENT INTO AFGHANISTAN. It's a Mantra, repeated by the MEDIA and LEFTIST POLITICIANS. Since Before *Afghanistan*.

Everything I hear from friends, family, and other reports from the actual people over there NOT in big politics or media say it's Nothing like Vietnam. The ONLY ones saying it's like Vietnam are the Media, Certain Politicos, and the unfortunate people that regurgitate it.

That *idiot* has been pretty successful from where I sit, even if I don't agree with some of the things he's done. I agreed with his plan from before I heard it, he basically just confirmed what I thought we should do. AND, *I'm* not the one WHINING about it!! lol

Edited November 10, 2005 by Celumnaz

[Stellar]

http://www.ciaonet.org/pbei/winep/policy_2002/2002_652.html

Access denied.

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports....E20041004a.html

Ahh, CNS... the news service that, about a year ago or so, claimed the WMDs and nukes were found in Iraq. I sure trust them!

www.husseinandterror.com

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, like I trust this site. It first shows that the evidence for the link is "meager" and then the site says that the evidence is abundant.

That *idiot* has been pretty successful from where I sit

Successful? At what?

[iaapac]

Successful? At what?

That was sarcasm, Stellar.

Caron de Beaumarchais once said, "It is not necesssary to understand things in order to argue about them."

[Celumnaz]

Access denied.

ok, here's the text there

Terrorist Links of the Iraqi Regime

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

by Ely Karmon

PolicyWatch #652

August 29, 2002

On August 28, 2002, a U.S. federal grand jury issued a new indictment against five terrorists from the Fatah Revolutionary Command, also known as the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO), for the 1986 hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi, Pakistan. Based on "aggravating circumstances," prosecutors are now seeking the death penalty for the attack, in which twenty-two people – including two Americans – were killed.

The leader of the ANO, the infamous Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal (Sabri al-Banna), died violently last week in Baghdad. But his death is not as extraordinary as the subsequent press conference given by Iraqi intelligence chief Taher Jalil Haboush. This press conference represents the only time Haboush's name has appeared in the international media since February 2001.

Iraqi Objectives

What motivated the Iraqi regime to send one of its senior exponents to announce the suicide of Abu Nidal and to present crude photographs of his bloodied body four days (or eight days, according to some sources) after his death? It should be noted that the earliest information about Nidal's death came from al-Ayyam, a Palestinian daily close to the entity that may have been Abu Nidal's biggest enemy – the Palestinian Authority.

At this sensitive moment in U.S.-Iraqi relations, Abu Nidal could have provided extraordinarily damaging testimony with regard to Saddam's involvement in international terrorism, even beyond Iraqi support of ANO activities in the 1970s and 1980s. In publicizing Nidal's death, the regime's motives may have been multiple:

• To present itself as fighting terrorism by announcing that Iraqi authorities were attempting to detain Abu Nidal for interrogation in the moments before his death. "As is known to both friends and enemies, Iraq's record on the issue of terrorism and disrupting security, whether pan-Arab or foreign, is clean. Iraq is not involved with these practices," claimed the Iraqi chief of intelligence, who also informed reporters that Abu Nidal was expelled from Baghdad in 1983 after the regime "learned that [he] was engaged in activities that harm the Iraqi national security and the Arab national security." He omitted that from 1974 to 1983 the ANO waged dozens of terrorist attacks from its headquarters in Baghdad against Syria (including two assassination attempts against the Syrian foreign minister at the time, Abdul Halim Khaddam), Fatah (murdering several Palestine Liberation Organization representatives in Europe), Jewish targets (attacking synagogues in Vienna, Rome, and Brussels; a Jewish school in Antwerp; and a Jewish restaurant in Paris), Jordan (killing several diplomats), and the Israeli ambassador in London, whom ANO assassins wounded (an event that triggered the war in Lebanon). And this is a partial list.

• To send a signal to internal elements tempted to cooperate with the United States and the Gulf kingdoms in a war against Iraq. The implied message is that Abu Nidal's fate was sealed because of his alleged contacts with an unnamed foreign country against Iraqi interests (possibly Saudi or Kuwaiti intelligence agents).

• To try and convince the world that Abu Nidal had not been given shelter and safe haven in Iraq since 1999, but rather entered the country illegally. Iraqi security forces were apparently "unable to trace him," although some Arab states had informed Iraqi authorities of his presence at the time.

Iraqi Support for Terrorism

Although Abu Nidal was known to be living in Iraq in 2001, when Jordan's state security court sentenced him to death by hanging for his role, along with four of his followers, in the last known terrorist attack by the ANO (the January 1994 assassination of a Jordanian diplomat in Beirut), Iraqi authorities did not extradite him. Nor has Iraq made any attempt to punish Nidal for the numerous Americans, British and French citizens, and other nationals injured or killed in ANO attacks over the years.

In an interesting side note, Abu Nidal's former spokesman, Atef Abu Baker, has claimed in an interview with al-Hayat that Nidal informed ANO leaders of his responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland (Nidal was living in Libya at the time). This statement, which contradicts the Lockerbie trial's verdict, has received some publicity in Europe, but nevertheless appears to be a cheap attempt to dismiss Libyan involvement in the bombing.

The death of Abu Nidal and the press conference by the Iraqi intelligence chief seem to be part of another disinformation campaign by Iraqi intelligence. The most recent leg of that campaign included the May 2002 permission that the regime granted CBS reporter Lesley Stahl to interview Abdul Rahman Yasin, the only unincarcerated participant in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Yasin was indicted for the bombing but later escaped to Iraq. Stahl also interviewed Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz, who claimed that Yasin had been in prison in Iraq since 1994. Aziz asserted that Iraq had offered to hand Yasin over to the United States in 1994 and later in October 2001, in order to prove that Iraq was not involved in the 1993 bombing. The Americans refused, Aziz stated. A U.S. intelligence official was quoted by CBS as saying that the Iraqis failed in their attempt to have the Americans sign a document confirming Yasin's whereabouts since 1993; apparently, U.S. officials did not agree with the Iraqi version of the facts.

The case of Abu al-Abbas (Mahmoud Abbas), secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), provides another example of safe haven provided by Iraq to a known terrorist leader. Abbas was responsible for the October 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro and the killing of elderly disabled passenger Leon Klinghoffer, an American citizen. In 1998, within the framework of the Oslo agreements, Israel permitted Abbas to return to the Gaza Strip. Fearing an extradition request by the United States, he chose the confines of Baghdad instead.

In October 2000, with the outbreak of the current Palestinian intifada, Abbas announced on Iraqi television that the PLF would resume confrontations with Israel; this, following the "call made by President Saddam Hussein to open the door for volunteering [which] is an order to fight for us." Iraq recruited and trained PLF activists in Iraqi camps and equipped them with arms that they used to carry out terrorist attacks in Haifa (April 2001) and the West Bank (July 2001). In July 2001, Mohammed Kandil, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was arrested upon the discovery that he was recruited by Iraqi intelligence to build a terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank. Apparently, his operational plans included infiltrating Ben Gurion International Airport with a car bomb.

Lately, Iraq has also revived its proxy organization, the Arab Liberation Front (ALF), with the specific mission of encouraging suicide operations against Israel from the West Bank and Gaza. One of ALF's leaders, al-Hajj Rateb al-Amleh, is responsible for providing material support to the families of Palestinian suicide terrorists. This support has included public events at which the presentation of $25,000 Iraqi checks payable to the families of "martyrs" is used to glorify Saddam Husayn and encourage the solidarity between the Iraqi regime and the Palestinian people against their common "Zionist" and "imperialist" enemies.

Conclusion

It is ironic to read news articles with titles such as "Saddam Cuts Off Terror Links Following the Abu Nidal Death." The crude lies that the Iraqi chief of intelligence has proffered to the media constitute yet another attempt of the Saddam regime to hide its past – and possibly present – involvement in international terrorism. It took the United States five years to unearth juridical evidence connecting Iranian intelligence agents and the Lebanese Hizballah with the Khobar Towers bombing, even though the information had been available in 1996 at the beginning of the investigation. No political or military action followed, notwithstanding this evidence. Hopefully, the terrorist nature of the Saddam Husayn regime and its belligerent ambitions will be addressed more seriously and swiftly.

Successful? At what?

Abortion & Traditional Values

Banned Partial Birth Abortion — by far the most significant roll-back of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade.

Reversed Clinton's move to strike Reagan's anti-abortion Mexico Policy.

By Executive Order (EO), reversed Clinton's policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act.

By EO, prohibited federal funds for international family planning groups that provide abortions and related services.

Upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals.

Made $33 million available for abstinence education programs in 2004.

Supports the Defense of Marriage Act — and a Constitutional amendment saying marriage is between one man and one woman.

Requires states to conduct criminal background checks on prospective foster and adoptive parents.

Requires districts to let students transfer out of dangerous schools.

Requires schools to have a zero-tolerance policy for classroom disruption (reintroducing discipline into classrooms).

Signed the Teacher Protection Act, which protects teachers from lawsuits related to student discipline.

Expanded the role of faith-based and community organizations in after-school programs.

Budget, Taxes & Economy

Signed two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value tax cut in world history.

Supports permanent elimination of the death tax.

Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession, and deeply shocked as a result of the 9/11 attacks.

Is seeking legislation to amend the Constitution to give the president line-item veto authority.

In process of permanently eliminating IRS marriage penalty.

Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people.

Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts.

Killed Clinton's "ergonomic" rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules would have shut down every home business in America.

Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals.

Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains.

Signed trade promotion authority.

Reduced and is working to ultimately eliminate the estate tax for family farms and ranches.

Fight Europe's ban on importing biotech crops from the United States.

Exempt food from unilateral trade sanctions and embargoes.

Provided $20 million to states to help people with disabilities work from home.

Created a fund to encourage technologies that help the disabled.

Increased the annual contribution limit on Education IRA's from $500 to $2,000 per child.

Make permanent the $5,000 adoption tax credit and provide $1 billion over five years to increase the credit to $10,000.

Grant a complete tax exemption for prepaid or college tuition savings plans.

Reduced H1B visas from a high of 195,000 per year to 66,000 per year.

Character & Conduct as President

Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the presidency.

Has reintroduced the mention of God and faith into public discourse.

Handled himself with enormous courage, dignity, grace, determination, and leadership in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 hijackings and anthrax attacks. He almost single-handedly held this country together during those searing days:

Just three days after the attacks, in his address at the National Cathedral, the President reassured the nation when he said: "War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing."

On Friday, September 14, 2001, President Bush visited Ground Zero. Standing on a crushed and burned fire engine atop the smoldering pile at Ground Zero, he put his arm around a retired firefighter who had volunteered to help, and began speaking to the crowd. Rescue workers shouted that they could not hear him. Someone handed him a small American flag and bullhorn. The President spontaneously shouted: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." The crowd roared with cheers and chants of "USA! USA! USA!" Then he raised that American flag and rallied a nation:

Education & Employment Training

Signed the No Child Left Behind Act, delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations). The very liberal California Teachers union is currently running radio ads against the accountability provisions of this Act.

Announced "Jobs for the 21st Century," a comprehensive plan to better prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening post-secondary education and job training, and by improving high school education.

Is working to provide vouchers to low-income students in persistently failing schools to help with costs of attending private schools. (Blocked in the Senate.)

Requires annual reading and math tests in grades three through eight.

Requires states to participate in the National Assessment of Education Progress, or an equivalent program, to establish a national benchmark for academic performance.

Requires school-by-school accountability report cards.

Established a $2.4 billion fund to help states implement teacher accountability systems.

Increased funding for the Troops-to-Teachers program, which recruits former military personnel to to become teachers.

Environment & Energy

Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty.

Submitted a comprehensive Energy Plan (awaits Congressional action). The plan works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc.

Established a $10 million grant program to promote private conservation initiatives.

Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops.

Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary cleanup of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger.

Part of national forests cleanup: Restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges), and removed the need for an Environmental Impact Statement before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger.

Killed Clinton's CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California.

Provided matching grants for state programs that help private landowners protect rare species.

Defense & Foreign Policy

Successfully executed two wars in the aftermath of 9/11/01: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom.

Saddam Hussein is now in prison. His two murderous sons are dead. All but a handful of the regime's senior members were killed or captured.

Leader by leader and member by member, al Qaida is being hunted down in dozens of countries around the world. Of the senior al Qaida leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators the U.S. Government has been tracking, nearly two-thirds have been taken into custody or killed. The detentions or deaths of senior al Qaida leaders, including Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, the mastermind of 9/11, and Muhammad Atef, Osama bin Laden's second-in-command until his death in late 2001, have been important in the War on Terror.

Disarmed Libya of its chemical, nuclear and biological WMD's without bribes or bloodshed.

Continues to execute the War On Terror, getting worldwide cooperation to track funds/terrorists. Has cut off much of the terrorists' funding, and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network.

Initiated a comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, and which accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE capabilities were critical in the 21st Century.

Killed the old US/Soviet Union ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses.

Has been one of the strongest, if not THE strongest friend Israel has ever hand in the U.S. presidency.

Part of the coalition for an Israeli/Palestinian "Roadmap to Peace," along with Great Britain, Russia and the EU.

Pushed through THREE raises for our military. Increased military pay by more than $1 billion a year.

Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia.

Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia, and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ.

Prohibited putting U.S. troops under U.N. command.

Paid back UN dues only in return for reforms and reduction of U.S. share of the costs.

Earmarked at least 20 percent of the Defense procurement budget for next-generation weaponry.

Increased defense research and development spending by at least $20 billion from fiscal 2002 to 2006.

Ordered a comprehensive review of military weapons and strategy.

Ordered a review of overseas deployments.

Ordered renovation of military housing. The military has already upgraded about 10 percent of its inventory and expects to modernize 76,000 additional homes this year.

Is working to tighten restrictions on military-technology exports.

Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed.

Globalization & Internationalism

Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become another League of Nations (in other words, showed the UN to be completely irrelevant).

Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court.

Told the United Nations we weren't interested in their plans for gun control (i.e., the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty).*

The only President since the founding of the UN to essentially tell that organization it is irrelevant. He said: "The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of UN demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?" We all know the outcome and the answer.

Told the Congress and the world, "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country."

Government Reform

Improved government efficiency by putting hundreds of thousands of jobs put up for bid. This weakens public-sector unions and cuts undeserved pay raises.

Initiated review of all federal agencies with the goal of eliminating federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of the federal government while increasing private sector jobs.

Led the most extensive reorganization the Federal bureaucracy in over 50 years: After 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency, the Department of Homeland Security.*

Ordered each agency to draft a five-year plan to restructure itself, with fewer managers.

Converted federal service contracts to performance-based contracts wherever possible so that the contractor has measurable performance goals.

Health

Strengthen the National Health Service Corps to put more physicians in the neediest areas, and make its scholarship funds tax-free.

Double the research budget of the National Institutes of Health.

Signed Medicare Reform, which includes:

A 10-year privatization option.

Prescription drug benefits: Prior to this reform, Medicare paid for extended hospital stays for ulcer surgery, for example, at a cost of about $28,000 per patient. Yet Medicare would not pay for the drugs that eliminate the cause of most ulcers, drugs that cost about $500 a year. Now, drug coverage under Medicare will allow seniors to replace more expensive surgeries and hospitalizations with less expensive prescription medicine.

More health care choices: As President Bush stated, "…when seniors have the ability to make choices, health care plans within Medicare will have to compete for their business by offering higher quality service [at lower cost]. For the seniors of America, more choices and more control will mean better health care. These are the kinds of health care options we give to the members of Congress and federal employees. What's good for members of Congress is also good for seniors.

New Health Savings Accounts: Effective January 1, 2004, Americans can set aside up to $4,500 every year, tax free, to save for medical expenses. Depending on your tax bracket, that means you'll save between 10 to 35 percent on any costs covered by money in your account. Every year, the money not spent would stay in the account and gain interest tax-free, just like an IRA. These accounts will be good for small business owners, and employees. More businesses can focus on covering workers for major medical problems, such as hospitalization for an injury or illness. At the same time, employees and their families will use these accounts to cover doctors visits, or lab tests, or other smaller costs. Some employers will contribute to employee health accounts. This will help more American families get the health care they need at the price they can afford.

Homeland Security, Border Enforcement & Immigration

*See Government Reform above. Under President Bush's leadership, America has made an unprecedented commitment to homeland security.

Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first 10 ABM silos in Alaska so that America will have a defense against North Korean nukes. Has ordered national and theater ballistic missile defenses to be deployed by 2004.

Announced a 9.7% increase in government-wide homeland security funding in his FY 2005 budget, nearly tripling the FY 2001 levels (excluding the Department of Defense and Project BioShield).

Before DHS was created, there were inspectors from three different agencies of the Federal Government and Border Patrol officers protecting our borders. Through DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now consolidates all border activities into a single agency to create "one face at the border." This not only better secures the borders of the United States, but it also eliminates many of the inefficiencies that occurred under the old system. With over 18,000 CBP inspectors and 11,000 Border Patrol agents, CBP has 29,000 uniformed officers on our borders.

The Border Patrol is continuing installation of monitoring devices along the borders to detect illegal activity.

Launched Operation Tarmac to investigate businesses and workers in the secure areas of domestic airports and ensure immigration law compliance. Since 9/11, DHS has audited 3,640 businesses, examined 259,037 employee records, arrested 1,030 unauthorized workers, and participated in the criminal indictment of 774 individuals.

Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard has conducted more than 124,000 port security patrols, 13,000 air patrols, boarded more than 92,000 vessels, interdicted over 14,000 individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally, and created and maintained more than 90 Maritime Security Zones.

Announced the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an internet-based system that is improving America's ability to track and monitor foreign students and exchange visitors. Over 870,000 students are registered in SEVIS. Of 285 completed field investigations, 71 aliens were arrested.

This week, the US-VISIT program began to digitally collect biometric identifiers to record the entry and exit of aliens who travel into the U.S on a visa. Together with the standard information, this new program will confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies.

Eliminated INS bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability.

Split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two agencies: one to protect the border and interior, the other to deal with naturalization.

Signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal aliens.

Established a six-month deadline for processing immigration applications.

Information regarding nearly 100% of all containerized cargo is carefully screened by DHS before it arrives in the United States. Higher risk shipments are physically inspected for terrorist weapons and contraband prior to being released from the port of entry. Advanced technologies are being deployed to identify warning signs of chemical, biological, or radiological attacks. Since September 11, 2001, hundreds of thousands of first responders across America have been trained to recognize and respond to the effects of a WMD attack.

Judiciary & Tort Reform

Is urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits.

Killed the liberal ABA's unconstitutional role in vetting federal judges. The Senate is supposed to advise and consent, not the ABA.

Is nominating strong, conservative judges to the judiciary.

Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims.

Politics

His leadership resulted in Republican gains in the House and Senate, solidifying Republican control of both houses of Congress and the presidency.

Signed an EO enforcing the Supreme Court's Beck decision regarding union dues being used for political campaigns against individual's wishes.

Second Amendment

Ordered Attorney General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, and is NOT a Leftist-imagined "collective" right.

Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit.

Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers.

*See Globalization & Internationalism.

Traditional Values, Compassion & Volunteerism

Endorses and promotes "The Responsibility Era." President Bush often speaks of the necessity of personal responsibility and civic volunteerism. He said, "In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you've got a problem, blame somebody else — to one in which every single American understands that he or she is responsible for the decisions that you make; you're responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself."

Started the USA Freedom Corps, the most comprehensive clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities ever offered. For the first time in history, Americans can enter geographic information about where they want to get involved, such as state or zip code, as well as areas of interest ranging from education to the environment, and they can access volunteer opportunities offered by more than 50,000 organizations across the country and around the world.

Established the The White House Office and the Centers for the Faith-Based and Community Initiative — located in seven Federal agencies. The faith-based initiative supports the essential work of these important organizations. The goal is to make sure that grassroots leaders can compete on an equal footing for federal dollars, receive greater private support, and face fewer bureaucratic barriers. Work focuses on at-risk youth, ex-offenders, the homeless and hungry, substance abusers, those with HIV/AIDS, and welfare-to-work families.

The White House released a guidebook fully describing the Administration's belief that faith-based groups have a Constitutionally-protected right to maintain their religious identity through hiring — even when Federal funds are involved.

Issued an EO implementing the Supreme Court's Olmstead ruling, which requires moving disabled people from institutions to community-based facilities when possible.

Increased funding for low-interest loan programs to help people with disabilities purchase devices to assist them.

Revised the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 rent subsidies to disabled people, permitting them to use up to a year's worth of vouchers to finance down payments on homes. HUD has started pilot programs in 11 states.

Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men, women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa.

Heeding the words of our own Declaration of Independence, the president laid out the non-negotiable demands of human dignity for all people everywhere. On January 29, 2002, he said, "No nation owns these aspirations, and no nation is exempt from them. We have no intention of imposing our culture. But America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity." As stated by the President, they are a virtual manifesto of conservative principles:

Equal Justice

Freedom of Speech

Limited Government Power

Private Property Rights

Religious Tolerance

Respect for Women

Rule of Law

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1066122/posts

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, like I trust this site. It first shows that the evidence for the link is "meager" and then the site says that the evidence is abundant.

I take it you didn't bother to read it, or the bibliography and footnotes at the end. Is there anything in particular you disagree with at http://www.husseinandterror.com ?

1. Madeleine Albright, “How we tackled the wrong tiger.” Melbourne Herald Sun, October 21, 2003, page 19.

2. Anne E. Kornblut, “Kennedy to assail Bush over Iraq war.” Boston Globe, October 16, 2003.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washingt...h_over_iraq_war

3. Richard Cohen, "Iraqi chaos product of Bush’s consistency." Columbia (Missouri) Daily Tribune, May 29, 2004.

http://www.showmenews.com/2004/May/20040529Comm003.asp

4. CBS News, “Gore Takes Aim At Bush: Former Veep Addresses New York Audience.” August 7, 2003.

http://www.cbs2chicago.com/topstories/tops..._219150214.html

5. John Kerry, Speech at Temple University, September 24, 2004.

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeche..._2004_0924.html

6. CNN.com, Key points of Thursday's debate. October 1, 2004.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/30/debate.key.points

7. Deroy Murdock, “Saddam Hussein’s Philanthropy of Terror.” The Hudson Institute: American Outlook, Fall 2003, page 50.

http://hudson.org/files/publications/murdo...ddamarticle.pdf

8. Reuters, “Hussein vows cash for martyrs.” March 12, 2002. Published in The Australian, March 13, 2002, page 9.

9. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Iraqi Support for and Encouragement of Palestinian Terrorism,” September 30, 2002. This online document provided most of the background on Baathist Iraq’s sponsorship of the anti-Israeli Intifada.

http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/mfaarchive/2000_...palestinian.htm

10. Ibid.

11. United Press International, untitled dispatch by Rome, Italy correspondent, Paula Butturini. October 14, 1985. Cited in Paul Crespo, “Evidence Supports That Hussein Had Strong Links With Terrorists,” Miami Herald, June 1, 2004

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/...ion/8807118.htm

12. Dan Murphy, “Iraq to ‘outsource’ counterattacks. Baghdad is using embassies to forge ties with extremist groups to attack US facilities, say Filipino officials.” The Christian Science Monitor, February 26, 2003.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0226/p01s03-woap.html

13. Sameer N. Yacoub, “Iraq claims terrorist leader committed suicide.” August 21, 2002 Associated Press dispatch published in Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August 22, 2002.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/2002news/082...world/20426.htm

14. Associated Press, “Palestinian officials say Abu Nidal is dead.” Posted on USAToday.com, week of August 19, 2002.

http://waqarkhan.com/FAMILY/WAQAR/USAToday.htm

15. Sheila MacVicar, “‘America’s Most Wanted’ – Fugitive Terrorists.” ABC News’ “Day One,” July 27, 1994.

16. Ravi Nessman, “Marines capture camp suspected as Iraqi training base for terrorists.” Associated Press, April 6, 2003, 4:14 p.m. EST. Posted by St. Paul Pioneer Press

http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress...ion/5574507.htm

17. PBS Frontline, “Gunning for Saddam: Should Saddam Hussein Be America’s Next Target in the War on Terrorism?” November 8, 2001. Read interviews and other information at:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sh...ning/interviews

18. Nessman, supra.

19. Stephen F. Hayes, “Dick Cheney Was Right: ‘We don’t know’ about Saddam and 9/11.” The Weekly Standard, October 20, 2003.

http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/A...03/238dkpee.asp

20. “Saddam’s Files,” (Staff editorial), The Wall Street Journal, May 27, 2004, page A20.

21. Hynek Kmonicek, Czech Ambassador to United Nations, Letter to James Beasley, Jr. February 24, 2003.

http://www.americanoutlook.org/articleimag...-2003/czech.pdf

22. CBS News, “Court Rules: Al Qaida, Iraq Linked.” May 7, 2003.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/08/...ain552868.shtml

Edited November 10, 2005 by Celumnaz

[Stellar]

The leader of the ANO, the infamous Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal (Sabri al-Banna), died violently last week in Baghdad. But his death is not as extraordinary as the subsequent press conference given by Iraqi intelligence chief Taher Jalil Haboush. This press conference represents the only time Haboush's name has appeared in the international media since February 2001.

ANO, not Al Qaida.

Abortion & Traditional Values

...

Good. For a second I thought you were going to say he was successful with the whole Iraq mess.

I take it you didn't bother to read it, or the bibliography and footnotes at the end. Is there anything in particular you disagree with at http://www.husseinandterror.com ?

Sure did. None of them show the evidence, they only say there is meager evidence of Iraq's involvement. You know what that seems to refer to? Letting a few of the terrorists pass through Iraq. What's unknown is whether they knew those ppl were terrorists or not.

2. Anne E. Kornblut, “Kennedy to assail Bush over Iraq war.” Boston Globe, October 16, 2003.

Did you bother reading the article? If you had, you would notice that it says

"He continues: "All the administration's rationalizations as we prepared to go to war now stand revealed as double-talk. The American people were told Saddam Hussein was building nuclear weapons. He was not. We were told he had stockpiles of other weapons of mass destruction. He did not. We were told he was involved in 9/11. He was not. We were told Iraq was attracting terrorists from Al Qaeda. It was not."

3. Richard Cohen, "Iraqi chaos product of Bush’s consistency." Columbia (Missouri) Daily Tribune, May 29, 2004.

"The contrast between what the president said and what AP reported is jarring, but it is also somewhat typical. There was something detached about the president’s address. Once again, for instance, he made Iraq the centerpiece of his war on terrorism when, as we all know by now, there was never a proven link between Saddam, al-Qaida or even the Crips."

CBS News, “Gore Takes Aim At Bush: Former Veep Addresses New York Audience.” August 7, 2003.

"In the same way, the evidence now shows clearly that Saddam did not want to work with Osama Bin Laden at all, much less give him weapons of mass destruction. So our invasion of Iraq had no effect on Al Qaeda, other than to boost their recruiting efforts."

5. John Kerry, Speech at Temple University, September 24, 2004.

Should I bother going on? Maybe I should, so that you know full well what those links, which you claim support the allegations, actually say.

This particular link, doesnt work though.

6. CNN.com, Key points of Thursday's debate. October 1, 2004.

God, do you even know what this one is all about? It illustrates the points Kerry and Bush braught up at the debate.

"Bush: Hopes to never have to do it again, but "the enemy attacked us." Will try to exhaust diplomatic options.

Kerry: Osama Bin Laden, not Saddam Hussein, attacked the United States. Saddam would have been weakened with more inspections and sanctions. President has the right to be pre-emptive, but the decision must pass a "global test.""

7. Deroy Murdock, “Saddam Hussein’s Philanthropy of Terror.” The Hudson Institute: American Outlook, Fall 2003, page 50.

THis one (An adobe file, so I cant really copy anything down, I'm having trouble selecting text) shows that Al Qaida used Iraq just like it used the US prior to 9/11. It shows a table with the organisations SH gave funds, training or shelter to... Al Qaida isnt on the list. Ansar Al Islam is... which had training camps in the areas SH had no access to.

8. Reuters, “Hussein vows cash for martyrs.” March 12, 2002. Published in The Australian, March 13, 2002, page 9.

Wheres the link? Either case, I heard about how he "vowed cash for martyrs", and it had nothing to do with Al Qaida.

9. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Iraqi Support for and Encouragement of Palestinian Terrorism,” September 30, 2002. This online document provided most of the background on Baathist Iraq’s sponsorship of the anti-Israeli Intifada.

Not a mention of Al Qaida.

10. Ibid.

?

11. United Press International, untitled dispatch by Rome, Italy correspondent, Paula Butturini. October 14, 1985. Cited in Paul Crespo, “Evidence Supports That Hussein Had Strong Links With Terrorists,” Miami Herald, June 1, 2004

Wont let me in. Either case, Al Qaida isnt the only terrorist organisation.

12. Dan Murphy, “Iraq to ‘outsource’ counterattacks. Baghdad is using embassies to forge ties with extremist groups to attack US facilities, say Filipino officials.” The Christian Science Monitor, February 26, 2003.

"This time, the Iraq Embassy's second secretary Husham Z Hussein was expelled from the Philippines after it was discovered that he was in phone contact with members of the Abu Sayyaf Group, which has historic ties to Al Qaeda. The group is accused of planting a bomb in Zamboanga City that killed a US soldier, two Filipinos and injured 23 others last October. Filipino investigators, who allege that Mr. Hussein was a member of the Iraqi Intelligence service, say they believe Mr. Hussein was building ties to the Abu Sayyaf to jointly pursue attacks against the US.

Only a historic tie to Al Qaeda, and assuming he knew they were members of this group, look at the date of the article. It clearly shows that all this was in preperation for the war.

13. Sameer N. Yacoub, “Iraq claims terrorist leader committed suicide.” August 21, 2002 Associated Press dispatch published in Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August 22, 2002.

"In Beirut, Abu Nidal’s organization, the radical Fatah-Revolutionary Council, said its leader was assassinated by one of Iraq’s intelligence agencies."

Now now... apparently Iraq assasinated Abu Nidal, or Abu Nidal commited suicide... for shame! The link to Al Qaida is now obvious!

14. Associated Press, “Palestinian officials say Abu Nidal is dead.” Posted on USAToday.com, week of August 19, 2002.

Once again, its about Abu Nidal's death.

15. Sheila MacVicar, “‘America’s Most Wanted’ – Fugitive Terrorists.” ABC News’ “Day One,” July 27, 1994.

Need a link.

16. Ravi Nessman, “Marines capture camp suspected as Iraqi training base for terrorists.” Associated Press, April 6, 2003, 4:14 p.m. EST. Posted by St. Paul Pioneer Press

Access denied. Either way, its "suspected", and sounds like the one they were talking about in the part of Iraq SH had no access to.

17. PBS Frontline, “Gunning for Saddam: Should Saddam Hussein Be America’s Next Target in the War on Terrorism?” November 8, 2001. Read interviews and other information at:

No mention of Al Qaida.

18. Nessman, supra.

?

19. Stephen F. Hayes, “Dick Cheney Was Right: ‘We don’t know’ about Saddam and 9/11.” The Weekly Standard, October 20, 2003.

"ON SEPTEMBER 14, 2003, "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert asked Vice President Dick Cheney whether Saddam Hussein was involved in the September 11 attacks. Cheney's answer was characteristically straightforward: "We don't know.""

""By any reasonable standard, that's a lie," wrote columnist Josh Marshall, a frequent but usually thoughtful administration critic. "American intelligence and law enforcement have been investigating the Sept. 11 attacks for more than two years and we haven't found a single shred of evidence tying Saddam or his regime to the plot. Nothing.""

20. “Saddam’s Files,” (Staff editorial), The Wall Street Journal, May 27, 2004, page A20.

Link.

21. Hynek Kmonicek, Czech Ambassador to United Nations, Letter to James Beasley, Jr. February 24, 2003.

Meerly says an investigation must be done.

21. Hynek Kmonicek, Czech Ambassador to United Nations, Letter to James Beasley, Jr. February 24, 2003.

Meager evidence, as they say... and it doesnt show what kind of a hand Iraq did have. It could have had just as much of a hand in it as the US did.

[iaapac]

ok, here's the text there

I take it you didn't bother to read it, or the bibliography and footnotes at the end. Is there anything in particular you disagree with at http://www.husseinandterror.com ?

1. Madeleine Albright, “How we tackled the wrong tiger.” Melbourne Herald Sun, October 21, 2003, page 19.

2. Anne E. Kornblut, “Kennedy to assail Bush over Iraq war.” Boston Globe, October 16, 2003.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washingt...h_over_iraq_war

3. Richard Cohen, "Iraqi chaos product of Bush’s consistency." Columbia (Missouri) Daily Tribune, May 29, 2004.

http://www.showmenews.com/2004/May/20040529Comm003.asp

4. CBS News, “Gore Takes Aim At Bush: Former Veep Addresses New York Audience.” August 7, 2003.

http://www.cbs2chicago.com/topstories/tops..._219150214.html

5. John Kerry, Speech at Temple University, September 24, 2004.

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeche..._2004_0924.html

6. CNN.com, Key points of Thursday's debate. October 1, 2004.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/30/debate.key.points

7. Deroy Murdock, “Saddam Hussein’s Philanthropy of Terror.” The Hudson Institute: American Outlook, Fall 2003, page 50.

http://hudson.org/files/publications/murdo...ddamarticle.pdf

8. Reuters, “Hussein vows cash for martyrs.” March 12, 2002. Published in The Australian, March 13, 2002, page 9.

9. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Iraqi Support for and Encouragement of Palestinian Terrorism,” September 30, 2002. This online document provided most of the background on Baathist Iraq’s sponsorship of the anti-Israeli Intifada.

http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/mfaarchive/2000_...palestinian.htm

10. Ibid.

11. United Press International, untitled dispatch by Rome, Italy correspondent, Paula Butturini. October 14, 1985. Cited in Paul Crespo, “Evidence Supports That Hussein Had Strong Links With Terrorists,” Miami Herald, June 1, 2004

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/...ion/8807118.htm

12. Dan Murphy, “Iraq to ‘outsource’ counterattacks. Baghdad is using embassies to forge ties with extremist groups to attack US facilities, say Filipino officials.” The Christian Science Monitor, February 26, 2003.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0226/p01s03-woap.html

13. Sameer N. Yacoub, “Iraq claims terrorist leader committed suicide.” August 21, 2002 Associated Press dispatch published in Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August 22, 2002.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/2002news/082...world/20426.htm

14. Associated Press, “Palestinian officials say Abu Nidal is dead.” Posted on USAToday.com, week of August 19, 2002.

http://waqarkhan.com/FAMILY/WAQAR/USAToday.htm

15. Sheila MacVicar, “‘America’s Most Wanted’ – Fugitive Terrorists.” ABC News’ “Day One,” July 27, 1994.

16. Ravi Nessman, “Marines capture camp suspected as Iraqi training base for terrorists.” Associated Press, April 6, 2003, 4:14 p.m. EST. Posted by St. Paul Pioneer Press

http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress...ion/5574507.htm

17. PBS Frontline, “Gunning for Saddam: Should Saddam Hussein Be America’s Next Target in the War on Terrorism?” November 8, 2001. Read interviews and other information at:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sh...ning/interviews

18. Nessman, supra.

19. Stephen F. Hayes, “Dick Cheney Was Right: ‘We don’t know’ about Saddam and 9/11.” The Weekly Standard, October 20, 2003.

http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/A...03/238dkpee.asp

20. “Saddam’s Files,” (Staff editorial), The Wall Street Journal, May 27, 2004, page A20.

21. Hynek Kmonicek, Czech Ambassador to United Nations, Letter to James Beasley, Jr. February 24, 2003.

http://www.americanoutlook.org/articleimag...-2003/czech.pdf

22. CBS News, “Court Rules: Al Qaida, Iraq Linked.” May 7, 2003.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/08/...ain552868.shtml

Hmmm. . . . . all that and you still couldn't answer the question? How many Iraquis were with the terrorists who attacked the WTC?

[Celumnaz]

I mess up the quote feature too sometimes, hate it when that happens.

You so didn't grasp that was a "This is what they're telling us" contrasted with "This is where they're wrong, and here are the links"

You think the "This is what they're telling us" part is the focus of the data, and it's not. Let me help you some more.

“President Saddam Hussein has recently told the head of the Palestinian political office, Faroq al-Kaddoumi, his decision to raise the sum granted to each family of the martyrs of the Palestinian uprising to $25,000 instead of $10,000,” Aziz, announced at a Baghdad meeting of Arab politicians and businessmen on March 11, 2002, Reuters reported the next day.

As Saddam Hussein put it on Iraqi TV on March 4, 2002:

"We are glad of the Istishhadiyyah [suicide] and heroic spirit of the Palestinian people. By Allah, what the Palestinian people does is beyond my expectations…”

Saddam Hussein’s vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, is the man who Israeli intelligence believes was directly involved in funneling money from Baghdad into the hands of the families of homicide bombers. Documents that the Israeli Defense Force captured in the Palestinian town of Ramallah indicate that Vice President Ramadan used the Arab Liberation Front, the Palestinian Liberation Front, and the Palestinian branch of the Iraqi Baathist party to pass these funds into the hands of terrorists’ families.

On March 9, 2002, Fuad Isma’il Ahmad al-Hurani blew himself up in a Jerusalem restaurant called the Moment Café.

A little over three months after that carnage, Mrs. Khaldiya Isma’il Abd al-Aziz al-Hurani collected a check for $25,000 as a bonus for her son’s suicide and his homicide of nearly a dozen others. The following check was a “President Saddam Hussein’s Grant” paid via the Palestine Investment Bank. These funds were transferred on June 23, 2002.

he had invaded Kuwait, burned its oil fields in a dastardly act of eco-vandalism, killed some 5,000 of his own people with chemical weapons at Halabjah, and stuffed another 400,000 or so of his constituents into mass graves.

Actually, Saddam Hussein knew plenty about terrorism. In essence, he owned and operated a full-service general store for global terrorists, complete with cash, diplomatic aid, safe haven, training, and even medical attention. Such assistance violated United Nations Security Council Resolution 687. The results not only broke international law, but also were deadly, as this chart demonstrates:7

The public evidence of Saddam Hussein’s cooperation with and support for global terrorists is abundant and clear. The Baathist government’s contacts and collaboration with terrorists in general, al-Qaeda in particular, and even the September 11 conspirators should make all Americans highly grateful that President Bush led an international effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power.

Funds for Terrorists

Let’s start with money. At a minimum, we know that Saddam Hussein’s government supported terrorism by paying "bonuses" of up to $25,000 to the families of Palestinian homicide bombers. How do we know this? Tariq Aziz, Hussein's own deputy prime minister, was stunningly candid about the Baathist government’s underwriting of terrorist killings in Israel.

“President Saddam Hussein has recently told the head of the Palestinian political office, Faroq al-Kaddoumi, his decision to raise the sum granted to each family of the martyrs of the Palestinian uprising to $25,000 instead of $10,000,” Aziz, announced at a Baghdad meeting of Arab politicians and businessmen on March 11, 2002, Reuters reported the next day.8

Ousted Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz >

Saddam Hussein

Aziz simply echoed the policy his boss established one week earlier. As Saddam Hussein put it on Iraqi TV on March 4, 2002:

"We are glad of the Istishhadiyyah [suicide] and heroic spirit of the Palestinian people. By Allah, what the Palestinian people does is beyond my expectations…” 9

Saddam Hussein’s vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, is the man who Israeli intelligence believes was directly involved in funneling money from Baghdad into the hands of the families of homicide bombers. Documents that the Israeli Defense Force captured in the Palestinian town of Ramallah indicate that Vice President Ramadan used the Arab Liberation Front, the Palestinian Liberation Front, and the Palestinian branch of the Iraqi Baathist party to pass these funds into the hands of terrorists’ families.

Deposed Iraqi Vice President

Taha Yassin Ramadan

Here’s the sort of thing Ramadan bought with Saddam Hussein’s money: On March 9, 2002, Fuad Isma’il Ahmad al-Hurani blew himself up in a Jerusalem restaurant called the Moment Café.

The devastation was extensive inside the eatery.

Far worse, of course, was the human toll. Eleven Israelies were murdered while 52 were wounded.

A little over three months after that carnage, Mrs. Khaldiya Isma’il Abd al-Aziz al-Hurani collected a check for $25,000 as a bonus for her son’s suicide and his homicide of nearly a dozen others. The following check was a “President Saddam Hussein’s Grant” paid via the Palestine Investment Bank. These funds were transferred on June 23, 2002.

In another case, Usama Muhammad Id Bahr and Nabil Mahmud Jamil Halbiyyah blew themselves up in Jerusalem's Zion Square on December 1, 2001. Before setting off to "martyrdom," they also left a car bomb set on a timer two blocks away. It exploded just as rescue workers and emergency personnel arrived on the scene.

The only people who benefitted from this barbarism were the relatives of these two bombers who received President Saddam Hussein Grants here, as well.

The following document, captured by the Israeli military in Ramallah, shows a list of Iraqi-subsidized homicide bombers and their atrocities. It mentions the name of Raghib Ahmad Izat Jarradat.

On April 10, 2002, Izat Jarradat boarded a crowded bus strapped with explosives. As the bus approached the busy Yagur junction near Haifa, he blew himself up. Here is his handiwork. This vulgarity killed eight Israelis and wounded 15 others.

Between the time Saddam Hussein boosted his bonus payments to the families of Palestinian terrorists and the March 20, 2003 launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 28 homicide bombers injured 1,209 people and killed 223 more, including at least eight Americans. These bonus checks were handed out at ceremonies where banners proclaimed the friendship of the PLO’s Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein.

At a ceremony celebrating suicide terror bombings, a poster honors

the relationship between Yasser Arafat (left) and Saddam Hussein (right).

Family members of homicide bombers received “certificates of merit,” such as this one handed to the relatives of a killer in Gaza on July 18, 2002.

Certificate recognizing a suicide bomber's "martyrdom." Note the attached

"President Saddam Hussein's Grant" check in the lower right-hand corner.

The Palestinian newspaper, Al Hayat, in December 2000 featured this letter expressing gratitude and appreciation to President Yasser Arafat and to President Saddam Hussein from the family of Imad Al-Dib Badir Al-Dayah. >

< This January 2001 letter, in the Palestinian paper, Al Quds, says: “Gratitude and appreciation to the President of Iraq and his great people from the relatives of the martyrs Amjad Hassinah and Fadi Dhabayah.”

In addition to funds, Saddam Hussein's government provided diplomatic help to Islamic extremists. This is Abu Abbas, former secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Front. He masterminded the October 7-9, 1985 hijacking of an Italian cruise ship whose name, sadly, is now synonymous with terrorism. The Achille Lauro was on a voyage across the Mediterranean when four Palestinian terrorists seized it on the high seas. They held some 400 passengers hostage for 44 hours

The hijackers surrendered to Egyptian authorities in exchange for safe passage to Tunisia. Abu Abbas then joined them on a flight to freedom aboard an Egypt Air jet. However, four U.S. fighter planes forced the airliner to land at a NATO base in Sicily. Italian officials took the hijackers into custody. But Abbas possessed the ultimate get-out-of-jail card: An Iraqi diplomatic passport.

Bettino Craxi. At that time, he was Italy’s prime minister. As Craxi explained in an October 14, 1985 UPI story: “Abu Abbas was the holder of an Iraqi diplomatic passport…The plane was on an official mission, considered covered by diplomatic immunity and extra-territorial status in the air and on the ground.” Seeing that this terrorist traveled as a credentialed Iraqi diplomat, the Italian authorities let Abbas flee to Yugoslavia. After political parties furiously withdrew from Craxi’s coalition, the Italian government collapsed.

The Philippine government expelled him on February 13, 2003, just five weeks before the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cell phone records indicate he had spoken with Abu Madja and Hamsiraji Sali, two leaders of Abu Sayyaf, al-Qaeda’s de facto franchise for the Philippines. The timing was particularly suspicious, as he had been in contact with the Abu Sayyaf terrorists just before and after they conducted an attack in Zamboanga City.

Abu Sayyaf’s nail-filled bomb exploded on October 2, 2002, injuring 23 individuals and killing two Filipinos and one American. That American was U.S. Special Forces Sergeant First Class Mark Wayne Jackson, age 40.

After escaping Italian police in October 1985 following the Achille Lauro hijacking (thanks to his Iraqi diplomatic passport), Abu Abbas finally ended up in Baghdad in 1994, where he lived comfortably as one of Saddam Hussein’s guests. U.S. soldiers caught Abbas in Iraq in April 2003. This time, he did not get away. He died last March 9, in American custody, reportedly of natural causes.

Abbas' Baghdad sojourn was not an isolated incident. Saddam Hussein granted avowed international terrorists refuge in Baathist Iraq. Terror mastermind Abu Nidal also enjoyed his hospitality.

Nidal lived comfortably in Iraq between 1999 and August 2002. As the Associated Press reported on August 21, 2002, Nidal’s Beirut office said he entered Iraq “with the full knowledge and preparations of the Iraqi authorities.” 13 Prior to his relocation, he ran the eponymous Abu Nidal Organization — a Palestinian terror network behind attacks in 20 countries, at least 407 confirmed murders, and some 788 other terror-related injuries. Among other savage acts, Nidal’s group used guns and grenades to attack a ticket counter at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport on December 27, 1985. Another cell in Austria simultaneously assaulted Vienna’s airport, killing 19 people.

The New York Times reports that Abu Nidal's Fatah Revolutionary Council murdered the following 17 Americans, at a minimum:

Americans killed in the Abu Nidal Organization's December 27, 1985 attack on Rome's airport:

*John Buonocore III, 20, of Wilmington, Delaware

*Frederick Gage of Madison, Wisconsin

*Natasha Simpson, 11, of New York

*Don Maland of New Port Richey, Florida

*Elena Tomarello, 67, of Naples, Florida

The New York Times, December 29, 1985

American executed during ANO's 1986 hijacking of a Pan Am jet at Karachi, Pakistan's airport:

*Rajesh Kumar of Huntington Beach, California

The New York Times, September 7, 1986

Americans slaughtered in ANO's September 8, 1974 bombing of a TWA jet over the Ionian Sea en route from Israel to Greece, killing all 88 aboard:

*Eitan Bard of Tuckahoe, New York

*Seldon Bard of Tuckahoe, New York

*Ralph H. Bosh of Madison, Connecticut

*Jon L. Cheshire of Old Lyme, Connecticut

*Jeremiah Hadley of Poughkeepsie, New York

*Katherine Hadley Michel of Poughkeepsie, New York

*Frederick Hare of Bernardsville, New Jersey

*Margaret Hare of Bernardsville, New Jersey

*Don H. Holliday of Mahwah, New Jersey

*Dr. Frederick Stohlman of Newton, Massachusetts

*Mrs. Frederick Stohlman of Newton, Massachusetts

The New York Times, September 10, 1974

If there is any justice here, perhaps it is the fact that Abu Nidal died in August 2002. Saddam Hussein’s government claimed that he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head — four times.14

But is there any evidence that Iraq sheltered those responsible for attacks on America?

Enter Abdul Rahman Yasin, pictured below in a U.S. State Department "Wanted" poster.

This Indiana-born, Iraqi-reared terrorist remains wanted by the FBI for his role in the February 26, 1993 World Trade Center attack. President Bill Clinton's Justice Department indicted Yasin for mixing the chemicals in the bomb that exploded in the parking garage beneath the Twin Towers, killing six and injuring 1,042 people in New York.

Soon after the smoke cleared, Yasin returned to Iraq. Coalition forces have discovered documents that show he enjoyed housing and a monthly government salary.

Former ABC News correspondent Sheila MacVicar looked for Yasin, and here is what she reported on July 27, 1994: “Last week, [television program] Day One confirmed [Yasin] is in Baghdad…Just a few days ago, he was seen at [his father’s] house by ABC News. Neighbors told us Yasin comes and goes freely.” 15

This is Abu Musab al Zarqawi. After running an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, he found his way to Baathist Baghdad, where he reportedly checked into Olympic Hospital, an elite facility run by the late Uday Hussein, son of the captured tyrant. Zarqawi is believed to have received medical treatment for a leg injury sustained while dodging American GIs who toppled the Taliban. He convalesced in Baghdad for some two months. Once he was back on his foot, Zarqawi then opened an Ansar al-Islam terrorist training camp in northern Iraq. Zarqawi is thought to be behind the October 28, 2002 assassination of this man, Lawrence Foley:

Foley was a U.S. diplomat in Amman, Jordan who worked on international development projects. For that "transgression," he was gunned down and killed in his driveway at home.

The Associated Press reports that Coalition forces shut down at least three terrorist training camps in Iraq. The most notorious of these was the base at Salman Pak, about 15 miles southeast of Baghdad. Before the war, numerous Iraqi defectors said the camp featured a passenger jet on which terrorists sharpened their air piracy skills. This satellite photo shows an urban assault training site, a three-car train for railway-attack instruction, and a commercial airliner sitting all by itself in the middle of the desert.16

The man pictured below is Sabah Khodada, a former Iraqi army captain who once worked at Salman Pak. On October 14, 2001, Khodada granted an interview to PBS television program “Frontline,” stating, “This camp is specialized in exporting terrorism to the whole world.”

He added: “Training includes hijacking and kidnapping of airplanes, trains, public buses, and planting explosives in cities ... how to prepare for suicidal operations.”

He continued: “We saw people getting trained to hijack airplanes...They are even trained how to use utensils for food, like forks and knives provided in the plane.” 17

General Vincent Brooks, who briefed reporters throughout the initial phases of Operation Iraqi Freedom, had his own observations about Saddam Hussein's terrorist pedagogy. Speaking at an April 6, 2003 press conference, General Brooks said: “The nature of the work being done by some of those people that we captured, their inferences to the type of training that they received, all of these things give us the impression that there was terrorist training that was conducted at Salman Pak.” 18

A mural at an Iraqi military base appears to celebrate 9/11.

Recall that Abdul Rahman Yasin, one of the al-Qaeda bombers who hit the World Trade Center in 1993, fled to Iraq after that attack and lived there freely, reportedly with a government salary. That’s one clear link to al-Qaeda.

Then there is the interesting case of Ahmad Hikmat Shakir — an Iraqi VIP facilitator who worked at the international airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Citing "a foreign government service," page 340 of the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on pre-Iraq-War intelligence indicates that, "Shakir claimed he got this job through Ra'ad al-Mudaris, an Iraqi Embassy employee" in Malaysia. On January 5, 2000, Shakir greeted Khalid al Midhar and Nawaz al Hamzi at Kuala Lampur’s airport. He then escorted them to a local hotel where these September 11 hijackers met with 9/11 conspirators Ramzi bin al Shibh and Tawfiz al Atash. Five days later, according to The Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes, Shakir disappeared. 19

Khalid al Midhar and Nawaz al Hamzi subsequently spent the morning of September 11, 2001 flying American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon, killing 184 people.

Shakir, the Iraqi airport greeter, was arrested in Qatar on September 17, 2001. On his person and in his apartment, authorities discovered documents connecting him to the 1993 WTC bomb plot and “Operation Bojinka,” al-Qaeda’s 1995 plan to blow up 12 jets simultaneously over the Pacific. Interestingly enough, as a May 27, 2004 Wall Street Journal editorial reported, Ahmed Hikmat Shakir's name appears on three different rosters of the late Uday Hussein's prestigious paramilitary group, the Saddam Fedayeen. A government source told the Journal that the papers identify Shakir as a lieutenant colonel in the Saddam Fedayeen. 20

Below is a rare photograph of Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani. He was Consul and Second Secretary at Iraq's Czech embassy between March 1999 and April 22, 2001. He long has been suspected of meeting with September 11 ringleader Mohamed Atta, most likely on April 8, 2001. Perhaps at other times, too. While skeptics dismiss this encounter, Czech intelligence found Al-Ani's appointment calendar in Iraq's Prague embassy, presumably after Saddam Hussein's defeat. Al-Ani's diary lists an April 8, 2001, meeting with "Hamburg student." Maybe, in a massive coincidence, Al-Ani dined with a young scholar and chatted about Hegel and Nietzsche.

Or perhaps Al-Ani saw a former student from Hamburg named Mohamed Atta to discuss more practical matters. The Czech government sticks to their contention that they did observe this Iraqi diplomat meeting with Mohamed Atta just five months before 9-11. As Czech U.N. Ambassador Hynek Kmonicek explained in a letter to Philadelphia attorney James Beasley, Jr.: “In this moment we can confirm, that during the next stay of Mr. Muhammad Atta in the Czech Republic, there was the contact with the official of the Iraqi intelligence, Mr. Al Ani, Ahmed Khalin Ibrahim Samir, who was on 22nd April 2001 expelled from the Czech Republic on the basis of activities which were not compatible with the diplomatic status.” 21 Al-Ani was kicked out of Prague for casing the headquarters of Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Iraq, presumably because he wanted to blow them up.

Czech officials insist 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta (above)

met with an Iraqi diplomat five months before piloting

American Airlines Flight 11 into One World Trade Center

Of course, we know what happened next. Mohamed Atta and his henchmen went to airports on the East Coast. Here he is in Portland, Maine at 5:45 a.m. on September 11, 2001.

As the May 8, 2003 New York Post and other news outlets reported, Baer ruled that Saddam Hussein’s government was complicit in the September 11 attacks and that the Baathist government owed the plaintiffs a judgment of $104 million.

As Baer stated on May 7, 2003:

“I conclude that plaintiffs have shown, albeit barely, ‘by evidence satisfactory to the court’ that Iraq provided material support to bin Laden and al Qaeda.” 22

Thus, there is abundant and undeniable evidence that Saddam Hussein provided money, diplomatic services, shelter, medical care, and training to terrorists of every stripe, including those complicit in the 1993 WTC bombing and — according to a Clinton-appointed federal judge — the September 11 attacks. The Iraqi dictator aided al-Qaeda and other global terrorists who murdered Americans, both at home and abroad.

And then there's what we were told in the Clinton administration. Suddenly they deny they made those statements.

Edited November 10, 2005 by Celumnaz

[iaapac]

And a thousand posts, equally as long and misleading, could be given proving that Iraq had no role in terrorist activities, but it would not convince you any more than your references, most originating from government press releases, convinces me.

Just a sample:

http://www.globalpolicy.org/wtc/analysis/2...sept11hurts.htm

What We Don’t Know About 9/11 Hurts US

By Robert Scheer

AlterNet

February 15, 2005

Would George W. Bush have been re-elected president if the public understood how much responsibility his administration bears for allowing the 9/11 attacks to succeed?

The answer is unknowable and, at this date, moot. Yet it was appalling to learn last week that the White House suppressed until after the election a damning report that exposes the administration as woefully incompetent if not criminally negligent. Belatedly declassified excerpts from still-secret sections of the 9/11 Commission report, which focus on the failure of the Federal Aviation Administration to heed multiple warnings that al Qaeda terrorists were planning to hijack planes as suicide weapons, make clear that this tragedy could have been avoided.

For the last three years, administration apologists have tried to make the FAA the scapegoat for the 9/11 attacks. But it is the president who ultimately is responsible for national security, not a defanged agency that is beholden to the industry it allegedly monitors. The terrible fact is that the administration took none of the steps that would have put the protection of human life ahead of a diverse set of economic and political interests, which included not offending our friends the Saudis and not hurting the share prices of airline corporations.

The warnings provided by intelligence agencies to the FAA were far clearer and more specific than suggested by Condoleezza Rice's testimony before the 9/11 commission when she reluctantly conceded the existence of a presidential briefing that warned of impending al Qaeda attacks. Rice had dismissed those warnings as "historical," but according to the newly released section of the 9/11 report, an astonishing 52 of the 105 daily intelligence briefings received by the FAA – and available to Rice – before the Sept. 11 attacks made specific reference to al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

Given this shocking record of indifference on the part of the administration, it is politically understandable that it tried to prevent the formation of the 9/11 commission in the first place, and then for five months prevented the declassification of key sections of the final report. Commission members, including its Republican chairman, Thomas Kean, stated in the past that there was no national security concern that justified keeping those sections of the report from the public.

And let's be clear: The failure to fully disclose what is known about the 9/11 tragedy is not some minor bureaucratic transgression. Not since the Soviets first detonated an atomic bomb more than half a century ago has a single event so affected decision-making in this country, yet the main questions as to how and why it happened remain mostly unanswered.

Even worse, what we do know calls into question our government's explanation that a diabolical international terrorist conspiracy exploited our liberal, naive society. What has emerged, instead, is a portrait of an often bumbling terrorist gang allowed to wreak havoc because the top tiers of the administration were so indifferent to the alarms, which former CIA Director George Tenet described so graphically: "The system was blinking red."

Had the business-friendly administration put safety first and ordered a full complement of air marshals into the air, over the obscene objections of airlines loath to give up paid seats, nearly 3,000 people might not have died that day. And had the president of the United States taken some time from his epic ranch vacation that August to order a nationwide airport alert, two bloody wars abroad, as well as an all-out assault on civil liberties in this country, probably would not have happened.

Instead, an administration that resisted spending the tens of millions required to fortify airline security before 9/11 is nearing the $300-billion mark on Afghanistan and Iraq. And declassified documents have unmistakably said the latter had nothing to do with 9/11. Meanwhile, those countries that at least indirectly did, most notably "allies" Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, have been let off the hook.

Indeed, the 9/11 commission was not allowed to get near that story: It is an unnoticed but startling truth that the basic narrative on the tragedy derives from the interrogations of key detainees whom the 9/11 commissioners were not allowed to interview. Nor were they permitted to even take testimony from the U.S. intelligence personnel who interrogated those prisoners.

When the truth and governmental transparency are arbitrarily trumped by the invocation of national security, the public is simply incapable of making informed decisions on the most crucial decisions we face – starting with whom we elect as our commander in chief.

[Stellar]

I dont have the time to go over the whole post now, but I wanted to ask you something...

You so didn't grasp that was a "This is what they're telling us" contrasted with "This is where they're wrong, and here are the links"

You think the "This is what they're telling us" part is the focus of the data, and it's not. Let me help you some more.

What do you mean?

This is Abu Musab al Zarqawi. After running an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, he found his way to Baathist Baghdad, where he reportedly checked into Olympic Hospital, an elite facility run by the late Uday Hussein, son of the captured tyrant. Zarqawi is believed to have received medical treatment for a leg injury sustained while dodging American GIs who toppled the Taliban. He convalesced in Baghdad for some two months. Once he was back on his foot, Zarqawi then opened an Ansar al-Islam terrorist training camp in northern Iraq.

This caught my eye while scrolling down.

1. This is post 9/11

2. Do you realise that after invading Iraq, coalition forces actually had Zarqawi in possession, but they didnt recognise him, let him go, and only realise what they had done when it was too late?

[bathory]

Hmmm. . . . . all that and you still couldn't answer the question? How many Iraquis were with the terrorists who attacked the WTC?

what a highly irrelevant and stupid question

How many Afghanis were there? OOPS!

your article is just as pitiful

what part of all they knew was that Osama and Al Queda planned on attacking the US with planes don't you understand?

they don't know WHEN, WHERE, or HOW he intends on doing it, and with certain laws stopping collaboration between the FBI and CIA any attempt at finding out was going to be doomed from the start.

[iaapac]

what a highly irrelevant and stupid question

How many Afghanis were there? OOPS!

your article is just as pitiful

what part of all they knew was that Osama and Al Queda planned on attacking the US with planes don't you understand?

they don't know WHEN, WHERE, or HOW he intends on doing it, and with certain laws stopping collaboration between the FBI and CIA any attempt at finding out was going to be doomed from the start.

Hmmm . . . . . strange how when you don't want to answer with the truth, the question becomes irrelevant and stupid. On the contrary, bad manners are a sign of stupidity.

At the same time, an article written by someone with the same authority and knowledge as the reporters you quoted, suddenly becomes "pitiful" because it doesn't agree with your brain implant support of Pestilence Bush.

The fundamental point that you desperately want to avoid is that there was NO participation of Iraquis in the WTC attack. There were numerous Saudis but Bush did nothing against Saudi Arabia because of personal and family ties to the royal family there.

Since you won't or can't answer the most basic question to this thread . . . . Iraq had no part in the 9/11 attack and there is no credible evidence that they did. Top members of the Senate recognize this and are meeting to decide what steps to take to admonish people like Bush and his co-conspirators. They recognize it even if the brain-washed minority still supporting Bush can't.

[bathory]

The fundamental point that you desperately want to avoid is that there was NO participation of Iraquis in the WTC attack. There were numerous Saudis but Bush did nothing against Saudi Arabia because of personal and family ties to the royal family there.

no silly, the difference is Saudi Arabia is actively fighting against Al Queda, the Saudi Arabian government and the Royal family ISN'T supporting them. Here's a little clue for you, Al Queda has stated they wish to destroy the Saudi Royal Family...I'm not avoiding any fundamental point, because you don't have one.

Hmmm . . . . . strange how when you don't want to answer with the truth, the question becomes irrelevant and stupid. On the contrary, bad manners are a sign of stupidity.

Strange, when you write something that is wrong, I will call it as I see it...thanks for playing.

At the same time, an article written by someone with the same authority and knowledge as the reporters you quoted, suddenly becomes "pitiful" because it doesn't agree with your brain implant support of Pestilence Bush.

Who wrote it means jack all when it flies contrary to all public information available. Simple fact, US intelligence had nothing beyond Planes + Osama + Al Queda + Terrorism. Now this may seem like allot, but there isn't much you can act on...Al Queda plans on attacking the US with planes in some manner, we don't know when, how or where...QUICK TO THE BUSHMOBILE!

Since you won't or can't answer the most basic question to this thread . . . . Iraq had no part in the 9/11 attack and there is no credible evidence that they did. Top members of the Senate recognize this and are meeting to decide what steps to take to admonish people like Bush and his co-conspirators. They recognize it even if the brain-washed minority still supporting Bush can't.

nowhere have i stated Iraq has had anything to do with 9/11, in fact i think you'll find ever since the war begin i've held the position that Iraq wasn't involved in those attacks. Unfortunately you don't seem capable of understanding that Al Queda isn't the be all and end all. Islamic Fundamentalism and its support networks are. I repeat for those are slow, ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM AND ITS SUPPORT NETWORKS ARE THE PROBLEM!

[iaapac]

Today's news . . . .

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A January 2003 CIA report raised doubts about a claim that al Qaeda sent operatives to Iraq to acquire chemical and biological weapons -- assertions that were repeated later by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell to the United Nations in making the case for the invasion of Iraq.

CNN on Thursday obtained a CIA document that outlined the history of the claim, which originated in 2002 with a captured al Qaeda operative who recanted two years later.

The CIA report appears to support a recently declassified document that revealed the Defense Intelligence Agency thought in February 2002 that the source, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, was lying to interrogators.

Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, this week released the DIA report in alleging the administration cited faulty intelligence to argue for the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

In February 2002, al-Libi, a senior military trainer for al Qaeda in Afghanistan, claimed the terrorist network "sent operatives to Iraq" to acquire weapons. His claim was reported in a CIA paper seven months later entitled, "Iraqi Support for Terrorism."

The January 2003 updated version of the report added a key point: "That the detainee was not in a position to know if any training had taken place."

The document obtained by CNN was provided recently to Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, who have been pressing for an investigation into the ways in which the Bush administration used intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before the war.

In February 2003 Powell made assertions that Iraq had ties to al Qaeda and argued for military action to prevent Baghdad from providing its suspected stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction to terrorists.

In his speech to the U.N. Security Council, Powell did not name al-Libi, but described the U.S. source as a senior terrorist operative.

"My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence. I will cite some examples, and these are from human sources," Powell told the world body.

He said the al Qaeda operative told interrogators that al Qaeda labs in Afghanistan were not capable of manufacturing chemical or biological agents.

"Where did they go? Where did they look? They went to Iraq," Powell said. "None of this should come as a surprise to any of us. Terrorism has been a tool used by Saddam [Hussein] for decades."

No such stockpiles turned up after the U.S.-led invasion, and the independent commission investigating al Qaeda's 2001 attacks on New York and Washington found no evidence of a collaborative relationship between the two entities.

Al-Libi recanted in January 2004 a number of claims he made while in custody, according to the CIA document. His reversal prompted the CIA to order all prior intelligence suggesting Iraq trained al Qaeda personnel in chemical and biological warfare "recalled and re-issued" in February 2004.

A U.S. intelligence official said the information from al-Libi used by Powell in early 2003 was "the best we had at the time" and that the CIA informed policymakers as soon as he recanted his claims.

Another official, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, told reporters Thursday that the intelligence used to support the war had been developed over a "long period of time."

"We all looked at the same intelligence, and most people -- on the intelligence -- reached the same conclusion," Hadley said, referring to the present and previous administrations and to Congress.

A senior administration official said Bush would "directly take on some of these false attacks by some Democratic leaders" during a Veterans Day speech Friday.

[Nirwana]

Well I didn't have time to read all this but all I want to say is: time.. also resources, loads of money and the worst of all, a WASTE of lives for both sides. This war is simply pointless.

Edited November 12, 2005 by Nirwana

[QuantumE]

Well I didn't have time to read all this but all I want to say is: time.. also resources, loads of money and the worst of all, a WASTE of lives for both sides. This war is simply pointless.

Im not trying to be rude here but say you were in the military and endured 2 years of duty in hell to fight for your country, fight for freedom and for the peoples way of life and come home to find out the people you fought for thought it was pointless and a waste of time.

Edited November 12, 2005 by QuantumE

[Celumnaz]

I'm So glad you posted that article iaapac. You have No Idea how relevant it is today.

Stephen Hadley, and the CIA, Valerie Plame, Joeseph Wilson, all of these names are Very relevant.

[Lord Umbarger]

Didn't they already settle the Al Quida / Iraq connection? I mean, I thought that when they found Al Zarchouwi there that it was kind of like proof and when they realized that most of the fighting in Iraq now is with Osama trained insurgents, it was kind of like further proof?

How much proof does the world need? Do we really need to have a Terrorist flag flying over Bagdad to get the message across?