Al Qaeda Connection

Not that this is a surprise to anyone that doesn't reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., but according to a staff report released this morning by the bi-partisan 9-11 commission, and in stark contrast to what the administration has been claiming, there is "no credible evidence" that Saddam Hussein collaborated with Al Qaeda on any attacks on the United States.

As the Washington Post reports, "The findings come in the wake of statements Monday by Vice President Cheney that Iraq had "long-established ties" with al Qaeda, and comments by President Bush yesterday backing up that assertion."

"Although Osama bin Laden briefly explored the idea of forging ties with Iraq in the mid-1990s, the terrorist leader was hostile to Hussein's secular government, and Iraq never responded to requests for help in providing training camps or weapons, the panel's report says.

The Sept. 11 panel, which opened its last two-day round of hearings this morning, said in a report on al Qaeda's history that the government of Sudan, which gave sanctuary to al Qaeda from 1991 to 1996, persuaded bin Laden to cease supporting anti-Hussein forces and "arranged for contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda." But the contacts did not result in any cooperation, the panel said.

"There have been reports that contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda also occurred after bin Laden had returned to Afghanistan [in 1996], but they do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship," the report says. "Two senior bin Laden associates have adamantly denied that any ties existed between al Qaeda and Iraq. We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States."

Our steady leadership however refuses to acknowledge this simple fact. Dick still thinks that there were "long established ties...." He probably also thinks that those mobile trailers were weapons labs...UNBELIEVABLE!!!