A blatantly false assertions?

[nbcrusader]

The conventional wisdom for the last year was that there was absolutely no connection between Saddam and al Qaeda - usually offered to invalidate a basis for the Iraqi war.

Seem more evidence of a connection exists

And on it goes. This conventional wisdom--that our two most determined enemies were not in league, now or ever--is comforting. It is also wrong.

In late February 2004, Christopher Carney made an astonishing discovery. Carney, a political science professor from Pennsylvania on leave to work at the Pentagon, was poring over a list of officers in Saddam Hussein's much-feared security force, the Fedayeen Saddam. One name stood out: Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Hikmat Shakir. The name was not spelled exactly as Carney had seen it before, but such discrepancies are common. Having studied the relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda for 18 months, he immediately recognized the potential significance of his find. According to a report last week in the Wall Street Journal, Shakir appears on three different lists of Fedayeen officers.

 

[melon]

I find it doubtful. Bin Laden hated Saddam for running a secular government, so it would not have been to Saddam's benefit to support Al Qaeda. Shakir may have been part of Al Qaeda on his own. It appears that, in the dying years of Saddam's Iraq, he was just surrounded by "yes men" who told him what he wanted to hear, while many just did what they pleased.

It would not logically add up for Saddam and bin Laden to be friends, knowing bin Laden's known negative attitude against Saddam's secular Baathist government.

Melon

 

[Dreadsox]

What if Hypothetically Bin Laden had people infiltrating Saddam's forces? Is it possible we are now misreading things or are we still hoping.

This is not enough to convince me Saddam was involved in 9/11. I am convinced Bin Laden would have loved to see Saddam go.

 

[verte76]

I think quite possibly some people who happened to be Al-Qaeda were hanging out with Saddam, since he favored Sunni Muslims. I don't think Saddam and bin Laden were allies, however, since bin Laden hated Saddam because he was too "secular". In the Islamic world Islamic militants and secular-oriented leaders hate each other. It's a strange mix.

 

[Sherry Darling]

I agree Dread and Verte. There is really not much evidence here, and the Weekly Standard (NBC's source) several times in the past has headlined "Case Closed" on the Saddam/9-11 link, but when you read the actual article, no such specific claim was made. No wonder so many folks believe there was a connection, and to the White House for behaving as if there was one. I agree, too, that the ME prolly wasn't big enough for both Saddam and UBL.

SD