I would have more respect for a president that didn't get us involved in Iraq in the first place because it had nothing to do with the terror attacks on 9/11.
Of course, there is also the possibility that if not for our occupation of Iraq, those terrorists would not have been planning the attack in the first place...thus nullifying the need for the intel from a terrorist captured in Iraq.
Amazing how complicated a place the world can be, despite your best efforts to simplify it.
Actually, it's amazing to see people regurgitate undeducated drivel when the facts are out there. If you look for them, that is.
President Bush made these statements prior to the invasion of Iraq:
"Any person, organization, or government that supports, protects, or harbors terrorists is complicit in the murder of the innocent, and equally guilty of terrorist crimes."
"Any outlaw regime that has ties to terrorist groups, and seeks or possesses weapons of mass destruction, is a grave danger to the civilized world, and will be confronted."
Pretty hard to disagree with such impeccable logic.
There certainly is enough evidence to indicate the Iraq, particularly Saddam Hussein, supported terrorism, harbored it, financed it and even encouraged it. Not all of the groups he had ties with targeted the US or it’s interests, but he certainly has a history with some shady types.
What about the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)? Responsible for the deaths of over 300 people? Abu Nidal (Sabri al-Banna), died in Iraq, where up until the day of his suspicious “suicide” in August of 1992, managed to have Iraqi authorities refuse to hand him over despite the US and other nations repeated requests. Ultimately, Abu Nidal died “mysteriously” while Iraqi officials, fearing that they might appear to be sponsoring terrorism, attempted to “detain” him. Well, then why did they wait 4-8 days to report his death, which they ultimately claimed was a suicide? Some folks believe that Saddam had Abu Nidal killed because he was also assisting terrorist organizations that Saddam felt were not in Iraq’s interests and that he had threatened to reveal to what extent Iraq was involved in international terrorism. In any case, ol’ Nidal was living in Baghdad while wanted for terrorism abroad. Pretty hard to deny that, since it was the Iraqi Authority that provided photographs of his corpse.
“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 to mention that from 1974 to 1983 the ANO waged an intensive terrorist war against its perceived enemies from its headquarters in Baghdad. These enemies included Syria (Abu Nidal twice attempted to assassinate Abdul Halim Khaddam, the Syrian foreign minister at the time; Fatah, several of whose representatives in Europe were murdered; Jewish interests, such as synagogues in Vienna, Rome, and Brussels, a Jewish school in Antwerp, and a Jewish restaurant in Paris; Jordan several of whose diplomats were killed; and Israel. Abu Nidal's attempt on the life of the Israeli ambassador in London, whom ANO assassins wounded was the event that triggered the war in Lebanon and ultimately cost the lives of over 200 U.S. Marines in a truck bombing of their barracks.
Expelled in 1983 after operating out of there since 1974, but suddenly back in 1992 for the grand finale?
Pretty hard to deny links to terrorists when they are operating right out of your country.
What about Islamic Hamas? You know, those are the folks responsible for all those “suicide bombers” in Israel? Saddam is on the record as offering $25,000 to the family of every Palestinian who died blowing up Israelis.
Then there is the direct financial assistance he provided to not only Hamas, but also to Islamic Jihad, the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), and the Arab Liberation Front (ALF). The ALF is a proxy organization entirely created and funded by Saddam, intended to conduct terrorist activities against declared “enemies” of Saddam.
The Bush administration has often made mention of a fellow named Zarqawi (Usama Bin Laden’s second in command), who fled to Iraq after being wounded fighting in Afghanistan as a result of those wounds. He was wounded fighting against US forces there in May of 2002. Colin Powell alleges that Zarqawi spent a few months in Iraq recuperating after his surgery, where he continued to plan further terrorist attacks. And lets face it. Saddam wasn’t the kind of guy that didn’t know what was going in his own country. But who is Zarqawi?
Well, Zarqawi isn’t a nice guy. He led the murder of Lawrence Foley (US Agency for International Development) in Amman, Jordan, then is supposed to have fled to Iraq to “obtain weapons and explosives for further operations” to be used against foreign embassies, officials and particularly, American and Israeli targets and citizens. In addition, a key Zarqawi deputy called Foley's assassins on a satellite phone to congratulate them while he was driving out of Iraq toward Turkey, a mistake that led to his capture and confirmation that an Al-Qaeda cell was operating out of Iraq. All of this is according to Secretary of State, Colin Powell, who also claimed Zarqawi managed to set up and operate an Al-Qaeda cell right out of Baghdad. Pretty hard to deny Iraq didn’t have terrorists in country, when they keep turning up there, either captured or dead.
But I’ll discuss that later.
What about Abu Abbas (Mahmoud Abbas), secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)? A little history you might look up yourself if you cared to:
"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 live on state-run 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 weapons, which they then 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 in order to build a terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank. Apparently, his operational plans included infiltrating Ben Gurion International Airport with a car bomb."
U.S. Special Operations Forces captured Abbas in southern Baghdad April 15, 2003. Abbas is best known for his role in the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship, which resulted in the murder of American Leon Klinghoffer. Abbas directed four fellow terrorists in the takeover of the Italian vessel carrying more than 400 passengers and crewmembers off the coast of Egypt. They demanded the release of 50 Palestinians held by Israel.
"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 Hussein and encourage solidarity between the Iraqi regime and the Palestinian people against their common "Zionist" and "imperialist" enemies."
