9/11 report: No Iraq link to al-Qaida

[Czar]

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030723-064812-9491r

WASHINGTON, July 23 (UPI) -- The report of the joint congressional inquiry into the suicide hijackings on Sept. 11, 2001, to be published Thursday, reveals U.S. intelligence had no evidence that the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein was involved in the attacks, or that it had supported al-Qaida, United Press International has learned.

"The report shows there is no link between Iraq and al-Qaida," said a government official who has seen the report.

Former Democratic Georgia Sen. Max Cleland, who was a member of the joint congressional committee that produced the report, confirmed the official's statement.

Asked whether he believed the report will reveal that there was no connection between al-Qaida and Iraq, Cleland replied: "I do ... There's no connection, and that's been confirmed by some of (al-Qaida leader Osama) bin Laden's terrorist followers."

The revelation is likely to embarrass the Bush administration, which made links between Saddam's support for bin Laden -- and the attendant possibility that Iraq might supply al-Qaida with weapons of mass destruction -- a major plank of its case for war.

"The administration sold the connection (between Iraq and al-Qaida) to scare the pants off the American people and justify the war," said Cleland. "What you've seen here is the manipulation of intelligence for political ends."

The inquiry, by members of both the House and Senate intelligence committees, was launched in February last year amid growing concerns that failures by U.S. intelligence had allowed the 19 al-Qaida terrorists to enter the United States, hijack four airliners, and kill almost 3,000 people.

Although the committee completed its work at the end of last year, publication of the report has been delayed by interminable wrangles between the committees and the administration over which parts of it could be declassified.

 

[phillyTIM]

well that pretty much just blew the Busheviks propoganda out of the water, as far as using 9/11 as a tool to justify this illegitimate iraqi invasion

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: phillyTIM
well that pretty much just blew the Busheviks propoganda out of the water, as far as using 9/11 as a tool to justify this illegitimate iraqi invasion

Oh, I am sure you are wrong. Posts after ours will probably disagree as if they were at the inquiry. I have bookmarked it for future reference though

 

[lozina]

Originally posted by: WinstonSmith

Originally posted by: phillyTIM
well that pretty much just blew the Busheviks propoganda out of the water, as far as using 9/11 as a tool to justify this illegitimate iraqi invasion

Oh, I am sure you are wrong. Posts after ours will probably disagree as if they were at the inquiry. I have bookmarked it for future reference though

They sure are running out of reason to repeat to themselves that the war was justified...

 

[adlep]

Lets see CKG's respose to that....

 

[Bowfinger]

We already knew this from other sources, but it's good to have further corroboration. Unfortunately, there will still be too many Americans who continue to believe the lie.

 

[mosco]

Anyone remember the report that said 20 percent of the public thought there was direct evidence. I saw it on fark a while ago.