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March 13, 2008
Al Qaeda Not In Iraq Under Saddam? Bull Hockey! (Updated)
Topics: IraqIn spite of what the Pentagon report, joyfully shrilled by the media, says - this former Iraqi police officer says otherwise.
And if there were no al-Qaeda in Iraq before the U.S. invaded Saddam's regime, why does the name Ahmed Hikmat Shakir appear on three captured rosters of officers in Saddam Fedayeen, the elite paramilitary group run by Saddam's son Uday and entrusted with doing much of the regime's dirty work. Via the Wall Street Journal:
Our government sources, who have seen translations of the documents, say Shakir is listed with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.There's more ...... if Shakir was an officer in the Fedayeen, it would establish a direct link between Iraq and the al Qaeda operatives who planned 9/11. Shakir was present at the January 2000 al Qaeda "summit" in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at which the 9/11 attacks were planned. The U.S. has never been sure whether he was there on behalf of the Iraqi regime or whether he was an Iraqi Islamicist who hooked up with al Qaeda on his own.
It is possible that the Ahmed Hikmat Shakir listed on the Fedayeen rosters is a different man from the Iraqi of the same name with the proven al Qaeda connections. His identity awaits confirmation by al Qaeda operatives in U.S. custody or perhaps by other captured documents. But our sources tell us there is no questioning the authenticity of the three Fedayeen rosters. The chain of control is impeccable. The documents were captured by the U.S. military and have been in U.S. hands ever since.
... at the time of the summit Shakir was working at the Kuala Lumpur airport, having obtained the job through an Iraqi intelligence agent at the Iraqi embassy. The four-day al Qaeda meeting was attended by Khalid al Midhar and Nawaz al Hamzi, who were at the controls of American Airlines Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon. Also on hand were Ramzi bin al Shibh, the operational planner of the 9/11 attacks, and Tawfiz al Atash, a high-ranking Osama bin Laden lieutenant and mastermind of the USS Cole bombing. Shakir left Malaysia on January 13, four days after the summit concluded.
That's not the only connection between Shakir and al Qaeda.
And for inquiring minds, there's that not-so-little matter of Salman Pak:
... defectors from Iraqi intelligence stated that they had worked for several years at the secret Iraqi government camp, which had trained Islamic terrorists in rotations of five or six months since 1995. Training activities including (sic) simulated hijackings carried out in an airplane fuselage [said to be a Boeing 707] at the camp.I have no doubt that folks will continue to believe what suits em'. As for me, if it walks like a duck ............ The militants reportedly spent time training, usually in groups of five or six, around the fuselage of the airplane. There were rarely more than 40 or 50 Islamic radicals in the camp at one time.
Update via The Weekly Standard: (According to the "Report"): "... the evidence did not reveal a "smoking gun (direct connection)" between Iraq and al Qaeda. But, as noted, the report itself offers much evidence that the opposite is true."
... Anyone interested in the "strong evidence that links the regime of Saddam Hussein to regional and global terrorism" -- that language comes from this report, too -- should read the entire thing for themselves, here.
Posted by Richard at March 13, 2008 1:49 PM
Articles Related to Iraq:
- Costs Of Illegal Aliens Approaching Cost Of War In Iraq - Apr 22, 2008
- Iraq Today: By The Numbers - Apr 08, 2008
- WSJ: 'The Petraeus Effect' - Apr 08, 2008
- Report: 'Saddam Transferred WMDs To Syria' - Apr 07, 2008
- Iraqi Christians: Exodus, Ethnic Cleansing and Identity Annihilation - Apr 07, 2008
- Defeatacrats And Surrender-Media Screwed Again - This Time By Sadr Surrender - Apr 07, 2008
- Al-Qaeda Terrorist Leader Arrested SW of Mosul By Iraqi Police; Name Witheld - Mar 29, 2008
- More WaPo Shameful Shrills For The Enemy - Mar 29, 2008
- Michael Yon On Iraq - Mar 28, 2008
- Obama Wrong On Al-Qaeda In Iraq And Iran Connection - Mar 19, 2008
