Iraq - Saddam gave aid to al Qaeda

That's according to none other than Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton

In a speech she gave on the floor of the Senate, in which she gave her reasons for voting for the war in Iraq, Clinton not only claimed Iraq aided al Qaeda, she also claimed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. She also notes that President Clinton changed the US's policy towards Iraq from one of containment to one of regime change - in 1998.

In 1998, the United States also changed its underlying policy toward Iraq from containment to regime change and began to examine options to effect such a change, including support for Iraqi opposition leaders within the country and abroad.

In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001.

It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Even Clinton national securtiy advisor, Richard Clarke, was worried that bin Laden would "boogie to Baghdad".

And MSM gladly reported on those links and more - when Clinton was in office. This ABC video report on those links.

Here's an audio clip with much more on the Iraq-al Qaeda connections as well as Iraq's WMD.

You can read a lot more about Saddam and al Qaeda here.

Search Google for even more on the connections between Iraq and al Qaeda.

Keep all this in mind when you read stories and reports that there were no connections between Iraq and al Qaeda. Pay particular attention to the wording as you likly see words such as "no collaboration" or "no operational cooperation". It is unlikely you will read a flat out denial such as "there was no connection" between Iraq and al Qaeda. Obviously there was as it's doubtful Sen. Hilary Clinton would have made such a declaration as this:

"He [Saddam] has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members,..."

And what kind of aid could Sen. Clinton be talking about? Maybe aid in the form of an Iraqi passport for the al Qaeda ringleader in the first World Trade Center bombing, Ramzi Yousef.

Yousef, 35, a man of many aliases whose background is still shrouded in mystery, arrived in the United States on an Iraqi passport in 1992 and assembled a team of co-conspirators.

Aid, collaboration or cooperation? Does the distinction matter?

UPDATE

In fact, the Clinton administration in 1998 claimed there was an operational link between Iraq and al Qaeda. A 1998 Justice Department indictment of bin Laden says:

In addition, al Qaeda reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the government of Iraq."

That comes from the Clinton's Justice Department.

UPDATE

More here.