Saddam and his government were retentive record keepers. These records are now providing proof that his government had direct ties to Al Qaida before
9-11. The evidence also indicates prior knowledge of the 9-11 attacks, as we all know nothing happaned in Iraq unless sanction by Saddam himself.
Saddams Files
Excerpt from the article,
One striking bit of new evidence is that the name Ahmed Hikmat Shakir appears 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. Our government sources, who have seen
translations of the documents, say Shakir is listed with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.
This matters because 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.
The U.S. government will have to be very careful in presenting this information
to a public jaded by mis-communications in the past. For this information to be believed an independent review board may have to be convened to verify
the chain of evidence.
None the less the introduction of this information will be enough to vindicate the decision to invade Iraq for many supporters of the war on
terror.
All that remains to be done is to get Al Qaida members currently in custody to positively identify that Ahmed Hikmat Shakir is in fact the same person
that attended both the Al Qaida meeting and was a member of Saddams militia.
The story that WSJ originally obtained its information for the editorial piece on political correctness of reporting Iraq - Al Qaida linkage.
Case Closed
Relevent Quote from the article,
"Some of the most intriguing intelligence concerns an Iraqi named Ahmed Hikmat Shakir:
24. According to sensitive reporting, a Malaysia-based Iraqi national (Shakir) facilitated the arrival of one of the Sept 11 hijackers for an
operational meeting in Kuala Lumpur (Jan 2000). Sensitive reporting indicates Shakir's travel and contacts link him to a worldwide network of
terrorists, including al Qaeda. Shakir worked at the Kuala Lumpur airport--a job he claimed to have obtained through an Iraqi embassy employee."
[Edited on 27-5-2004 by Phoenix]
[Edited on 5-27-2004 by Valhall]