WAR: Iraq Survey Group Conclude, No WMD.

"Three Intelligence angencies tell ABC News that they can't be certain what was discussed, but almost certainetly they say Bin Laden has been told he would be welcome in Baghdad."

"And intelligence sources say they can only speculate on the purpose of an alliance,"

"There are people prepard to commit terror in his name, who he does not even control"

Yahoo Cache

Iraq and Al Qaeda are not obvious allies. In fact, they are natural enemies. A central tenet of Al Qaeda's jihadist ideology is that secular Muslim rulers and their regimes have oppressed the believers and plunged Islam into a historic crisis. Hence, a paramount goal of Islamist revolutionaries for almost half a century has been the destruction of the regimes of such leaders as Presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar el-Sadat and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, President Hafez al-Assad of Syria, the military government in Algeria and even the Saudi royal family.

To contemporary jihadists, Saddam Hussein is another in a line of dangerous secularists, an enemy of the faith who refuses to rule by Shariah and has habitually murdered Sunni and Shiite religious leaders in Iraq who might oppose his regime. During the Persian Gulf war, Omar Abdel Rahman, the radical sheik now imprisoned in the United States, summed up the Islamist view when he was asked what the punishment should be for those who supported the United States in the conflict. He answered, "Both [those] who are against and the ones who are with Iraq should be killed."

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Gulf-News.com

"Socialists are infidels wherever they are - whether in Baghdad or Aden (Yemen)," it said, but added: "It does not hurt that in current circumstances, the interests of Muslims coincide with the interests of the socialists in the war against crusaders."

The United States has used its allegations of a link between al Qaeda and Iraq to support its case against Baghdad as it prepares for possible war over Iraq's alleged banned weapons.

But Bin Laden has often criticised Saddam, whose rule has been marked by purges of Islamists. Saddam said earlier this month he had no links with al Qaeda.

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CBS News

Rather: I understand. Mr. President, Americans are very much concerned about anyone's connections to Osama bin Laden. Do you have, have you had, any connections to Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden?

Translator For Saddam Hussein: Is this the basis of the anxiety in the minds of U.S. officials? Or is it the basis of anxiety in the minds of the people of the United States?

Rather: Mr. President, I believe I can report accurately that it's a major concern in the minds of the people in the United States.

Translator For Saddam Hussein: This issue, this topic did not appear�amongst the concerns of U.S. officials until - that is, about any relationship between Iraq and Osama bin Laden -- until recently. That is when they realized that what they had been saying about Iraq -- that Iraq was probably in possession of proscribed weapons of mass destruction -- or that Iraq might have manufactured some of those weapons after �.If that was the case, then that would be an embarrassment to the United Nations.

Then they began talking about the possibility of Iraq having relations with Osama bin Laden. Mr. Tony B- (GLITCH) actually asked me the same question, when I (UNINTEL). And I answered him, and I will answer you now very clearly. We have never had any relationship with Mr. Osama bin Laden, and Iraq has never had any relationship with Al Qaeda. And I think that Mr. Bin Laden himself has recently, in one of his speeches, given such an answer -- that we have no relation with him.

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Originally posted by Jakomo

Bottom line is that the American people were sold a bill of goods by their government. A bill of goods paid for by billions of dollars and the blood of its' young troops.

Am I totally off on this?

Originally posted by Muaddib
....or, it was the biggest set up to make the US a lackey to the UN...

Originally posted by John bull 1

The existence of these WMD's were the primary reason given by both the British and U.S.A to justify invading Iraq without UN authority and against the international concensus. Other leading countries in the UN wanted to allow UN inspections to continue.

Recognizing the threat Iraq�s non-compliance with Council resolutions and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles poses to international peace and security,

Recalling that its resolution 678 (1990) authorized Member States to use all
necessary means to uphold and implement its resolution 660 (1990) of 2 August 1990 and all relevant resolutions subsequent to resolution 660 (1990) and to restore international peace and security in the area,

Further recalling that its resolution 687 (1991) imposed obligations on Iraq as
a necessary step for achievement of its stated objective of restoring international peace and security in the area,

Originally posted by TrickmastertricK

Originally posted by Muaddib
....or, it was the biggest set up to make the US a lackey to the UN...

Now this is one route I do not believe anyone went down. If we are going to argue about this, I think almost every situation needs to be brought up and either accepted or debunked. As it stands right now, there are NO wmd's, plain and simple.

Originally posted by TrickmastertricK
I have not seen anyone on here go into detail that the US and UK were set up by other countries for their own agendas. You don't think they knew we would jump at the opportunity to get into Iraq?

Originally posted by Jakomo

Because I remember all of that pretty well, and I am by no stretch of the imagination a genius, so I can't figure out why people keep arguing on behalf of their government. Because it's obvious that your government doesn't give a crap about you if they're willing to make this stuff up.

Am I totally off on this?

Originally posted by marg6043
And as the world believed that the Saddam was a thread, what can you said when US intelligence is suppose to be one of the best and other countries rely on US for it.

Yes, you are totally off....if i had been the US only saying these things before the war i would have to agree with you....but you keep forgetting to add that the whole world was saying the same thing. Jakomo...nice try...you and others like you keep ignoring what most of the world was saying before the war.

Either every intelligence agency in the world was wrong in their own reports... or those wmd are still hidden somewhere....or, it was the biggest set up to make the US a lackey to the UN...

Originally posted by Muaddib
Have you heard about the UN resolution 1441? Didn't we go in under the conditions of that resolution and that's why we have a coalition?

State.gov
SECRETARY POWELL: It has been clear from the very beginning -- you know, I am one of the principal authors of 1441, and for better or worse, I can take some credit for having been one of its champions as we drove it through the United Nations Security Council process for a period of seven and a half weeks.
And we always insisted on three elements to that: one, Iraq is in material breach; two, this is their last chance; there
have to be serious consequences. And those serious consequences meant the use of force. And you've heard me say
that repeatedly, repeatedly. And I've also said that if the international community through the UN, when the time comes,
does not wish to use force, the United States reserves its right as a sovereign nation to make a judgment within this
clear record of violation to use force alongside likeminded nations who might wish to be part of such a coalition.
So I have been consistent throughout this entire process. And as I've watched the process unfold, I have watched Iraq
go by every exit ramp -- diplomatic exit ramp -- that was put there for them. They could have made a full, complete and
accurate declaration in December, which would have given us some confidence that they were serious about
disarmament. Instead, they gave us 12,200 pages of nothing very useful.

TextA Chilling Message from Dick Cheney

"[As] our country experienced war and national emergency, I have watched our Commander-in-Chief make the decisions and set the strategy... America's friends know they can trust -- and America's enemies know they can fear -- the decisive leadership of President George W. Bush." - Vice President Dick Cheney, from "Thank You, President Bush"

Originally posted by Jakomo
Okay WHAT are you talking about? The whole world was saying that Saddam had WMD?

I was there, where were you?

Prime Minister Paul Martin says he believes Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and they've fallen into terrorists' hands. Martin said the threat of terrorism is even greater now than it was following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, because terrorists have acquired nuclear, chemical and biological weapons from the toppled Iraqi leader.

"The fact is that there is now, we know well, a proliferation of nuclear weapons, and that many weapons that Saddam Hussein had, we don't know where they are," Martin told a crowd of about 700 university researchers and business leaders in Montreal. "That means terrorists have access to all of that."

"What is at stake is how to answer the potential threat Iraq represents with the risk of proliferation of WMD. Baghdad's regime did use such weapons in the past. Today, a number of evidences may lead to think that, over the past four years, in the absence of international inspectors, this country has continued armament programs." -- Jacques Chirac, October 16, 2002

I'm here to speak in support of the resolution before us, which I cosponsored. I believe we must vote for this resolution not because we want war, but because the national security of our country requires action. Mr. President, the prospect of using force to protect our security is the most difficult decision a nation must ever make.

We all agree that this is not an easy decision. It carries many risks. If force proves necessary, it will also carry costs, certainly in resources, and perhaps in lives. After careful consideration, I believe that the risks of inaction are far greater than the risks of action.

Saddam Hussein's regime represents a grave threat to America and our allies, including our vital ally, Israel. For more than two decades, Saddam Hussein has sought weapons of mass destruction through every available means. We know that he has chemical and biological weapons. He has already used them against his neighbors and his own people, and is trying to build more. We know that he is doing everything he can to build nuclear weapons, and we know that each day he gets closer to achieving that goal.

"Even today, Iraq is not nearly disarmed. Based on highly credible intelligence, UNSCOM [the U.N. weapons inspectors] suspects that Iraq still has biological agents like anthrax, botulinum toxin, and clostridium perfringens in sufficient quantity to fill several dozen bombs and ballistic missile warheads, as well as the means to continue manufacturing these deadly agents. Iraq probably retains several tons of the highly toxic VX substance, as well as sarin nerve gas and mustard gas. This agent is stored in artillery shells, bombs, and ballistic missile warheads. And Iraq retains significant dual-use industrial infrastructure that can be used to rapidly reconstitute large-scale chemical weapons production." --- Ex-Un Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter in 1998

DAMASCUS, Syria � A Syrian trading company with close ties to the ruling regime smuggled weapons and military hardware to Saddam Hussein between 2000 and 2003, helping Syria become the main channel for illicit arms transfers to Iraq despite a stringent U.N. embargo, documents recovered in Iraq show.
............
Other gaps in Washington's efforts to stem the flow of black-market weapons and missile technology to outlaw states emerged this month when Libya revealed that it had procured medium-range missiles and prohibited nuclear technology despite U.S. and U.N. sanctions.

An alleged terrorist accused of helping the 11 September conspirators was invited to a party by the Iraqi ambassador to Spain under his al-Qaeda nom de guerre, according to documents seized by Spanish investigators.

Yusuf Galan, who was photographed being trained at a camp run by Osama bin Laden, is now in jail, awaiting trial in Madrid. The indictment against him, drawn up by investigating judge Baltasar Garzon, claims he was 'directly involved with the preparation and carrying out of the attacks ... by the suicide pilots on 11 September'.