Now and then

Read this: Listen to them now and see what they said then. The quotes on that page came from this page: Weapons of Mass Destruction. I linked to the first page so that people could read the comments, both supportive and not, that others have left.

I note this one in particular:

"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 ... 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."
-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002

Note the *specific* reference to al Qaeda.

Since it's related to this, I would also like to take this opportunity to refer to a previous post of mine in my LiveJournal in which I linked to a summation of what the administration knew, what it alleged, and what it has found out since. An anonymous commenter left a comment and I responded to it. Since the commenter was anonymous, my response was not sent to him or her in email (unless LiveJournal has a way of doing that). So, in case he or she, or anyone else, missed my response, here it is with the original comment:

Commenter:

No links to Iraq or Saddam Hussein and Sept 11

"No, we’ve had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September the 11th," Bush said.

A recent poll indicated that nearly 70 percent of Americans believed Saddam probably was involved. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday, "I’ve not seen any indication that would lead me to believe that I could say that."

Bush said there was no attempt by the administration to try to confuse people about any link between Saddam and Sept. 11.

My response:

Nowhere in that article does it say that Hussein was involved with the September 11 attacks. All it says is that there was a relationship between Hussein and al Qaeda. The only time September 11 is mentioned is in the following:

No fewer than five high-ranking Czech officials have publicly confirmed that Mohammed Atta, the lead September 11 hijacker, met with Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim al-Ani, an Iraqi intelligence officer working at the Iraqi embassy, in Prague five months before the hijacking. Media leaks here and in the Czech Republic have called into question whether Atta was in Prague on the key dates--between April 4 and April 11, 2001. And several high-ranking administration officials are "agnostic" as to whether the meeting took place. Still, the public position of the Czech government to this day is that it did.

That assertion should be seen in the context of Atta's curious stop-off in Prague the previous spring, as he traveled to the United States. Atta flew to Prague from Germany on May 30, 2000, but did not have a valid visa and was denied entry. He returned to Germany, obtained the proper paperwork, and took a bus back to Prague. One day later, he left for the United States.

Despite the Czech government's confirmation of the Atta-al Ani meeting, the Bush administration dropped it as evidence of an al Qaeda-Iraq connection in September 2002. Far from hyping this episode, administration officials refrained from citing it as the debate over the Iraq war heated up in Congress, in the country, and at the U.N.

Just because Hussein wasn't involved in the planning and execution of the September 11 attacks doesn't mean he didn't have contact with and supported al Qaeda. I can be friends with someone, even give them money, and have nothing to do with most of the actions they undertake.