# Are You Still SURE There's No Iraq- al Qaida Connection? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 28, 2004, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-still-sure-theres-no-iraq-al-qaida-connection/231599 "2004-02-28T07:27:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Frankenstein\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@Frankenstein\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankenstein_Monster)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-still-sure-theres-no-iraq-al-qaida-connection/231599/41 "2004-05-28T20:09:24Z")
[Fixed link](http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/5/27/100047.shtml) And that story is a load of nonsense. It wasn’t “reported”. It was an **editorial**. [Here](http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005133) It was debunked in this thread: [Documents prove Saddam was involved in 9/11???](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=258580&highlight=wall+street+journal) ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-still-sure-theres-no-iraq-al-qaida-connection/231599/42 "2004-05-28T20:29:19Z")
Are You Still SURE There’s No Iraq- al Qaida Connection? If you look deeply enough, and take Kevin Bacon into account, you’ll see that they are indeed connected. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-still-sure-theres-no-iraq-al-qaida-connection/231599/43 "2004-05-28T20:34:47Z")
You don’t need Kevin Bacon to get there. Saddam Hussein held a meeting with Donald Rumsfeld, who is the Secretary of Defense for George W. Bush, who did business with the bin Laden family, whose members include Osama bin Laden. Too easy. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-still-sure-theres-no-iraq-al-qaida-connection/231599/44 "2004-05-28T20:47:14Z")
Yes, I’m still sure. > [@flight](#): > > I am going to have to be somewhat skeptical. Check out the Editor’s Note at the bottom of the page. Which note do you mean? ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-still-sure-theres-no-iraq-al-qaida-connection/231599/45 "2004-05-28T21:03:05Z")
This one undoubtedly: “One of the mysteries of postwar Iraq is why the Bush Administration and our $40-billion-a-year intelligence services haven’t devoted more resources to probing the links between Saddam’s regime and al Qaeda.” I wonder if looking for this connection hasoccurred to the WH. Maybe someone whould send them a note to look into it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-still-sure-theres-no-iraq-al-qaida-connection/231599/46 "2004-05-28T21:08:44Z")
As someone else mentioned in that other thread, the administration would be talking this up if it was credible. It’s not like it could hurt them, and their reasons for the war could use a boost. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-still-sure-theres-no-iraq-al-qaida-connection/231599/47 "2004-05-28T21:11:14Z")
This is too good to pass up: “But John Ashcroft’s press conference yesterday reminds us that the terror threat remains…” But we invaded Iraq and kicked their ass. Why does the terror threat remain? Why the fuck aren’t we safer after the [sagan]billion and billions[sagan] of dollars pumped into the companies who have contracts in Iraq? ---
**Author:** ![New\_Iskander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/db5fbb/32.png) [@New\_Iskander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Iskander)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-still-sure-theres-no-iraq-al-qaida-connection/231599/48 "2004-05-29T06:57:49Z")
May be you can add [this article](http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/152lndzv.asp?pg=2) to your portfolio, particularly the part that shows what was conventional wisdom on Iraq-Al Qaida connection before Bush. It begins with words “_THERE WAS A TIME not long ago_”… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-still-sure-theres-no-iraq-al-qaida-connection/231599/49 "2004-05-29T07:29:55Z")
It was certainly “conventional”. “Wisdom”? I think not. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-still-sure-theres-no-iraq-al-qaida-connection/231599/50 "2004-05-29T10:58:37Z")
Ah, ‘conventional wisdom.’ A perfect excuse. I can’t have made a mistake, it was conventional wisdom. Everybody knew it, I was just the only one who acted on it, so that makes me not wrong. Make sense. Unless somebody asks why would invade a country based on conventional wisdom instead of solid intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![quixotic78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3ab097/32.png) [@quixotic78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quixotic78)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-still-sure-theres-no-iraq-al-qaida-connection/231599/51 "2004-05-29T11:19:57Z")
**Sam** , don’t take this personally – you’re a decent enough sort. I’m just doing my part in the fight against ignorance, and wanted to prevent embarrassment for anyone (like me, initially _blush_) who read the post below without checking the date: > [@Sam Stone](#): > > As far as I can tell, the only real plausible connection mentioned before the war was the Saddam connection with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi is associated with Ansar al-Islam, a terrorist group that was operating in Northern Iraq outside of Saddam’s control. This has been used by opponents of the Zarqawi-Saddam connection to show that Saddam had nothing to do with the man. But there are some problems with this - primarily, the fact that Zarqawi seemed to be able to move freely throughout Iraq, and that he sought and received major medical treatment (a leg amputation) in a Baghdad hospital, something which simply should not have been possible if he were truly an enemy of Saddam. (emphasis added) al-Zarqawi has both of his legs. As far as the OP, given that I haven’t heard Dick Cheney recently trumpet anything about an al-Qaida/Saddam link, I’m pretty content there isn’t one. I don’t use Cheney as my barometer because he’s the guy who, AFAIK, still maintains that those hydrogen-producing trailers are mobile weapons labs. No, I’m content because Cheney just has such a trustworthy [face](http://www.suver.com/images/cheney.jpg). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-still-sure-theres-no-iraq-al-qaida-connection/231599.md?page=2)