POSSIBLE PROOF OF IRAQ/AL-QAEDA LINK

The revelation that Saddam Hussein's intelligence chiefs were seeking to establish links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'eda network is the first concrete proof that the dictator was colluding with the world's most ruthless terrorist operation. The documents discovered yesterday by The Telegraph in the former headquarters of the Iraqi intelligence service, the Mukhabarat, will also reopen the debate about whether Saddam was directly involved in the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

Click here. Personally, I'd like to know more. J. Orlin Grabbe (from whom I got the link to the story) asks a series of very reasonable questions and then gives answers quoted from newspaper reports:

THOSE AMAZING MOSSAD DOCUMENTS

Who Found the Documents?
"Iraqi intelligence documents discovered in Baghdad by The Telegraph have provided the first evidence of a direct link between Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'eda terrorist network and Saddam Hussein's regime.

"Papers found yesterday in the bombed headquarters of the Mukhabarat, Iraq's intelligence service, reveal that an al-Qa'eda envoy was invited clandestinely to Baghdad in March 1998."

—"The proof that Saddam worked with bin Laden", By Inigo Gilmore, The Telegraph, Filed: 27/04/2003

"Top-secret Iraqi intelligence documents, unearthed by the Toronto Star in the bombed-out headquarters of the dreaded Mukhabarat intelligence service in Baghdad, have established the first clear link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda organization."

—"Documents link Iraq, bin Laden, Star reporter finds terror chief's name in Iraqi dossier, covered with White-Out" by Toronto Star Staff, The Toronto Star, Apr. 26, 2003

How Did the Documents Get to Baghdad?
"The documents were found by correspondent Mitch Potter, the Star's Jerusalem bureau chief. Potter, who has been in and out of Iraq since the war began . . ." (i.e. travelling between Jerusalem and Baghdad). (Toronto Star)

What Function Do the Documents Serve?
"The papers will be seized on by Washington as the first proof of what the United States has long alleged - that, despire denials by both sides, Saddam's regime had a close relationship with al-Qa'eda." (The Telegraph)

Why Didn't the CIA Find the Documents?
"Spies from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, who scoured the building after it was bombed into rubble, apparently missed the documents." (The Toronto Star)

Why Didn't Iraq Remove These Documents with the Rest of the Files?
Apparently they were not worth bothering with.

What Super-Encryption Method Did the Iraqis Use to Conceal the Evidence?
"Bin Laden's name appears three times in the handwritten Iraqi file, but each of the references was clumsily concealed with White-Out and then blackened with ink." (The Toronto Star)

How Can You Tell If a Mossad Agent Has Been Using Your Word Processor?
The White-Out on the screen.

Obviously, there are plenty of questions still to be asked. Grabbe thinks this is a Mossad plant. I'm not so conspiracy oriented, but this does seem a bit fishy, if you ask me.

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