Juan Cole: "Saddam Was Trying to Capture Zarqawi" as enemy of his regime!

[Inland]

http://www.juancole.com/

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Saddam Was Trying to Capture Zarqawi

The Bush administration repeatedly made the presence in Iraq of Abu Musab Zarqawi a pretext for invading the country and overthrowing Saddam Hussein. They implied that he was a client of Saddam and that Saddam had arranged for hospital care for him.

Newly released documents from the captured Iraqi archives show that Saddam had put out an APB for Zarqawi and was trying to have him arrested as a danger to the Baath regime!


' However, one of the documents, a letter from an Iraqi intelligence official, dated August 17, 2002, asked agents in the country to be on the lookout for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and another unnamed man whose picture was attached. '


The September 29, 2002 Denver Post paraphrased Cheney, "He said the evidence presented against Iraq will be long and persuasive, including more details of a relationship between Hussein's forces and the al-Qaeda terrorist network."

[leftchick]

1. zarqawi was not considered affiliated with al-qaeda back then

they were in, uh, competition for followers.

[LynnTheDem]

3. Zarqawi was Ansar al Islam, located in Kurdistan under US protection

The leader of Ansar al Islam lives to this very second a free man in Norway.

And as you say, Leftchick, Zarqawi & al Qaeda were not allied; they were competitors. And gee, even the CIA said so from the beginning.

But hey, george w. bush knows best and would never ever lie! :eyes:

Gawd but I detest MFing rightwingnuts, just on general principles coz they're so fucking STUPID.

[LynnTheDem]

2. That's very old old news; it's why al Zarqawi was in KURDISTAN...

under AMERICAN PROTECTION, not in Iraq.

[RazzleDazzle]

4. please post the permalink