tagerd0g Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 Source: CNN WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The panel investigating the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks found that there was "no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States," according to a staff report issued on Wednesday.The report says Osama bin Laden "explored possible cooperation with Iraq during his time in Sudan, despite his opposition to (Saddam) Hussein's secular regime. Bin Laden had in fact at one time sponsored anti-Saddam Islamists in Iraqi Kurdistan. "The Sudanese, to protect their own ties with Iraq, reportedly persuaded bin Laden to cease this support and arranged for contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda." A senior Iraqi intelligence officer reportedly made three visits to Sudan, finally meeting bin Laden in 1994. Bin Laden is said to have requested space to establish training camps, as well as assistance in procuring weapons, but Iraq apparently never responded. "There have been reports that contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda also occurred after bin Laden had returned to Afghanistan, but they do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship," the report said. "Two senior bin Laden associates associates have adamantly denied" any relationship, the report said. The report also found that there was no "convincing evidence that any government financially supported al Qaeda before 9/11" other than the limited support provided by the Taliban when bin Laden arrived in Afghanistan. It found that Saudi Arabia was a rich fund-raising ground for al Qaeda, but that it had found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior officials within the Saudi government funded al Qaeda. The commission, which is scheduled to release its final report on the attacks at the end of July, is holding its last hearings Wednesday and Thursday. Among those testifying at Wednesday's hearing will be a number of CIA officials, who will not be identified in order to protect their anonymity should they be sent on overseas assignments in the future. Commission chairman Thomas Kean told CNN that the panel would focus on learning more about bin Laden's terrorist network. "We want to know why these people hate us so much. We're going to follow some of these conspirators from one step to the other as they plan the attack. Then we're going to turn to the response. What did our leaders do? What decisions did they have to make? How did they get planes in the air? How did they do all those things? Mistakes were made on both sides," Kean said. The panel is expected to discuss reports that al Qaeda had planned to launch the attacks in May or June of 2001, but postponed them because Mohammed Atta and his group were not ready. "It tells you they're very cautious and careful and an enemy we cannot underestimate. They're entrepreneurial and we've just got to be ready for whatever they have in mind," Kean said. The panel will also look at the U.S. response to the attacks, which struck the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. A fourth plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Almost 3,000 people died in the attacks. Last month, the commission met in New York, where it heard testimony about the emergency response to the attacks. The panel has also questioned President Bush and Vice President Cheney, former President Bill Clinton, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Attorney General John Ashcroft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3n Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 wow look at that no conection to al queda an iraq :p never expected that one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Derf Veteran Posted June 16, 2004 Veteran Share Posted June 16, 2004 This was bloody obviously from the beginning. Sadam was a secular leader. Bin Laden hated secular leaders. They both hated the United States. So what? Many countries do. This "Axis of Evil" exists only in Bush's mind. They all hate each other as much as they hate the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Island Dog Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 "There have been reports that contacts between Iraq and al-Qaida also occurred after bin Laden had returned to Afghanistan, but they do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship," the report said. "Two senior Bin Laden associates have adamantly denied that any ties existed between al-Qaida and Iraq." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Veteran Posted June 16, 2004 Veteran Share Posted June 16, 2004 This was bloody obviously from the beginning. Sadam was a secular leader. Bin Laden hated secular leaders. They both hated the United States. So what? Many countries do. This "Axis of Evil" exists only in Bush's mind. They all hate each other as much as they hate the US. How morbidly reassuring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 Hold on, let me recover from my shock. Oh wait, I wasn't shocked. Why is anyone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3n Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0303-01.htm http://truthout.org/docs_02/020403B.htm http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20040601-101402-8522r.htm http://www.thememoryhole.com/war/no-saddam-qaeda.htm [Adam Boulton, Sky News (London):]One question for you both. Do you believe that there is a link between Saddam Hussein, a direct link, and the men who attacked on September the 11th?THE PRESIDENT: I can't make that claim. THE PRIME MINISTER: That answers your question Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Island Dog Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 http://www.nationalreview.com/robbins/robbins091903.asp http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...27%2Fwalq27.xml http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/terror/98110402.htm http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,...,798270,00.html http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read...le.asp?ID=12292 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowimnothing Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 I wish i could find a link to an article that proves that you can find a link to an article that proves just about anything you want to say... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Veteran Posted June 16, 2004 Veteran Share Posted June 16, 2004 I wish i could find a link to an article that proves that you can find a link to an article that proves just about anything you want to say... sounds sweet, gotta link to that? :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Derf Veteran Posted June 16, 2004 Veteran Share Posted June 16, 2004 Jun. 16, 2004. 12:16 PM Panel finds no link between Saddam, 9/11 HOPE YEN ASSOCIATED PRESS ...As recently as Monday, U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney asserted that Saddam had ?long-established ties? with the terrorist network. In making the case for war in Iraq, Bush administration officials frequently cited what they said were Saddam?s decade-long contacts with Al Qaeda operatives. They stopped short of claiming that Iraq was directly involved in the Sept. 11 attacks but critics say Bush officials left that impression with the American public. ... - http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...ol=968793972154 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threetonesun Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 Hold on, let me recover from my shock.Oh wait, I wasn't shocked. Why is anyone else? You weren't shocked and awed? We were all supposed to be shocked and awed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fotix Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 Yeah, this is the second time they've come out and said that. I hope Bush and Cheney are enjoying the grenade the Commission just dropped into their laps. No wonder Bush first tried to block the Commission and then, after a flip flop, tried to appoint Henry Kissinger to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Bourricot Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 Wow... I never could have guessed... so why the war? /sarcasm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Veteran Posted June 16, 2004 Veteran Share Posted June 16, 2004 The 9/11 Commission is a joke. Amazing that she is still on the commission after being party to those the commission has investigated. Jamie Gorelick wants to be Attorney General ? badly. That is why she agreed to be on the 9/11 Commission.?/b> Her reward for sufficiently tarring President Bush in the Commission?s report would be a guaranteed position as Attorney General in a Democrat administration.? Jamie Gorelick wants to be Attorney General, and she will do anything to get the job.As an interesting side note, Ms. Gorelick also had designs on the top spot in the CIA; Clinton passed upon her candidacy for that position as well, though it had been reported that she was being considered, along with Sandy Berger.? Aside from a brief stint as the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense, her qualifications for that position ? Director of the CIA ? remain aHer judgment on matters of intelligence ? e.g. the now-famous information ?wall? between the CIA and FBI ? has been, at best questionable; at worst, it should properly be the subject of the very investigation she is involved in as a 9/11 Commissioner.? Commissioner.? Jamie Gorelick wants to finally emerge from the shadow of Janet Reno, not merely as the de facto Attorney General, but as the actual attorney general of the United States.? Her outrageous conflict of interest as a Commissioner of the 9/11 panel is just par for the course, and her keen political skills will enable her to deflect criticism and keep her position ? despite the strong evidence that she should, in fact, step down as a Commissioner and be A former Democrat staffer recently stated that Ms. Gorelick is on the commission for one reason ? and it isn?t for her legal mind.? Gorelick is on the Commission ?to make sure Bush and his team look as bad as possible and to protect the Clintons and Reno."? Her reward for doing her job well. . . the powerful position she has coveted for seven years. has coveted for seven years. link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dallas Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 what a big fat wste of money that investigation was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b mitchell Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 mostly true, it was obvious from the beginning, but we always have to have a committee to prove it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennyout Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 [edit] :blush: double-posted...slow connection here at work adonai....be careful....it may not just be a slow connection....you may be being monitored!!! of course the 9-11 commission is worthless...its like way too late to make heads or tails, i mean people have had time to cover their tracks....both sides.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3beanlimit Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 The commission a joke? Funny that those claiming that are not aware that the commission is/are going out of their way to not lay blame on any administration. My guess is those that claim the money is ill spent are really complaining that the commission didn't find a direct link to justify the war with Iraq. Dang...who's the real enemy here? Bin Laden or Saddam? Who's still running free? I'd also like to point out that imho, after lurking here for some time, a lot of the same complainers are also the same supporters of Star and his 100 million dollar (70 million offical by the GAO) witch hunt... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3ta Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 wow look at that no conection to al queda an iraq :pnever expected that one :omg: Yeah, it was so obvious to so many people. And to think that Germany was one of the largest nations that wouldn't have a bar of Pres. Bush's Axis of Evil rubbish. I still remember how much taunting and idiocy I had to put up with from so many when I stood up against the invasion of Iraq and supported Germany for it's anti-war stance. Who's the fool now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3ta Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 Hold on, let me recover from my shock.Oh wait, I wasn't shocked. Why is anyone else? +1 to the group of the "not shocked" ones. Most people who didn't get sucked in by the warmongering and politics could quite clearly see that this war was just about the American administration flexing it's military muscle just for show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3ta Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 The 9/11 Commission is a joke. Amazing that she is still on the commission after being party to those the commission has investigated.link Actually Pres. Bush and Sec. Rumsfeld are the jokes. Now are they going to get impeached or what? I call for the government to resign. NOW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azcodemonkey Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 ,Jun 16 2004, 17:49] Actually Pres. Bush and Sec. Rumsfeld are the jokes. Now are they going to get impeached or what? I call for the government to resign. NOW Of course the commission was a joke. Since when can politicians be expected to be concerned about the truth? They are only ever self-interested. When do we get to vote with bullets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Island Dog Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 Actually Pres. Bush and Sec. Rumsfeld are the jokes. Now are they going to get impeached or what? I call for the government to resign. NOW :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pencilmonkey Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 The 9/11 Commission is a joke. Amazing that she is still on the commission after being party to those the commission has investigated.link Editorials are wonderful things....they can say whatever they want without having to offer a shred of proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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