Report: Hussein's Terror Not 'Directly Linked' to al Qaeda
A report released by the Joint Forces Command confirms Hussein supported a number of terrorists and terrorist activities inside and outside Iraq. The report failed to identify a "direct link" between Hussein and terrorists calling themselves "al Qaeda," but found that Hussein co-operated with them.
The Iraqi regime was involved in regional and international terrorist operations prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom. The predominant targets of Iraqi state terror operations were Iraqi citizens, both inside and outside of Iraq. State sponsorship of terrorism became such a routine tool of state power that Iraq developed elaborate bureaucratic processes to monitor progress and accountability in the recruiting, training and resourcing of terrorists.
The report cited such examples as training for car bombs and suicide bombings in 1999 and 2000, both of which U.S. and Iraqi forces have struggled to contain since the rise of the insurgency in summer 2003.
Pentagon Report Finds No Direct Saddam-al-Qaida Connection, VOA
Also see: Saddam's Dangerous Friends: What a Pentagon review of 600,000 Iraqi documents tells us, Weekly Standard
Category: al Qaeda
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