This is as close to a declaration of war as this regime will ever announce.

At least we *should* have an easier time proving this isn't a "war on terror".

Macdonald
--


BBC. 19 March 2002. US says Iraq linked to al-Qaeda.

WASHINGTON -- Iraq has had contact with al-Qaeda and may be working with
the group, the head of the CIA has told the US Senate.

"Baghdad has a long history of supporting terrorism," said George Tenet,
director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

"It has also had contacts with al-Qaeda," he told the Senate's Armed
Services Committee.

The comments come as the US Vice-President, Dick Cheney, winds up an
international tour aimed at building support for a possible attack
against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, and as Iraqi officials try to
shore up support in the region.

Mr Tenet did not present any new hard evidence of Iraqi collusion with
al-Qaeda to the committee [not surprisingly].

And he said the jury was out on whether Iraq had been involved in the 11
September attacks on New York and Washington, blamed on al-Qaeda.

Co-operation between Iraq and al-Qaeda had previously been thought
unlikely because of their different philosophies.

"Their ties may be limited by divergent ideologies, but the two sides'
mutual antipathies toward the United States and the Saudi royal family
suggests that tactical co-operation between them is possible," Mr Tenet
said.

The CIA chief's comments are likely to be seen as providing further
grounds for a potential US attack against the Iraqi regime.

He said that Saddam Hussein was "well aware" of the "serious
consequences" which he could face for co-operation with al-Qaeda.

Mr Tenet also insisted that Iraq was continuing with its programme to
produce weapons of mass destruction.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Washington says that Mr Tenet's testimony is part
of a US attempt to build up a picture of Iraq as a threat to the region.



-------------------------------------------
Macdonald Stainsby
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international

"They are all Enron, we are all Argentina"
    --WEF protesters.
----
In the contradiction lies the hope.
                                     --Bertholt Brecht



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