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Iraq 9 11 Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/020320/1/2m5qg.htmlhttp://sg.news.yahoo.com/020320/1/2m5qg.html
Wednesday March 20, 9:06 AM
Iraq has had contacts with
al-Qaeda, tactical cooperation
possible: CIA director
Iraq has had contacts with the
al-Qaeda terrorist organization
and it would be a mistake to dismiss either Iraq or Iran
as possible sponsors of the September 11 terrorist
attacks on the United States, the chief of US
intelligence said.
CIA Director George Tenet's comments in Senate
testimony marked a significant shift in emphasis for the
US intelligence community which had previously
discounted a connection between al-Qaeda and either
Iraq or Iran because of their ideological and religious
differences.
"As to where we are on September 11, the jury is still
out," Tenet said. "As I said carefully in my statement it
would be a mistake to dismiss the possibility of state
sponsorship whether Iranian or Iraqi and we'll see
where the evidence takes us," he said.
A US official, however, said the intelligence
community's has not changed its view that the evidence
does not link Iraq to the September 11 attack, and
Tenet did not intend to suggest otherwise.
"There is nothing new in the last several months that
changes our analysis in any way," said the official, who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
The question of whether Iraq has secretly supported
terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda on the United States has
been at the center of a long-running debate here over
the possible use of US military force to oust Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein.
The debate intensified following a disclosure by the
Czech government last year that the lead September 11
hijacker Mohammad Atta met in Prague as recently
April, 2001 with an Iraqi intelligence officer.
It has taken on renewed urgency as the Bush
administration attempts to mobilize international support
against Baghdad, citing the risk posed by "axis of evil"
countries that have weapons of mass destruction and a
history of supporting terrorism.
Tenet emphasized that the convergence of terrorism
and weapons of mass destruction "pose a strategic
threat to the United States that is not getting smaller," he
said.
He said that despite US gains in Afghanistan and
elsewhere, US diplomatic and military facilities were at
high risk of attack by al-Qaeda, especially in East
Africa Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and
Afghanistan.
A top US concern is Osama bin Laden's declared
readiness to stage unconventional attacks, he said.
"Documents recovered from al-Qaeda facilities in
Afghanistan show bin Laden was pursuing a
sophisticated biological weapons research program.
We also believe bin laden was seeking to acquire or
develop a nuclear device. Al-Qaeda may be pursuing a
radioactive dispersal device, which some call a 'dirty
bomb'," he said.
Administration officials have said they have no evidence
of state involvement in the attacks on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon.
And Tenet provided no details in asserting that Iraq had
contacts with al-Qaeda.
But he told the senators, "There's no doubt there have
been contacts or linkages to the al-Qaeda
organization."
"I want you to think about al-Qaeda as a front
company that mixes and matches its capabilities," he
said.
"The distinction between Sunni and Shia that have
traditionally divided terrorists groups are not distinctions
we should make any more, because there are common
interests against the United States and its allies in this
region, and they will seek capabilities wherever they
can get it," he said.
Referring to Iraq and al-Qaeda in an opening statement,
he said, "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 cooperation between them is possible."
With respect to Tehran, Tenet said it had failed to move
decisively against al-Qaeda members who moved to
Iran after the Taliban regime in Afghanistan collapsed.
Early signs of Iranian willingness to cooperate with the
United States in Afghanistan were being eclipsed by
Iranian efforts to undermine US influence there, he said.
"We see little reduction in Iran's support for terrorism in
the past year," he said.
Iraq, meanwhile, is expanding its civilian chemical
industries in ways that could be quickly diverted into
production of chemical warfare agents; maintains an
active and capable biological weapons program; and
continues to pursue missiles prohibited by UN
resolutions, Tenet said.
"We believe Saddam never, ever abandoned his
nuclear weapons program," he said.
"Baghdad's access to foreign expertise could support a
rejuvenated (nuclear) program," he said. "But our major
near term concern is the possibility that Saddam may
gain access to fissile material."
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