A link between September 11th and Iraq, or Iraq al Qaida would be very beneficial to the Bush Administration because it would help gain supporters of military action from not only the American population and Congress, but also from our oversea allies. However, the Bush Administration has yet to produce any evidence confirming such a link (Source F).
Despite their increased efforts of collecting and analyzing information that might possibly link Iraq to September 11th, the CIA has been unsuccessful in developing convincing evidence (Source H). In addition, Johnathan Tucker, the former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq, who is now with a research organization called the Monterey Institute of International studies, said, "I am not aware of any demonstrated link between Iraq and al Qaida." In the same conversation, he also claimed, "There is no link between September 11th and Iraq that has been well documented" (Source F).
Recently, on October 9, 2002, Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. made an address to Congress. In this address, he stated to the people,
"September 11th and Iraq are two distinct issues. Nevertheless, President Bush is trying to take our legitimate fear following 9-11 and illegitimately link it to Iraq.
The WHite House and some in this body have sought to link al Qaida and September 11th to Iraq. That alleged link underscores the President's position that the Iraqi threat is imminent. However, congressional Intelligence Commitee members have said that President Bush has presented no factual evidence proving that link.
Even the President separates 9-11 from an imminent Iraqi threat-and here is the proof. President Bush sees 9-11 and Iraq as seperate because just two weeks ago, on Sept. 24, he lowered the domestic "risk of terrorist attacks" from orange to yellow! If the Iraq i threat was imminent, wouldn't the "risk of terrorist attacks" have at least remained the same-on orange-or even been raised to red? But the PResident lowered it to yellow" (Source G).
Thus, Iraq is not of immediate threat.
In addition, members of the Cia now claim to believe that Iraq has not attempted an anti-American attack since in April of 1993, when they organized an assassination plot towards former United States President George H. W. Bush during his visit to Kuwait (Source H). Therefore, by the CIA's claim, Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks on September 11th, as they would have obviously been considered an anti-American attack.
As for a link between Iraq and al Qaida, any proven connection is small and practically insignificant. "The go-to war camp would love to prove that Saddam Hussein is doing business with Osama bin Laden. They talk up suspicions, but no one's got proof" (Source Y).
Wafig al Samarrai was the head of Iraq's military intelligence operation until 1994 (Source E). He believe that Saddam Hussein may have agents inside al Qaida, although he does not feel that they would be of any high ranks. Samarrai quoted, referring to the agents, "[they] most likely would be from other countries, Egyptians or Jordanians or Yemenis. It would not be Iraqis- the Iraqis in al Qaida are few" (Source E).
Another sign that the Bush Administration has now chosen to drop any accusation of a connection between Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden, came from a conversation between Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and President George Bush. Afterwards, the Canadian Prime Minister later told reporters that he had specifically inquired about the Presidnet's feelings on a link between al Qaida and Iraq. He claims that Bush responded by saying, " That is not the angle they are exploring now" (Source H). This shows that the President's Administration is not supporting accusations of such a link between the two.
While there are several different sources by which one can acquire their news, Iraq will always be a common topic among them all.