When the 9-11 Commission's final report was published in July 2004, some in the press were quick to trumpet one line in the report that appeared to dispense with the issue of Saddam's ties to al Qaeda. The Commission reported on a number of contacts between the two sides, but ultimately concluded: "to date we have seen no evidence that these or earlier contacts ever developed into a collaborative operational relationship."
For many, that was the end of the story. But re-read the Commission's report carefully (as some did at the time) and you realize it found a number of disturbing threads tying Saddam's Iraq to al Qaeda. For example, the Commission reported that Ayman al Zawahiri set up at least one and maybe two meetings between al Qaeda and Saddam's regime in 1998. The Commission explained that Zawahiri was in a position to act as a liaison since he had "ties of his own to the Iraqis." The Commission did not explain further.
But now, thanks to the release of a new study on Saddam's ties to terrorism, we learn more about Zawahiri's "ties" to Iraq. The Iraqi Perspectives Project report (which we've discussed here, http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/03/only_connected.asp target=_blank>here, and here) explains:
Saddam supported groups that either associated directly with al Qaeda (such as the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, led at one time by bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri) or that generally shared al Qaeda's stated goals and objectives.
As Steve Hayes pointed out again this morning, the study cites an Iraqi Intelligence document dated March 18, 1993. The translation of the document provided in the study begins:
We list herein the organizations that our agency [IIS] cooperates with and have relations with various elements in many parts of the Arab world and who also have the expertise to carry out assignments indicated in the above directive [the cited directive has not been discovered yet].
Ayman al Zawahiri's Egyptian Islamic Jihad is one of the nine terrorist organizations then discussed in the extracts of the document cited:
Islamic Jihad Organization [Egyptian Islamic Jihad]
- In a meeting in the Sudan we agreed to renew our relations with the Islamic Jihad Organization in Egypt. Our information on the group is as follows:
- It was established in 1979.
- Its goal is to apply the Islamic shari' a law and establish Islamic rule.
- It is considered one of the most brutal Egyptian organizations. It carried out numerous successful operations, including the assassination of Sadat.
- We have previously met with the organization's representative and we agreed on a plan to carry out commando operations against the Egyptian regime.
So we now know that Zawahiri's "ties" to Iraq included an agreement to cooperate on "commando operations against the Egyptian regime." This would seem to be evidence of an "operational collaborative relationship." That Saddam's regime was willing to sponsor the EIJ's operations should be a major blow to those who would argue that Saddam and al Qaeda could never, ever cooperate. It sheds new light on the 9/11 Commission's report, and raises a number of questions.
Why was Zawahiri acting as a liaison between Iraq and al Qaeda in 1998?
Did he intend to leverage his previous working relationship with Saddam's regime?
If so, what came of the meetings?
(Remember: In August 1998, the Clinton administration bombed a Sudanese plant suspected of being a front for joint Iraqi-al Qaeda chemical weapons projects. One of the meetings the 9/11 Commission said Zawahiri set up occurred just one month prior in July 1998.) Did Zawahiri and the Iraqis discuss this cooperation, or something else?
