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December 4, 2008 3:46:32 PM CST

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Saddam Had No Links to Al-Qaeda: Pentagon Study

Posted Mar 11, 08 5:48 AM CDT in World,  US 

(Newser) – A Pentagon-sponsored study of captured Iraqi intelligence archives has been unable to find a single operational link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden or his al-Qaeda network, reports the McClatchy newspapers. The study will be released this week and is expected to refuel debate over the US justification for invading Iraq. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld once described evidence for links between the two as "bulletproof."

Then-Secretary of State Colin Powell also cited several links—which turned out to be based on misinterpreted or bogus intelligence—in a key 2003 speech to the UN to build support for the invasion. The study exhaustively trawled through 600,000 Iraqi documents captured by the US. The finding were sifted through a lengthy process of declassification before they could be shared with Congress. The study did discover Iraq was sponsoring a number of Palestinian terrorist groups.

Source McClatchy Newspapers

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Cpl. Edward Chin, from New York, of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment, places a U.S. flag on the face of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's statue on April 9, 2003. A Pentago study of Iraqi archives...   (Associated Press)
Saddam Hussein during his trial   ((c) pingnews.com)
Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. A new Pentagon study says there were no links between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein prior to the invasion of Iraq. (AP Photo, File)   (Associated Press)
Captured former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein undergoes medical examinations in Baghdad in this Dec. 14, 2003 file photo,in this image from television. (AP Photo/US Military via APTN-File)   (Associated Press)
A young Palestinian stands next to a portrait of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during a rally in support of him. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)   (Associated Press)
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Barack Obama • John McCain • Iraq • al-Qaeda • Hamas • State Department • Osama bin Laden • Saddam Hussein • Donald Rumsfeld • Colin Powell • Islamic Jihad • Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine



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