Ace, while Stephen Hayes' research remains outstanding, you know as well as I do that, absent verifiable proof that Saddam gave Osama Bin Laden a backrub with a "happy ending", the MSM will never acknowledge whatever ties existed.

Personally, given the complexities of explaining these connections to folks who don't care to hear about them, I think it's a mistake to emphasize them. It's the same problem we had when reporting all the indicators of WMD programs as evidence that massive stockpiles of WMD existed. Only the latter would serve to convince the critics who remain open-minded enough to be convinced.

I think what should be emphasized is the obvious truth: our enemies are our enemies, and a lot of them live in a rough neighborhood. Two crack dealers who walk by each other's houses every day may never stop to talk to each other, but the cops arrest them both if they get the chance.

That, and the WMD argument remains compelling-- even if Saddam had gotten rid of all his weapons, he certainly still wanted them, and would have been eager to buy them off the black market if they ever became available.

Then again, I would have supported a war against Saddam *before* 9/11, so I guess I'm one of those guys who was merely looking for an excuse. Gee, I'm so glad I got 3,000 dead Americans handed to me on a platter so I could finally go kill swarthy brown men for shits & giggles.

Sigh.

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

Miltary prosecutors listed these points as evidence that a detainee at Guantanamo is an enemy combatant

1. threatened to crown him with an assortment thongs from Christina Aguilera's closet, and

2. turned the air conditioner on extra cold (for maximum shrinkage) and laughed at his wiener.

I'm close to your position Dave, but I think it's worth pointing out not just the connections, but more so the MSM's continued willingness to bury and distort.

Can't put enough nails in that coffin. Pointing out their persistent willful dishonesty is absolutely worth the effort.

Let's get back to these "chemical mortars" a second. Where did these come from? Where did they go?

I mean, to me, that sounds like Iraq was planning a strike on a US embassy in 1998 using WMD's.

How 'bout that?

Was this the same informant that said he was a former soldier who worked extensively with mobile biological weapons vans and worked with Iraqi security to safeguard the "Secret of the Death Vans" before he was detained?

Or is this another detainee?

Well, some may say the 1st detainee lied, but remember, Iraq is as big as California. It is certainly plausible that the terrorist evildoers and "dead-enders" buried vast stockpiles of WMD and then just forgot where they were buried as they attack US soldiers and Iraqis with everything else they've got.

So we have this detainee, a member of the Taliban, claiming he and his "secret agent" Iraqi sidekick went to Pakistan to blow up the Pakistan embassy inside Pakistan. Hmmm! The Pakistan embassy inside Pakistan at a time (1998) when the Pakistanis were the chief sponsors and supporters of Talibani, like the 2nd detainee???

I'm sure that America, credibility on the line purely because all the evildoers that buried the vast stockpiles of WMD forgot where they buried them - have vetted this detainee - and any day, will drop a bombshell on the public of Saddams secret love of the minions of radical Islam.

I don't doubt the overall importance and likely accuracy of the report, but point 12, which may be the most important, can't be entirely correct. This guy was going to Pakistan to blow up the Pakistani embassy? That's the only country in the world you can be sure wouldn't have one.

I wonder who screwed that up: the prisoner, the interrogator, the writer of the report, or the Weekly Standard. It's conceivable that the prisoner was planning to attack (e.g.) the Pakistani Foreign Ministry and thought that could be called an 'embassy'. If so, the interrogator or his boss should have sought clarification.

"except for his leaving more of his DNA around than Ron Jeremy at a Swank mixer"

Man, that's gold! =D

Maybe it was supposed to be "...for the purpose of blowing up the Pakistan United States and British embassies..." as in "the US and British embassies in Pakistan". A typo satisfies Occam's razor best.

Flypaper. It's all flypaper.

Yes, everyone knows that fundamentalist muslims loved saddam. he was so good to them and helped advance their causes and all.

Hey Thomas have I got a deal for you. I know this Nigerian general who has a whole lot of money. I'll e-mail you about.