15 June 2004

John Kerry

Bush Today: Hussein Had Al Qaeda Ties As Evidenced By Abu Musab Zarqawi

Question: "The Vice President who I see standing over there said yesterday that Saddam Hussein has long established ties to Al Qaeda. As you know, this is disputed within the U.S. intelligence community. Would you add any qualifiers to that statement and what do you think is the best evidence of it?"

Bush: "Zarqawi's the best evidence of connection to Al Qaeda affiliates and Al Qaeda. He's the person who's still killing. He's the person, remember the e-mail exchange between Al Qaeda leadership and he himself about how to disrupt the progress toward freedom." (Bush, Rose Garden, 6/15/04)

REALITY: BUSH CITES ACTIVITY 8 MONTHS AFTER SADDAM WAS REMOVED FROM POWER

Zarqawi Letter Referenced By Bush Was Written Over 8 Months After Saddam Had Been Deposed. In February 2004, Bush said a Zarqawi letter had "recently" been intercepted. But, Bush claimed as early as April 2003 that Saddam was "no longer in power", over eight months before the Zarqawi letter. (Bush radio address, 2/21/04; AP, 4/12/03)

REALITY: CLAIMS ABOUT TIES ARE QUESTIONABLE

US Intelligence Questioned Claim that Zarqawi Treatment in Iraqi Hospital Provided Connection Between Hussein and Al Qaeda. In his presentation before the U.N. Security Council on how Iraq poses a threat to the international community, Secretary of State Colin Powell argued that the Iraqi government was sympathetic to al Qaeda because it harbored Zarqawi for two months during the summer of 2002 and granted hospital care to him. However, according to Newsweek, "American officials know only a few basic facts about Zarqawi's two-month stay in Baghdad last summer. ... The Iraqi government's role in arranging for the treatment is 'unknown,' U.S. officials confess, and the hospitalization does not prove any Iraqi government 'complicity.'" (Newsweek, 3/3/03; Department of State, "Remarks to the United Nations Security Council," 2/5/03)

Powell Claimed Al Qaeda Terror Network Existed in Iraq But Group Operated Outside Saddam's Control. In his presentation to the United Nations Security Council, Secretary of State Colin Powell claimed that one of the links showing Iraq was tied to al Qaeda was that the terrorist network, Ansar al-Islam, maintained a training camp in northeastern Iraq. Zarqawi was widely regarded to be the "leader" of Ansar al-Islam prior to the war against Iraq. However, according to the AP, "Ansar al-Islam operated in a region of northern Iraq that was outside of Saddam's control before the war. It was bombed by U.S. warplanes during the fighting." (Washington Post, 3/19/04; AP, 1/23/04; Department of State, "Remarks to the United Nations Security Council," 2/5/03; MSNBC.com, 3/2/04)