The Ties That Bind

Ray Robison has an article in Fox News ongoing series "The Saddam Dossier" about this document.  I blogged about the translation on April 1st here.  It's an important document, one that definitively ties Saddam to terrorists:

What was the relationship between Saddam Hussein's inner circle and Islamic terrorists? A newly released document appears to provide evidence that in 1999 the Taliban welcomed "Islamic relations with Iraq" to mediate among the Taliban, the Northern Alliance and Russia, and that the Taliban invited Iraqi officials to Afghanistan.

The document, captured in Iraq but never before seen by the public, offers glimmers of new insight at the Pentagon's Foreign Military Studies Office Web site. The FMSO is a research and analysis center under the U.S. Army's Training and Doctrine Command.

This particular document mentions two men with similar names, each with ties to Pakistani religious schools known as madrassas, Jihad training camps, the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

This original translation by my translator-colleague, who goes by the nom de guerre of "Sammi," comes from a notebook kept by an Iraqi intelligence agent. It provides evidence of a cooperative, operational relationship agreed to at the highest levels of the Iraqi government and the Taliban. The notebook is lengthy and we will present it on the FOX News Web site in a series of postings. It deals extensively with meetings between Maulana Fazlur Rahman, an Al Qaeda/Taliban supporter, and Taha Yassin Ramadan, the former vice president of Iraq, and other unnamed Iraqi officials.

Ramadan also was Saddam Hussein's chief enforcer, making sure Saddam's orders were carried out by Iraqi officials. He is discussed in a 2002 BBC article that stated "Washington showed considerable interest in him well before the Iraq war this spring, after opposition forces claimed he hosted Usama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, in Baghdad in 1998. He currently is under detention and facing trial in Baghdad along with Saddam. Also present at the discussion recorded in the notebook is Maulana Fazlur Rahman, a Pakistani cleric described in another 2002 article from the BBC Profile: Maulana Fazlur Rahman as "A pro-Taliban cleric in Pakistan … one of the two main contenders for the post of the country's prime minister." The BBC also said that "Maulana Fazlur Rahman … is known for his close ties to Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime."

Here are a few of the interesting minutes of this meeting:

Vice-President: The American method is clear. First I discover many times some Islamic organizations which are not themselves and Islam is innocent from them (RR: probably means Islamic organizations that he believes do not behave like Islamic organizations). Those could be a cover for the American deviation like Kosovo. Muslims are known where they are and America is one of the fiercest enemies of Islam. Muslims in Palestine are slaughtered and they support the Jews, but they were provided this cover. America wants to control the world through human rights (Translator's note: following word unclear, possibly democracy) and multiple parties so it can form collaborating parties and create unrest. Unrest serves America's purpose. The Security Council is a tool in the hand of America.

Can you blockade a country (RR: probably Afghanistan) because of the presence of one man (RR: probably referring to UBL)? This time she (America) got the resolution from the Security Council and it is number 77 (or 771) (RR: probably UNSCR 771 in 1992 concerning Bosnia) relative to Iraq (RR: probably is making a comparison between 771 and a new resolution on Iraq most likely UNSCR 1284 passed Dec 1999 about WMD and humanitarian efforts). And it is the first time that the parliament of a country (U.S. Congress) speaks after a resolution (unclear) and comes out through the Security Council. It is ignorant to send memos and complain to the Security Council because it is a tool in the hands of America the master of oppression and if we do that it does not mean that we are boycotting the diplomatic process. Also the monetary fund (Translator's note: probably the International Monetary Fund) is in the hand of America and she helps according to her interests. My personal stand is with his (RR: probably UBL) call to fight America.

(Probably Rahman:) I support him body and soul and if it is true (probably referring to the UBL call to "fight America") then it is the right thing to do.

(Probably Rahman:) I personally do not know him and never met him (probably UBL) and he is not the issue. There is the port of Gwadar (in Baluchistan area) under construction in Pakistan, and Europe and America wants to use it instead of (unclear possibly Bankham) to trade with Asia. After the fall of the Soviet Union they wish to expand trade to Central Asia through Afghanistan and Afghanistan is against their wishes (RR: opposed to the US) and they want to bring the Taliban government down.

Vice-President: They are controlling Turkey.

Fazlur Rahman: Gwadar is the shortest road for them and we spoke with the Afghani government. I met Mullah Omar the leader of Afghanistan and he welcomed the establishment of Islamic relations with Iraq and we foresee to tell them about our needs and they would like to have contacts with Russia but they feel that the Russians (unclear) with Afghanistan, they go to America (RR: probably means that the Russians side with the US against the Taliban). And they (RR: probably the Taliban) say that now we do not feel that Russia is our enemy and we do not know why they support the Northern Alliance (RR: non-Pashtun Afghani militant groups seeking to topple the Taliban). They (RR: probably the Taliban) want Iraq to intervene with Russia.

So the Vice President of Iraq met with the leader of the Taliban about the establishment of relations.  The same Taliban who worked with and shielded Osama Bin Laden.

Robison continues his analysis:

This document appears to provide evidence that in 1999 the Taliban welcomed "Islamic relations with Iraq" to mediate between the Taliban, the Northern Alliance and Russia. It seems to provide evidence that the Taliban invited Iraqi officials to Afghanistan. According to this notebook, the Taliban did this via Maulana Fazlur Rahman. The notebook later mentions that another man, Fazlur Rahman Khalil, was visiting Iraq as well, although no transcript of that meeting is provided.

[...]So what is the relationship between Maulana Fazlur Rahman and the Taliban and Al Qaeda? Rahman often is described in news articles as the father or godfather of the Taliban. It seems clear that Rahman was close to Al Qaeda through his friend Mullah Omar, who sheltered Usama bin Laden prior to the allied invasion of Afghanistan. A leading news Web site in India has a 2003 article entitled Beware the Maulana! . It gives an extensive history of Rahman and explains how he helped to organize the men that would later become the Taliban under his friend Mullah Omar. It also describes links to Al Qaeda:

Since 9/11, US suspicions of the Maulana have worsened because of the active role played by the HUM [Translator's note: Harakat ul-Mujahidin] under the name HUM (Al Alami International) and the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami in the terrorist strikes against French and American nationals in Karachi and Islamabad. There were reports before the U.S. invasion of Iraq that HUM had sent its cadres to Saudi Arabia under the cover of Haj pilgrims and that they were to infiltrate into Iraq to start a jihad against US troops. When an injured bin Laden escaped into Pakistan from Afghanistan in early 2002, Mufti Shamzai, Fazlur Rahman's protégé, gave him shelter at the Binori madrasa in Karachi till last August.

Five Pakistani jihadi organizations are members of bin Laden's International Islamic Front — HUM, HUJI, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Of these, HUM, HUJI, JEM and LEJ are close to the Maulana. (Note RR - the HUM leader is/was Fazlur Rahman Khalil and it is/was part of a coalition led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman.)

[...]As mentioned previously, the notebooks mentions Fazlur Rahman Khalil as a visitor to Baghdad. A good description of Fazlur Rahman Khalil can be found at the Terrorism Knowledge Base.

Fazlur Rehman Khalil, former leader of Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM), is one of the most important and prominent terrorists in Pakistan. A student of the radical Binori madrassah in Karachi, Khalil has strong ties to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. He is one of five signatories of Usama bin Laden's 1998 fatwa which attempted to induce Muslims worldwide to kill Americans whenever the opportunity arose. He is a mentor to many members of the Taliban. This mentorship is the result of the extensive network of Al Qaeda-associated training camps which he has established throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Kashmir.

When the HUM came under Pakistani scrutiny, Khalil re-named it Jamiat ul-Ansar, which matches the annotation in the notebook, "Leader of the Ansar Movement." Khalil was named as the recruiter of two Al Qaeda suspects arrested in California last year.

As the terrorism Knowledge Base Web site mentions, Khalil also was a signatory of the notorious 1998 bin Laden fatwa that declared war against all Americans:

On that basis, and in compliance with Allah's order, we issue the following fatwa to all Muslims: The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies — civilians and military — is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it

The fatwa was signed by five men:

Shaykh Usamah bin-Muhammad bin-Ladin
Ayman al-Zawahiri, amir of the Jihad Group in Egypt
Abu-Yasir Rifa'i Ahmad Taha, Egyptian Islamic Group
Shaykh Mir Hamzah, secretary of the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Pakistan
Fazlur Rahman, amir of the Jihad Movement in Bangladesh (Note RR: this is widely accepted to be Khalil, though he did not sign with the third name.)

Two captured documents — this notebook and the West Point document — seem to provide evidence of the same link between Maulana Fazlur Rahman and the Saddam regime, one captured in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan. The document captured in Afghanistan was used in a Combating Terrorism Center at West Point study about Al Qaeda indicating high confidence in its authenticity. The fact that two private communications captured in different countries with different authors make the same point is a good indicator that each is genuine. It thus lends creditability to the notebook that also indicates an Usama bin Laden associate was scheduled to visit Iraq.

Why would the Taliban and/or Al Qaeda turn to secular Saddam for help? Many commentators have stated that collusion between the two was impossible because of diametric religious and political beliefs. But if you examine the historical context of this document, a clear picture of a desperate Taliban comes through.

[...]The strong ties between Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and their joint responsibility for terrorism, are clear and well documented. This translated notebook segment provides possible evidence that the Saddam regime and the Taliban were planning diplomatic and possibly operational ties with each other. Independent research indicates Maulana Fazlur Rahman and Fazlur Rahman Khalil were both close to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The Maulana asked the Saddam regime to mediate with the Taliban's enemies to take off some of the pressure. A fair question is what would Saddam have wanted in return? One possible answer is the only thing the Taliban had left to offer: Islamic Jihad and extremists operating for his interests from outside Iraq. Other translations from this notebook appear to expose a commitment between the Saddam regime and the Taliban that goes beyond mediation in order to increase support among Islamic Jihad groups for Iraq via a secret intelligence relationship with the Taliban. 

With Ray's excellent research this notebook may become the smoking gun about the ties Saddam's regime had with the Taliban, Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda.

Take a look at this interview with the former Iraqi PM:

The number two of the al-Qaeda network, Ayman al-Zawahiri, visited Iraq under a false name in September 1999 to take part in the ninth Popular Islamic Congress, former Iraqi premier Iyad Allawi has revealed to pan-Arab daily al-Hayat. In an interview, Allawi made public information discovered by the Iraqi secret service in the archives of the Saddam Hussein regime, which sheds light on the relationship between Saddam Hussein and the Islamic terrorist network. He also said that both al-Zawahiri and Jordanian militant al-Zarqawi probably entered Iraq in the same period.

"Al-Zawahiri was summoned by Izza Ibrahim Al-Douri – then deputy head of the council of the leadership of the revolution - to take part in the congress, along with some 150 other Islamic figures from 50 Muslim countries," Allawi said.

[...]In Allawi's view, Saddam's government "sponsored" the birth of al-Qaeda in Iraq, coordinating with other terrorist groups, both Arab and Muslim. "The Iraqi secret services had links to these groups through a person called Faruq Hajizi, later named Iraq's ambassador to Turkey and arrested after the fall of Saddam's regime as he tried to re-enter Iraq. Iraqi secret agents helped terrorists enter the country and directed them to the Ansar al-Islam camps in the Halbija area," he said.

This article appeared in Arab papers over a year ago….do you recall hearing about it?  I doubt it since the majority of the MSM ignored it.  Their reasoning is simple.  If it is shown to the world that Saddam did indeed have ties with AQ then that would mean Bush was right.  And that cannot stand.

The Democrats and the left have invested a huge amount of capitol in their believe that secular Saddam would never support AQ.  If the above is true then all that vested interest would be for nothing.  It would mean Bush was right and their reality would fall apart.

Doesn't matter that during Clinton's term the MSM would write often about the possible connections between OBL and Saddam and what that could mean to the world.  As soon as Bush was in office that all changed. 

For example, look at the last paragraph I posted above in which the name Faruq Hajizi is mentioned.  His name is mentioned quite a bit when the connections between AQ and Iraq are written about, such as this report:

The ringleader of the 19 hijackers from the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Mohamed Atta, met twice with Iraq intelligence operatives in Prague, in June 2000 and then again last April, Newsweek reports in the current issue. The second meeting was with Farouk Hijazi, Iraq's ambassador to Turkey, who was called back to Baghdad before Sept. 11.

And this one:

The 9/11 Commission staff report that made headlines last year by declaring that such meetings between Iraq and al Qaeda "do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship" also reported that the Sudanese government arranged for "contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda." The staff report continued: "A senior Iraqi intelligence officer reportedly made three visits to Sudan, finally meeting bin Laden in 1994. Bin Laden is said to have requested space to establish training camps, as well as assistance in procuring weapons, but Iraq apparently never responded."

That senior Iraqi intelligence officer was Faruq Hijazi, former deputy director of Iraqi Intelligence and longtime regime liaison to al Qaeda. According to several Bush administration officials with access to his debriefings, as well as a top secret Pentagon summary of intelligence on Iraq and al Qaeda known as the Feith Memo, Hijazi described a face-to-face meeting with bin Laden that took place in 1994. The language in the Feith Memo corresponds closely to that in the 9/11 Commission staff report. "During a May 2003 custodial interview with Faruq Hijazi, he said in a 1994 meeting with bin Laden in the Sudan, bin Laden requested that Iraq assist al Qaeda with the procurement of an unspecified number of Chinese-manufactured antiship limpet mines. Bin Laden thought that Iraq should be able to procure the mines through third-country intermediaries for ultimate delivery to al Qaeda. Hijazi said he was under orders from Saddam only to listen to bin Laden's requests and then report back to him. Bin Laden also requested the establishment of al Qaeda training camps inside Iraq."

How much more proof does the left need?  Day after day more and more documents are getting translated that shows there was a definite connection between Saddam and AQ, but still the left ignores it.  

Will they be able to ignore it forever, that is the question. 

Other's Blogging:

• Blogs For Bush
• Macsmind
• Confederate Yankee
• Dr. Sanity
• Say Anything
• The Real Ugly American

The Democrats and the left have invested a huge amount of capitol in their believe that secular Saddam would never support AQ. If the above is true then all that vested interest would be for nothing. It would mean Bush was right and their reality would fall apart.