News that's not news

My readers should know my position on WMD in Iraq as well as Sadaam's ties to al Qaeda. Frankly I don't care what anyone thinks of my opinions, including the Senate Intelligence Committee that, in my opinion, totally screwed up on their much-ballyhooed report by concluding that all the intelligence agencies in the world were wrong. (Politics notwithstanding, Occam's Razor tells you that's an absurd conclusion.)

Now CNS News (via Captains Quarters) has an exclusive report revealing that documents discovered in Iraq prove both Sadaam's terrorist ties and his possession of WMD.

CNSNews.com, show numerous efforts by Saddam Hussein's regime to work with some of the world's most notorious terror organizations, including al Qaeda, to target Americans. They demonstrate that Saddam's government possessed mustard gas and anthrax, both considered weapons of mass destruction, in the summer of 2000, during the period in which United Nations weapons inspectors were not present in Iraq. And the papers show that Iraq trained dozens of terrorists inside its borders.

For those of us who are capable of reading and independent thinking, this is a "well, duh" moment, but perhaps now that the word is out, the rest of the world will get a clue.

Here's a revealing tidbit.

One of the Iraqi memos contains an order from Saddam for his intelligence service to support terrorist attacks against Americans in Somalia. The memo was written nine months before U.S. Army Rangers were ambushed in Mogadishu by forces loyal to a warlord with alleged ties to al Qaeda.

Even I wasn't aware of that one.

The documents also tie Sadaam to 9/11, a charge that the liberals have repeatedly scoffed at.

Among the organizations mentioned are those affiliated with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Ayman al-Zawahiri, two of the world's most wanted terrorists. Zarqawi is believed responsible for the kidnapping and beheading of several American civilians in Iraq and claimed responsibility for a series of deadly bombings in Iraq Sept. 30. Al-Zawahiri is the top lieutenant of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, allegedly helped plan the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist strikes on the U.S., and is believed to be the voice on an audio tape broadcast by Al-Jazeera television Oct. 1, calling for attacks on U.S. and British interests everywhere.

There's more.

But the documents obtained by CNSNews.com shed new light on the controversy.

They detail the Iraqi regime's purchase of five kilograms of mustard gas on Aug. 21, 2000 and three vials of malignant pustule, another term for anthrax, on Sept. 6, 2000. The purchase order for the mustard gas includes gas masks, filters and rubber gloves. The order for the anthrax includes sterilization and decontamination equipment. (See Saddam's Possession of Mustard Gas)

The documents show that Iraqi intelligence received the mustard gas and anthrax from "Saddam's company," which Tefft said was probably a reference to Saddam General Establishment, "a complex of factories involved with, amongst other things, precision optics, missile, and artillery fabrication."

Why the Bush administration hasn't jumped all over this stuff is beyond me.

Perhaps they will before the election.