arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

What wrong with the above? If anybody had forknowledge it was israel. Or hasnt Prof Baram heard of Odigo.

There is a definite link between al-Qaida and the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, according to Prof. Amatzia Baram, of the University of Haifa's Department of Middle East History, an expert on Iraqi affairs.

"I can prove that there is very close ideological affinity and political cooperation between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida," he said.

"I cannot prove that this has overflowed into operational cooperation, although my gut feeling says this is the case, and also that Saddam Hussein probably knew beforehand about the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington."

Baram gave testimony to this effect to a congressional subcommittee on national security in Washington last month. He also said that Saddam could give weapons of mass destruction to terrorist organizations for use against the US or Israel, provided nothing could be traced to Iraq and that he trusted the groups concerned.

"We can trace this link to al-Qaida back at least to 1998, when bin Laden was certainly alive, and he issued a religious edict warning against any attacks on Iraq, which seemed like it was written in Baghdad and not the hills of Afghanistan," Baram said.

"In addition, there have been the recent al-Qaida communiques broadcast via al-Jazeera stating that the attacks against US marines in Kuwait and the French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen were warnings of the severe retaliation in the event of an assault on Saddam's regime. These alone are clear indications of political cooperation."

Baram, who recently returned from visits to America and Britain, spoke to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, prior to a conference on the regional and global dangers of Saddam's regime, organized by the university's National Security Studies Center.

He said a US-led assault on Iraq seems unavoidable, with or without the support of the UN and the international community, with only the timing remaining uncertain. Baram maintained that the upcoming month-long Muslim festival of Ramadan will not be a major consideration in the calculations of the US administration.

The prospects of a non-conventional Iraqi attack on Israel in response to a US-led assault on Saddam's regime are much higher than in 1991, he said. There is also the possibility of chemical and biological terrorism by Palestinian or other groups linked to Iraq.

"There is a very real possibility, because it has happened in the past, that Saddam Hussein will do his utmost to persuade Palestinian groups, or at least members of his own movement in the Palestinian camp, to carry out a mega-attack against Israel," he said.

"In his mind, if it were successful and hundreds or even thousands of Israelis were killed and wounded, it would drive Israel mad and bring about a massive retaliation against the Palestinians.

"This is what Saddam would want because he believes quite rightly in my opinion that such Israeli action would create an international outcry from the Europeans, the Russians, and the Arab world, which would force the US to stop its action against Iraq.

"Saddam is certainly prepared to fight to the last drop of Palestinian blood. I include in this mega-attack scenario the possibility of terrorists using chemical or biological weapons. The one consolation is that so far the Israeli security forces have not uncovered any evidence that something like this is being prepared."

There is also the possibility of Hizbullah launching attacks from Lebanon to try to disrupt US military action against Iraq, although Baram feels the organization and the Syrians, who control Lebanon, are acutely aware of the likely consequences.

Moi je vois bien plus de liens entre bush et les sectes néo-nazies , qu'entre al-qaeda et l'irak , enfin ce que je dis n'a aucun rapport , mais tout de même , à quoi bon toujours se trouver des excuses quand on est belliqueux , vous voulez attaquer l'irak , vous voulez tuer saddam hussein, faites le , mais arrêtez de vous trouver des excuses bidonnes , vous le payerez 2 fois plus cher bande de cons