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Ties between Iraq and terrorism

By Scott Tibbs

A collection of blog posts on Iraq's connection to terrorists

April 17, 2003

Abul Abbas, the leader of the group of terrorists that hijacked the Achille Lauro in 1985, was captured in Iraq by U.S. troops. The U.S. is considering its options on what to do with him.

The monsters that hijacked the Achille Lauro murdered an American passenger before throwing him and his wheelchair overboard. The world was rightly shocked at the brutality of the terrorists. Nearly 20 years later, it is refreshing to see this psychopath finally brought to justice.

So, since Iraq was harboring a known terrorist, was this really a pre-emptive war?

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April 17, 2003

Ann Coulter's column this week is very good. Coulter's opening paragraph is great. She writes:

Despite liberals' calm assurance that Iraq wasn't harboring terrorists, this week Abul Abbas, mastermind of the 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking, was captured in Baghdad. This is the second time the United States has caught Abbas. But the last time, the Europeans let him go. That's why liberals are so eager to have Europeans "help" with the war on terrorism. They did a bang-up job last time.

I think we can be confident that the monster Abbas won't escape this time.

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September 26, 2003

Did Iraq aid one of the terrorists involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing? Abdul Rahman Yasin, born in Bloomington, Indiana, fled to Iraq after the 1993 bombing.

Yes, the war in Iraq was necessary.

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December 21, 2003

More evidence of ties between al Qaeda and Iraq. (Thanks to HR for the tip.)

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January 20, 2004

Iraq and terrorism

We invaded Iraq last year, on the premise that they were stockpiling weapons of mass destruction for future use. We have yet been unable to find the stockpiles of WMD's that we thought were there. Either Saddam Hussein's regime has managed to spirit those weapons out of Iraq or we had an intelligence failure. It may be a little bit of both, but, as Jonah Goldberg points out, it is silly to conclude Bush "lied" us into war. Many people, in several countries, genuinely believed Hussein had a WMD program.

I have maintained that WMD's in and of itself were not reason enough to invade Iraq. However, I supported the war because of Hussein's ties to terrorist groups. Consider the following:
  • CNN reports: "Al Qaeda videos found in Iraq weapons raid".


  • The Weekly Standard reports that former President Clinton looked into Iraq/Al Qaeda ties during his term.


  • Fox News reports that Iraq may have helped Abdul Rahman Yasin, who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993.


  • Fox News reports that Palestinian terrorist Abu Abbas (who masterminded the Achille Lauro hijacking in 1985) was hiding in Iraq during the war, and was captured by U.S. troops. The sick perverts shot wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer, 69, and threw him over the side of the ship.


  • CNN reports Colin Powell's presentation of evidence that Iraq and Al Qaeda are linked.


  • Saddam Hussein offered $25,000 U.S. dollars to the family of suicide bombers in Israel to encourage further murderous attacks on innocent civilians. (Fox News reports on this story here and BBC News reports on it here.)
But there is "no evidence" of ties between Saddam and terrorists.

As I mentioned yesterday, we are at war with Islamist radicals seek to destroy our country, our freedom and our way of life. This war did not start on September 11, 2001. Indeed, we have been at war for many years with monsters who have no respect for human life and who are so fanatical they think nothing of killing themselves in order to murder innocent people. The Khobar Towers bombing in 1996, the embassy bombings in 1998 and the attack on the U.S.S. Cole in 2000 remind us that September 11 was nothing new. It was not even new to have Islamist radicals killing Americans in our own country, because the World Trade Center was also bombed in 1993.

We did not ask for this war. We did not fire the first shots. But we must win.