The al Qaeda decade: 1990-1999

The Washington Times notes that:

[9/11 c]ommission members, including a Democrat and two Republicans, quickly came to the administration's defense by saying there had been such [al Qaeda to Iraqi] contacts.

And continues to also note that the previous administration also cited an Iraqi terrorist connection [emphasis mine]:

In fact, during President Clinton's eight years in office, there were at least two official pronouncements of an alarming alliance between Baghdad and al Qaeda. One came from William S. Cohen, Mr. Clinton's defense secretary. He cited an al Qaeda-Baghdad link to justify the bombing of a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan.

...

[A November 4, 1998 Justice Deparment] indictment said: "Al Qaeda also forged alliances with the National Islamic Front in the Sudan and with the government of Iran and its associated terrorist group Hezbollah for the purpose of working together against their perceived common enemies in the West, particularly the United States. In addition, al Qaeda reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the government of Iraq."

Shortly after the embassy bombings, Mr. Clinton ordered air strikes on al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and on the Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Sudan.

To justify the Sudanese plant as a target, Clinton aides said it was involved in the production of deadly VX nerve gas.

In other words, if the article is to be believed, President Clinton's administration in 1998 stated that Saddam was a hot bed of terrorist activity and developed weapons of mass destruction. These are the EXACT same charges current President Bush leveled against Iraq in 2002. Question: What's different about what was said in 1998 versus what was said in 2002? Answer: The political affiliation of the man sitting in the Oval Office.

Just a reminder to everybody to not listen to the media and/or the hype of those with a political agenda. The fact remains: Saddam supported terrorism and WMDs as tools in his arsenel of power.