Iraq & Terrorism

I was researching Iraq's ties to terrorism today while arguing with the pinheads on a conservative-owned website (we all need hobbies), and found some interesting facts to counter the claims that these folks use to justify the invasion of Iraq, such as this from the State Department's 2000 assessment of state-sponsored terrorism:

The regime has not attempted an anti-Western terrorist attack since its failed plot to assassinate former President Bush in 1993 in Kuwait.

They also bring up Abu Nidal's (pdf) time in Baghdad from 1974-1980, which he spent attacking moderate PLO leaders and Syrian targets. He sure was a bastard, but this was all intra-Arab stuff. His career did more for the Israeli cause than anything else (it was even rumored that he was working for them). Saddam expelled him from Iraq in 1983 under pressure from the US (we were allies against Iran at the time, don't forget) and he called Saddam a "fascist dictator".
Nidal was in Baghdad being treated for leukemia right before our invasion. He was found dead with several bullets in his body. Iraqi authorities claim that he had entered Iraq illegally, and when discovered by officials, he shot himself. Some say Saddam didn't want him to get caught by us, cuz he would squeal on all of Saddam's terrorist ties. From 1980? More realistically, the man had tons of enemies. posted by Andy | link | | |
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