Tweet
Powell admits what we all know...No concrete evidence of a link between Iraq and al-Qaida. However...where there is smoke there is fire. Powell also says that he believes their was a link.
Powell: No ‘smoking gun’
Jan. 8: But the secretary of state insisted the United States was right to invade Iraq. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reports.
Nightly News
No proof links Iraq, al-Qaida, Powell says
Chief weapons inspector reportedly about to quit
NBC, MSNBC and news services
Updated: 8:11 p.m. ET Jan. 08, 2004WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Colin Powell reversed a year of administration policy, acknowledging Thursday that he had seen no “smoking gun [or] concrete evidence” of ties between former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida.
Powell, speaking at a news conference at the State Department, stressed that he was still certain that Iraq had dangerous weapons and needed to be disarmed by force, and he sharply disagreed with a private think tank report that maintained that Iraq was not an imminent threat to the United States.
“I have not seen smoking gun, concrete evidence about the connection, but I do believe the connections existed,” he said.
Powell’s observation marked a turning point in administration arguments in support of the U.S. invasion of Iraq last spring. The assertion that Saddam and the terrorist network led by Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden were working in concert was a primary justification for the war.
As recently as September, President Bush declared that there was “no question” that Saddam had ties to al-Qaida.
Powell himself made the case most strongly in February, when he urged the U.N. Security Council to back U.S. military action in Iraq. “Iraqi officials deny accusations of ties with al-Qaida,” Powell said then. “These denials are simply not credible.”
Powell defended those comments Thursday, even as he cast doubt on their conclusions. He said that at the time, he was referring specifically to the presence of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Baghdad for medical treatments.
The United States has accused al-Zarqawi of being a close associate of bin Laden’s, but intelligence agencies in France and other European countries that opposed the U.S. war argued that al-Zarqawi was an independent operator.
“I'm confident of what I presented last year,” Powell said. “The intelligence community is confident of the material they gave me. I was representing them. It was information they presented to the Congress. It was information they had presented publicly, and they stand behind it. And this game is still unfolding.”
Jan. 8: But the secretary of state insisted the United States was right to invade Iraq. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reports.
Nightly News
No proof links Iraq, al-Qaida, Powell says
Chief weapons inspector reportedly about to quit
NBC, MSNBC and news services
Updated: 8:11 p.m. ET Jan. 08, 2004WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Colin Powell reversed a year of administration policy, acknowledging Thursday that he had seen no “smoking gun [or] concrete evidence” of ties between former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida.
Powell, speaking at a news conference at the State Department, stressed that he was still certain that Iraq had dangerous weapons and needed to be disarmed by force, and he sharply disagreed with a private think tank report that maintained that Iraq was not an imminent threat to the United States.
“I have not seen smoking gun, concrete evidence about the connection, but I do believe the connections existed,” he said.
Powell’s observation marked a turning point in administration arguments in support of the U.S. invasion of Iraq last spring. The assertion that Saddam and the terrorist network led by Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden were working in concert was a primary justification for the war.
As recently as September, President Bush declared that there was “no question” that Saddam had ties to al-Qaida.
Powell himself made the case most strongly in February, when he urged the U.N. Security Council to back U.S. military action in Iraq. “Iraqi officials deny accusations of ties with al-Qaida,” Powell said then. “These denials are simply not credible.”
Powell defended those comments Thursday, even as he cast doubt on their conclusions. He said that at the time, he was referring specifically to the presence of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Baghdad for medical treatments.
The United States has accused al-Zarqawi of being a close associate of bin Laden’s, but intelligence agencies in France and other European countries that opposed the U.S. war argued that al-Zarqawi was an independent operator.
“I'm confident of what I presented last year,” Powell said. “The intelligence community is confident of the material they gave me. I was representing them. It was information they presented to the Congress. It was information they had presented publicly, and they stand behind it. And this game is still unfolding.”
Comment