The Saddam Connection

What McCarthy and others from the Weekly Standard neglect to mention is that in every single one of the recovered documents and every single instance of the testimony, it has been made very clear that Saddam's emissaries accompanied Al Qaeda operatives more out of mistrust than facilitation. There are several documents indicating the Baathists thought Al Qaeda a useful tool for inflicting punishment and humiliation on the West, but that they were to held at arm's length at all times.

What they also neglect to mention is that we have been ignoring the Israelis for years when they tell us that the two main pipeline states for the exportation of terrorism are Syria and Saudi Arabia. Anyone who saw news footage of Bush walking hand-in-hand with the Saudi Crown Prince knows why we won't touch Saudi Arabia, but why we adopt such a hands-off policy toward Syria is less clear. Syria and Jordan are close friends. As are Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Ironically, while preaching against appeasement, the Bush Administration (as with the Clinton and Bush 41 Administrations) has been engaging in a little appeasement of its own.

My brother-in-law spent some time in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War. He paints a very different picture than our government does. He knows that the Saudis are not our friends and that they hate the "Western Satan" as much, if not more than any other Arab state.