Phred,
First I'd like to go back to the original post. Assuming they are authentic, how are they pertinent?
Of course it wouldn't mention any specific country in the description, because most of the countries in the Middle East were connected to the incident in some way, and you just wouldn?t include something that specific in the introduction. At the end of the excerpt, it says: "...and other areas determined relevant by the commission."
The investigation began in November, 2002 -- about 4 months prior to the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. (The report was released in mid-2004.) Since we invaded Iraq as a direct result of the terrorist attacks, Iraq is relevant to the investigation, as evidenced by the sub-chapter titled: '"Phase Two" and the Question of Iraq'.
Iraq isn't covered that extensively in the report though, since the commission found no evidence to suggest that Saddam/Iraq contributed to the attacks in any way. This excerpt should help to explain the nature of the relationship (or lack thereof) between Bin Ladin/Al Qaeda/The Taliban and Hussein/Iraq:
"There is also evidence that around this time Bin Ladin sent out a number of feelers to the Iraqi regime, offering some cooperation. None are reported to have received a significant response. According to one report, Saddam Hussein's efforts at this time to rebuild relations with the Saudis and other Middle Eastern regimes led him to stay clear of Bin Ladin.74
In mid-1998, the situation reversed; it was Iraq that reportedly took the initiative. In March 1998, after Bin Ladin's public fatwa against the United States, two al Qaeda members reportedly went to Iraq to meet with Iraqi intelligence. In July, an Iraqi delegation traveled to Afghanistan to meet first with the Taliban and then with Bin Ladin. Sources reported that one, or perhaps both, of these meetings was apparently arranged through Bin Ladin's Egyptian deputy, Zawahiri, who had ties of his own to the Iraqis. In 1998, Iraq was under intensifying U.S. pressure, which culminated in a series of large air attacks in December.75
Similar meetings between Iraqi officials and Bin Ladin or his aides may have occurred in 1999 during a period of some reported strains with the Taliban. According to the reporting, Iraqi officials offered Bin Ladin a safe haven in Iraq. Bin Ladin declined, apparently judging that his circumstances in Afghanistan remained more favorable than the Iraqi alternative. The reports describe friendly contacts and indicate some common themes in both sides' hatred of the United States. But to date we have seen no evidence that these or the earlier contacts ever developed into a collaborative operational relationship. Nor have we seen evidence indicating that Iraq cooperated with al Qaeda in developing or carrying out any attacks against the United States.76"
- (page 66, chapter 2.5: "THE FOUNDATION OF NEW TERRORISM: Al Qaeda's Renewal in Afghanistan (1996-1998))
I found some info on Saddam's support for terrorism in Palestine on the Net. I'd mostly forgotten about that, and I don't remember where it is in the Report. I'm being completely genuine when I ask if you can find the section(s)/pages where the info is located? I want to read more about it.
With regards to verification of the documents, I'd probably come to believe that they're authentic if: a) They are analyzed by people qualified to search for inaccuracies in the documentation, (with the understanding that the results may prove inconclusive); and b) If the sources are found to be legitimate and compelling. We'll need more than one person to explain, under oath, the precise circumstances under which the documents were found (for starters). All of the witnesses must be credible.
Yes, you're right. Just because you didn't see it on T.V. doesn't mean it didn't happen. But it's also irrational to think that a story like this would be ignored by the mass media unless it either was altogether "inconsequential," or couldn't be confirmed.
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