In the Name of God the Merciful
Presidency of the Republic
Intelligence Apparatus
To the respectful Mr. M.A.M
Subject: Information
Our source in Afghanistan No 11002 (for information about him see attachment 1) provided us with information that that Afghani Consul Ahmad Dahestani (for information about him see attachment 2) told him the following:
1. That Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan are in contact with Iraq and it that previously a group from Taliban and Osama Bin Laden group visited Iraq.
2. That America has proof that the government of Iraq and Osama Bin Laden group have shown cooperation to hit target within America.
3. That in case it is proven the involvement of Osama Bin Laden group and the Taliban in these destructive operations it is possible that American will conduct strikes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
4. That the Afghani Consul heard about the subject of Iraq relation with Osama Bin Laden group during his stay in Iran.
5. In light of this we suggest to write to the Commission of the above information.
Please view… Yours… With regards
Signature:……, Initials : A.M.M, 15/9/2001
Foot note: Immediately send to the Chairman of Commission
Signature:………….
This is one of the first of the recently relased first Iraqi documents to be translated by a blogger. Wingnut sites all over the internet are trumpeting this as proof of a link between Saddam and Al Qaeda. WorldNet Daily headlined this:
Newly released document links Saddam to al-Qaida
Indicates regime was cooperating with bin Laden group to strike U.S.
So, an anonymous source heard from the Afghani Consul who heard it from someone in Iran that the Taliban and Osama bin Laden had links to Iraq and the Americans had proof of this? This is third-hand and I am not impressed. Intelligence reports are full of this sort of "raw data" and this proves nothing.
Another blogger, Laura Mansfield, headlines:
Declassified documents from Iraq show 3,000 Saudi and Iraqi mujihideen depart Iraq in Nov 2001 to fight US in Afghanistan
The document:
Date: 12/1/2001
To: Iraqi Intelligence Service
Re: Rumor
Greetings.
1. In the report on the status of rumors for November of 2001 regarding Fedayeen Saddam in al-Anbar, there is an entry that indicates that there is a group of Iraqi and Saudi Arabians numbering around 3,000 who have gone in an unofficial capacity to Afghanistan and have joined the mujahidin to fight with and aid them in defeating the American Zionist Imperialist attack.
2. After presenting the matter to the Supervisor of Fedayeen Saddam, he ordered that the matter should be looked into for verification of the truth of
the rumor.Please review and inform us.
Laura's analysis:
Well, no it doesn't. This is a rumor and nothing more. If Saddam Hussein was working with Al Qaeda, wouldn't he know if they were in Iraq or not?This clearly indicates that Iraq was being used as a transit point or launch point for Saudi Arabian jihadis, as well as Iraqis, who wanted to go join the forces of Osama Bin Laden in Iraq in November 2001, nearly a year and a half before the US and Coalition forces commenced military action against Saddam Hussein’s regime.
