Friday, March 24, 2006
Saddam-Bin Laden Pact
U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia were attacked by al Qaeda twice in the months following Saddam Hussein's decision to approve Osama bin Laden's request for help in attacking "foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia.
An Iraqi intelligence document released last week states that bin Laden met in Sudan with senior Iraqi intelligence agents on Feb. 19, 1995, where he requested help in conducting "joint operations against foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia.
Saddam "was informed of the details of the meeting in our letter 370 on March 4, 1995," the Iraqi intelligence memo explains.
The document goes on to state:
The approval was received from the Leader, Mr. President, may God keep him . . . . We were left to develop the relationship and the cooperation between the two sides to see what other doors of cooperation and agreement open up."
Reporting on the bombshell document on Wednesday, ABC News noted:
"Given that the document claims bin Laden was proposing to the Iraqis that they conduct 'joint operations against foreign forces' in Saudi Arabia, it is interesting to note that eight months after the meeting — on November 13, 1995 — terrorists attacked Saudi National Guard Headquarters in Riyadh, killing 5 U.S. military advisors. The militants later confessed on Saudi TV to having been trained by Osama bin Laden."
Unnoted by ABC: Eight months after the Riyadh attack, 19 U.S. servicemen were killed when a large truck bomb blew up the Khobar Towers military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
In August 1996 - two months after the Khobar attack and a year-and-a-half after he entered into his "joint operations" agreement with Saddam - bin Laden issued a Declaration of Jihad outlining his organization's goals.
Topping his agenda, according to PBS: "Drive US forces from the Arabian Peninsula, overthrow the Government of Saudi Arabia, liberate Muslim holy sites, and support Islamic revolutionary groups around the world."
Bin Laden also declared that Saudis have the right to strike at U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf.
U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia were attacked by al Qaeda twice in the months following Saddam Hussein's decision to approve Osama bin Laden's request for help in attacking "foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia.
An Iraqi intelligence document released last week states that bin Laden met in Sudan with senior Iraqi intelligence agents on Feb. 19, 1995, where he requested help in conducting "joint operations against foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia.
Saddam "was informed of the details of the meeting in our letter 370 on March 4, 1995," the Iraqi intelligence memo explains.
The document goes on to state:
The approval was received from the Leader, Mr. President, may God keep him . . . . We were left to develop the relationship and the cooperation between the two sides to see what other doors of cooperation and agreement open up."
Reporting on the bombshell document on Wednesday, ABC News noted:
"Given that the document claims bin Laden was proposing to the Iraqis that they conduct 'joint operations against foreign forces' in Saudi Arabia, it is interesting to note that eight months after the meeting — on November 13, 1995 — terrorists attacked Saudi National Guard Headquarters in Riyadh, killing 5 U.S. military advisors. The militants later confessed on Saudi TV to having been trained by Osama bin Laden."
Unnoted by ABC: Eight months after the Riyadh attack, 19 U.S. servicemen were killed when a large truck bomb blew up the Khobar Towers military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
In August 1996 - two months after the Khobar attack and a year-and-a-half after he entered into his "joint operations" agreement with Saddam - bin Laden issued a Declaration of Jihad outlining his organization's goals.
Topping his agenda, according to PBS: "Drive US forces from the Arabian Peninsula, overthrow the Government of Saudi Arabia, liberate Muslim holy sites, and support Islamic revolutionary groups around the world."
Bin Laden also declared that Saudis have the right to strike at U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf.
