Looks like we found an al-Qaida camp. Weren't even looking for it. Imagine what else we'll find. 20 more Al Gore votes, maybe?

<a href='http://www.msnbc.com/news/895185.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.msnbc.com/news/895185.asp</a>

You know if al-Qaeda could have, they would have.

That's what RF, jbr, and others have in common w/Saddam and friends

Kinda disturbing, isn't it?

WPS

Smoking gun

T-Monay820 Wrote:Imagine what else we'll find. 20 more Al Gore votes, maybe?

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

For those keeping score at home, that was 2 pts.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

These are terrible oversimplifications.

1. This isn't an al Qaida camp. This is an Ansar al-Islam controlled-area of Iraq near the Iranian border. The distinction is huge. Ansar is a small militant Islamist group that has long targeted the two much more moderate Kurdish groups. It controls what amounts to one valley near the Iranian border -- which may be where the group receives much of its support. I've seen no one ever claim Ansar has targeted the United States.

2. If the United States *was* worried about Ansar targeting the United States, its leader, Mullah Krekar, has long been in exile in Norway. I'm unaware of the United States ever asking for Krekar's extradition, despite two interviews between Krekar and the FBI.

3. It sounds impressive to talk of a Qaida "link," but the only link is this: "Scores" of Qaida have taken refuge here from Afghanistan. With 700 or so Ansar militants here, this remains an overwhelmingly Ansar settlement.

4. Nothing in this story suggests a link between Ansar and Saddam. The Iraqi government does not control this area of Iraq, just as it does not control other parts of Kurdistan. Indeed, the phrasing of the MSNBC story suggests Ansar was working on its own in developing these rudimentary WMDs.

5. The statement that "we weren't even looking for it," reeks of either ignorance or distortion. Colin Powell mentioned Ansar on Feb. 5, and people who understand Iraq were well aware of Ansar long before that.

I'm not unhappy that these people have apparently been taken down. It could eliminate the threat of terrorism that has dogged the moderate majorities in Kurdistan.

But this "discovery" hardly justifies a toppling of the Iraq regime as an act of self-defense on the part of the United States. Had the United States bothered to demand extradition of these Qaida fighters, it would have exposed the house of cards on which all these supposed "links" are based. Saddam is clearly incapable of extraditing anyone from Kurdistan. His authority is not recognized there.