So, there's word that Iraqis looked to Al Qaeda for help in their resistance against the American occupation:
Insurgents in Iraq sought the help of senior leaders of the al Qaeda terrorist network for a plan to spark a "civil war" that would pit the country's religious and ethnic groups against each other and prevent a transfer of sovereignty from U.S. occupation authorities to Iraqis, U.S. officials said today, citing a document seized from an al Qaeda courier.
It's not surprising that an insurgent element freed from Saddam's secularist repression might look to fundamentalist terrorist groups for help. What's odd about this article is that the document is clearly a post-invasion artifact, not coming from the Saddam regime, yet the article doesn't quite make that clear. It's also notable that the incriminating document was released just one day after Bush's lackluster interview on Meet the Press. Odd timing, that. The article is vague enough to give the true believers a renewed sense that yes, after all, Saddam was in cahoots with Bin Laden.
A general briefing the media on the document indicated that there was "clearly a plan on the part of outsiders to come in this country and spark civil war, create sectarian violence [and] try to expose fissures in this society."
Hmm. I thought that was the American plan. I think the general might be projecting a bit.
Posted by Chris at February 9, 2004 06:04 PM