McClatchy: Cheney said Gitmo detainees revealed Iraq-al Qaida link

[LSK]

By Jonathan S. Landay | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Then-Vice President Dick Cheney, defending the invasion of Iraq, asserted in 2004 that detainees interrogated at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp had revealed that Iraq had trained al Qaida operatives in chemical and biological warfare, an assertion that wasn't true.

Cheney's 2004 comments to the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News were largely overlooked at the time. However, they appear to substantiate recent reports that interrogators at Guantanamo and other prison camps were ordered to find evidence of alleged cooperation between al Qaida and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein — despite CIA reports that there were only sporadic, insignificant contacts between the militant Islamic group and the secular Iraqi dictatorship.

The head of the Criminal Investigation Task Force at Guantanamo from 2002-2005 confirmed to McClatchy that in late 2002 and early 2003, intelligence officials were tasked to find, among other things, Iraq-al Qaida ties, which were a central pillar of the Bush administration's case for its March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"I'm aware of the fact that in late 2002, early 2003, that (the alleged al Qaida-Iraq link) was an interest on the intelligence side," said retired Army Lt. Col. Brittain Mallow, a former military criminal investigator. "That was something they were tasked to look at."

He said he was unaware of the origins of the directive, but a former senior U.S. intelligence official has told McClatchy that Cheney's and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's offices were demanding that information in 2002 and 2003. The official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter, requested anonymity.

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/68315.html

When it rains, it pours.

[aquart]

1. Unfortunately, it's all just runoff.

[LSK]

4. we'll see...

They have been trying to cast torture as a way to protect us against attacks, but in the past few days its becoming clear it was only used to obtain false confessions supporting the Iraq war.

[ixion]

2. It is crap... al Qaida and Hussein were mortal enemies

there was no freakin' 'link'

[Johonny]

3. well no duh

they also revealed Saddam was working with the Cubans, the Mob, the Aliens and Santa Claus. Yes Torture works. LOL. Why would I believe anything a person said under torture Dick?

[Amonester]

5. the imprisonment of these two nixon clowns is long overdue

the damages rumsferatu & chainy create each and every day since is fubar

[EFerrari]

6. This can't be Landay. It must be his evil twin. n/t

[underpants]

7. ...but could offer no proof

those 5 words could have kept us out of the war. If the media had responsibly had those simple 5 words after "The (insert Bushie name) says....." the whole tragic story would have never come to pass

[ProSense]

8. Must see:

Video flashback (2006)