Mood:  surprised
In September, Dick Cheney asserted that Iraq had been "the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11."

---That's the one even Bush had to admit wasn't true.

Vice President Dick Cheney said once again in a speech this Monday in Florida that Iraq: "had long-established ties with al Qaeda."

And now, guess what?

"President Bush repeated his administration's claim that Iraq was in league with al Qaeda under Saddam Hussein's rule, saying Tuesday that fugitive Islamic militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ties Saddam to the terrorist network."

But wasn't that AFTER we invaded? The fact that the guy is there now because of us doesn't mean it was right to go in before he was there. Right? Even I'm getting confused.

Well, the 9/11 commission will explain us for us...

Probe rules out Iraq-9/11 links
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3812351.stm

The commission investigating the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US has found no "credible evidence" that Iraq helped al-Qaeda carry them out.

The statement was published before the bipartisan commission began the final two-day public session.

It contradicts Monday's remarks by the US vice-president about Saddam Hussein "long-established ties" with al-Qaeda.

Iraq's alleged links with al-Qaeda were part of the justification the Bush administration gave for invading Iraq.

We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaeda co-operated on attacks against the United States
Commission statement said.

The 11 September attacks killed nearly 3,000 people after members of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network flew hijacked planes into New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

A final report on the commission's findings is due on 28 July.

But preliminary statements published by the commission on a range of issues are building up into a complex picture of missed opportunities and some of it does not make pleasant reading for the Bush administration, says BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus.

Bin Laden spurned

The statement entitled Overview of the Enemy has been prepared by commission staff and contains "initial findings to present to the public on the nature of the enemy that carried out the 11 September attacks".

Outlining the roots of al-Qaeda and its activities, it said Osama Bin Laden had explored the possibility of co-operation with Iraq, despite his opposition to Saddam Hussein's secular regime.

It said a senior Iraqi intelligence officer had met Bin Laden in 1994 to hear his requests for space to establish training camps and assistance in procuring weapons.

"There have been reports that contacts between Iraq and al-Qaeda also occurred after Bin Laden had returned to Afghanistan, but they do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship," the statement says.

It adds: "Two senior Bin Laden associates have adamantly denied that any ties existed between al-Qaeda and Iraq.

"We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaeda co-operated on attacks against the United States."