Richard Clarke Links Al Qaeda To Iraq

The most recent kerfuffle for the Bush Administration has been related to claims by Richard Clark in his new book, Against All Enemies, in which, among other things, Clarke has made the claim that the Bush Administration sought to link Al Qaeda and Iraq, despite what he claims is the complete lack of evidence.

Today, however, a Washington Post article dated January 23, 1999 has surfaced in which Richard Clarke does draw a link between Al Qaeda and Iraq. Here is the posted excerpt:

Clarke did provide new information in defense of Clinton's decision to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles at the El Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum, Sudan, in retaliation for bin Laden's role in the Aug. 7 embassy bombings. While U.S. intelligence officials disclosed shortly after the missile attack that they had obtained a soil sample from the El Shifa site that contained a precursor of VX nerve gas, Clarke said that the U.S. government is "sure" that Iraqi nerve gas experts actually produced a powdered VX-like substance at the plant that, when mixed with bleach and water, would have become fully active VX nerve gas.
Clarke said U.S. intelligence does not know how much of the substance was produced at El Shifa or what happened to it. But he said that intelligence exists linking bin Laden to El Shifa's current and past operators, the Iraqi nerve gas experts and the National Islamic Front in Sudan. [emphasis mine]

Given the evidence presented to the White House before the airstrike, Clarke said, the president "would have been derelict in his duties if he didn't blow up the facility."

Clarke said the U.S. does not believe that bin Laden has been able to acquire chemical agents, biological toxins or nuclear weapons. If evidence of such an acquisition existed, he said, "we would be in the process of doing something."

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Article Author: David Flanagan

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