Osama Bin Zarqawi Hussein Nidal Jones

From Knight Ridder news services: "CIA review finds no evidence Saddam had ties to Islamic terrorists":

WASHINGTON - A new CIA assessment undercuts the White House's claim that Saddam Hussein maintained ties to al-Qaida, saying there's no conclusive evidence that the regime harbored Osama bin Laden associate Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The CIA review, which U.S. officials said Monday was requested some months ago by Vice President Dick Cheney, is the latest assessment that calls into question one of President Bush's key justifications for last year's U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The new assessment follows the independent Sept. 11 commission's finding that there was no "collaborative relationship" between the former Iraqi regime and bin Laden's terrorist network.

[snip]

Rumsfeld appeared to refer to the new assessment during a public appearance Monday at which he also backed away from the administration's broader claims that Saddam and al-Qaida were linked.

"To my knowledge, I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two," Rumsfeld said during an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations, a Washington research center.

In September 2002, before the war, Rumsfeld had said the U.S. intelligence community had "bulletproof" evidence of such links.

And what does Osama want? Read this fine and evenhanded assesment from Juan Cole posted on History News Network, "Osama bin Laden's Scary Vision of a Grand Muslim Super State"