<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Since Hitchens gave up the job of debunking war machine propaganda....The Guardian has been left to pick up the slack:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,885115,00.html">http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,885115,00.html</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> <P class=body>Julian Borger in Washington, Richard Norton-Taylor and Michael Howard <BR><BR>Thursday January 30, 2003 <BR><BR>The Guardian <P> <BLOCKQUOTE><TT><FONT face=courier size=2>President Bush used his state of the union address to paint a terrifying picture for the American people of another attack like September 11 - but this time with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. Tony Blair reinforced the message yesterday by telling the Commons: "We do know of links between al-Qaida and Iraq. We cannot be sure of the exact extent of those links." </FONT></TT></BLOCKQUOTE> <P><FONT face=courier size=2></FONT> <BLOCKQUOTE><TT><FONT face=courier size=2>However, a number of well-placed sources in Whitehall insisted there was no intelligence suggesting such a link. "While we have said there may possibly be individuals in the country [Iraq] we have never said anything to suggest specific links between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein," said one. </FONT></TT></BLOCKQUOTE> <P><FONT face=courier size=2></FONT> <BLOCKQUOTE><TT><FONT face=courier size=2>Establishing the link is essential to persuading the public that Iraq represents an imminent threat, and President Bush insisted that hard evidence in the shape of "intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody" proved the connection was real. </FONT></TT></BLOCKQUOTE> <P><FONT face=courier size=2></FONT> <BLOCKQUOTE><TT><FONT face=courier size=2>But the intelligence analysts in the US and Britain on whose work the president's claim was supposedly based say the connections are tangential at best, and the available evidence falls far short of proving a secret relationship between Baghdad and Osama bin Laden. One intelligence source in Washington, who has seen CIA material on the link, described the case as "soft" and "squishy". </FONT></TT></BLOCKQUOTE> <P><FONT face=courier size=2></FONT> <BLOCKQUOTE><TT><FONT face=courier size=2>Abu Musab al-Zarqawi </FONT></TT></BLOCKQUOTE> <P><FONT face=courier size=2></FONT> <BLOCKQUOTE><TT><FONT face=courier size=2>That case relies heavily on a man called Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian member of the al-Qaida leadership who was wounded in the leg in the US-led bombing of Afghanistan. In late 2001, according to US intelligence sources, he sought medical treatment in Iran but was deported and fled to Baghdad, where his leg was amputated. Telephone calls he made to his family in Jordan were intercepted. The question is whether Saddam Hussein's regime knew who he was and whether it offered him any assistance. "Yes, we have him telling his family I'm here in Baghdad in hospital, but he's not saying: 'And by the way, I'm getting all this help from Saddam,' " said a well-informed source in Washington. </FONT></TT></BLOCKQUOTE> <P><FONT face=courier size=2></FONT></P> <P class=body>cont'd at <A href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,885115,00.html" target=_blank><FONT color=#333333>http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,885115,00.html</FONT></A></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>