Initial reaction to the letter Habbush letter

ayad allawi

ayad allawi, interim prime minister of iraq, quoted in original report, offering personal assurance on document s authenticity: uncovering evidence time of saddam s involvement al-qaeda.... compelling piece of evidence have found far. shows not did saddam have contacts al-qaeda, had contact responsible september 11 attacks.

the story picked , repeated several conservative columnists in us, including syndicated columnist deroy murdock , william safire. safire talked document in op-ed new york times, claiming saddam had attempted cover-up links 9/11 assassinating abu nidal, letter claims mohammed atta in iraq.

three weeks later, in interview rocky mountain news, vice president dick cheney spoke more broadly on saddam hussein , al-qaeda link allegations:

we haven t had time yet pore through records in baghdad. ll find ample evidence confirming link, connection if between al qaida , iraqi intelligence services. have worked on number of occasions.

doubts

on december 17, 2003, newsweek article titled terror watch: dubious link between atta , saddam , michael isikoff , mark hosenball, outlined of main reasons doubt authenticity of letter:

...the fbi has compiled highly detailed time line atta s movements throughout spring , summer of 2001 based on mountain of documentary evidence, including airline records, atm withdrawals , hotel receipts. records show atta crisscrossing united states during period—making 1 overseas trip, 11-day visit spain didn t begin until 6 days after date of iraqi memo...

... ironically, iraqi national congress of ahmed chalabi, has been vocal in claiming ties between al qaeda , saddam s regime, dismissive of new telegraph story. memo nonsense , inc spokesman told newsweek.

the article quoted iraq document expert named hassan mneimneh, unnamed officials, claim document part of thriving new trade in dubious iraqi documents .