Talk:Neoconservatism in the United States/removed

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Following the release, on June 16, 2004, of the preliminary findings of the staff of the bipartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the commission found no evidence that Iraq had anything to do with the attacks and no evidence of a "collaborative" relationship but did find that

"Bin Laden also explored possible cooperation with Iraq during his time in Sudan, despite his opposition to Hussein's secular regime",

"A senior Iraqi intelligence officer reportedly made three visits to Sudan, finally meeting Bin Laden in 1994",

"There have been reports that contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda also occurred after Bin Laden had returned to Afghanistan" [3]

Further, the commission found that,

"With al Qaeda as its foundation, Bin Laden sought to build a broader Islamic army that also included terrorist groups from Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Oman, Tunisia, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Somalia and Eritrea. Not all groups from these states agreed to join, but at least one from each did." [4]

Protesting the press' "portrayal" of the 911 Commission's statement, Vice President Dick Cheney, in an interview with CNBC television, insisted that "there clearly was a relationship. It has been testified to. The evidence is overwhelming." [5]