New London, Conn. – President Bush offered 2-year-old, formerly classified information about Osama bin Laden’s connections to al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq on Wednesday, as he used a commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy to try to bolster his long-held contention that Iraq is a central front in the “war on terror.”
In anticipation of the address, the White House declassified the intelligence, which the president said showed that bin Laden told al-Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to form a cell to conduct attacks outside Iraq, with the United States as his “No. 1 priority” to target.
“Zarqawi welcomed this direction,” Bush asserted. “He claimed that he had already come up with some good proposals.”
Bush said U.S. intelligence also reported bin Laden asked another one of his deputies, Hamza Rabia, to send al-Zarqawi a briefing on operations against the U.S. and that a third deputy suggested bin Laden send Rabia to Iraq to plan attacks with al-Zarqawi. That deputy later speculated that if this effort proved successful, “al-Qaeda might one day prepare the majority of its external operations from Iraq,” Bush said.
Bush’s speech was part of a White House campaign in recent weeks to portray the violence in Iraq as primarily a function of al-Qaeda – and playing down the internal divisions within Iraq. The apparent hope is to regain political support for an endeavor that has become deeply unpopular among Americans.
Bush noted that bin Laden had tried to send a top operative, Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, to replace al-Zarqawi after he was killed last year, but he was captured and is being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
The White House has been frequently criticized for a selective release of intelligence aimed at buttressing its political goals, and the comments Wednesday triggered a new round.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement saying Bush’s remarks underscore why a change of course in Iraq is necessary.
“Intelligence analysts concluded long ago that Iraq has indeed become a training ground for a new generation of terrorists,” he said. “That is exactly why it is so important to change course from the president’s failed Iraq strategy to a new strategy that more effectively fights terrorists.”
