[GAsux]

Excuse me for failing to see the signifigance or shock value in this story. They caught a big fish in Al Qaeda. Super. They caught him in Iraq. Super. So what?

Is this supposed to serve as some kind of proof that Al Qaeda was doing anything significant in Iraq PRIOR to the war? Or anytime in the last decade for that matter? Not so much.

The fact of the matter is, Iraq has become the battle ground from muslim fundementalists and mercenaries of the world, much like Afghanistan in the 80s. There is no doubt Al Qaeda or at least Al Qaeda supporters are active in Iraq. If Iraq is the new frontlines in the jihad battle, where better for it's premier fighters to be?

bin Laden has in Iraq a nation where his orgainzition can operate with popular public support. Targets of opportunity are great. There is instability and the opportunity to militarily and strategically embarrass the U.S. a la Beruit and Somalia. It would be silly to think there AREN'T al Qaeda operatives there.

But regardless, the presence of al Qaeda members in Iraq now proves nothing. There is still not once piece of documented evidence in the mounds and mounds of paperwork uncovered, nor in the thousands upon thousands of hours of interrogations of caputred insurgents to indicate that any such terrorist activity was going on BEFORE the war started.

I'm not some kind of screaming liberal butt hurt about going to war. But facts are facts, and so far, the al Qaeda-Iraq link is horribly empty of any.