Dr. Robert Leiken and Dr. Laurie Mylroie square off in this Frontpage Symposium on the connection between Saddam's Iraq and bin Laden's Al Qaeda. There are two other participants who largely get lost in the shuffle of this long dialogue between Mylroie, who makes the case for significant Iraqi involvement in the terrorist attacks on the U.S., and Leiken, who minimizes the Iraqi role.
It seems to me they're arguing mostly over the degree of Saddam's influence, since neither party can prove direct Iraqi involvement in the 9/11 attacks, nor does either of them deny that Iraqi Intelligence Service agents met on multiple occasions with bin Laden in the mid-90's to discuss cooperative operations.
If you can get past the personal and professional criticisms that the two debaters engage in about the other, what's left is a fascinating look at some of the major players in recent anti-American terrorism, and the battle we are waging against them. Recommended reading.
Posted by dan at February 13, 2005 10:02 PM