No Evidence Of Iraq-Al Qaeda connection

Christian Science Monitor -- Agence-France Presse reports that earlier this month, the counter-espionage service of US ally Spain told a Spanish parliamentary committee there is no link between Hussein and Al Qaeda.

The Spanish report follows similar reports from British, French, and Russian intelligence that found no evidence of a link between the two. And a classified US national intelligence report leaked earlier this summer to The Washington Post also called into question the existence of any ties.

Robert Scheer of the Los Angeles Times writes that almost all these "allegations," such as the connection between bin Laden lieutenant Abu Musab Zarqawi and Iraq, are typical of the way the Bush administration has dealt with Iraq and Al Qaeda from the beginning; "Say what you want people to believe for the front page and on TV, then whisper a halfhearted correction or apology that slips under the radar."