Reply #6: Another link: [View All]

The political right benefits from trying to simplify what is an extremely complex issue. My shallow understanding of Ansar al Islam is that it was a Kurdish separatist group established after 9/11 and located in the northern Kurd territories. They were anti-Saddam, not even close to the kind of group who anyone could claim was working with him. Not only were they not in existence at the time of 9/11, even if they were they were well outside the no-fly zone that effectively limited Saddam's control over that area.

I also believe (sorry, no link for this) I have heard that Iranians have used the mountainous area on the border of Iraq for years (since the establishment of the no-fly zone) as terrorist training, because they knew that Saddam had no effective reach into the area.

What I haven't seen yet is any proof that any terrorists whom Saddam allegedly supported were working anywhere inside the no-fly zone -- the only part of Iraq where Saddam physically controlled anything. In other words, they may have been in Saddam's backyard, but only because Saddam's chain didn't reach to the fence.

This linked article explains that though they were initially anti-Saddam, they were eventually infiltrated by pro-Saddam forces, which, in a post-9/11 world could mean a million things. Did Saddam see the invasion coming and hope to eliminate Kurdish opposition to his ouster? Did he anticipate falling from power but hoped to whittle the power of the Kurds to the favor of his Baathist party or the minority Sunnis that would fight for control of Iraq after his removal? Was the infiltration of Ansar outside of his control and the idea of a freelance terrorist in search of a camp and fighters, knowing that once Saddam was gone, terrorists would have the run of the country?

http://www.rotten.com/library/history/terrorist-organizations/ansar_al-islam/