Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=6/18/2004

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / AL-QAIDA (L ONLY)

NUMBER=2-316833

BYLINE=JIM MALONE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

HEADLINE: Cheney Differs with nine-11 Commission on Iraq-al-Qaida Connection

INTRO: U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is disputing the conclusion of a special commission probing the nine-11 attacks that Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida did not have a collaborative relationship. The vice president spoke out in an interview Friday, as we hear from National correspondent Jim Malone.

TEXT: President Bush frequently cited Iraq's links with al-Qaida as one of the reasons for the U.S.-led invasion.

In an interview with CNBC television, Vice President Cheney repeated his assertion that the ties between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida were substantial.

/// 1ST CHENEY ACT ///

"There clearly was a relationship. It has been testified to. The evidence is overwhelming. It goes back to the early 90s. It involves a whole series of high level contacts between Osama bin Laden and Iraqi intelligence officials."

/// END ACT ///

That view conflicts with the findings of the independent, bipartisan commission investigating the 2001 terrorist attacks. In a report released this week, the nine-11 panel said there were contacts between Iraqi officials and al-Qaida operatives prior to 2001. But commission staff member Douglas MacEachin, a former CIA official, said the two parties never really established a working relationship.

/// MacEACHIN ACT ///

"There have been reports of contacts between Iraq and al-Qaida (that) also occurred after bin Laden returned to Afghanistan, but they do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship. And two senior bin Laden associates have adamantly denied any ties existed between al-Qaida and Iraq and so far we have no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaida cooperated on attacks against the United States."

/// END ACT ///

Vice President Cheney also says he is not willing to rule out the possibility that Iraq was somehow involved in the nine-11 terrorist plot against the United States.

He was asked about that by CNBC's Gloria Borger.

/// BORGER-CHENEY ACT ///

BORGER: "Was Iraq involved?"

CHENEY: "We don't know. What the commission says is that they cannot find any evidence of that."

BORGER: "But you say you disagree with the commission."

CHENEY: "On this question of whether or not there is a general relationship."

BORGER: "Yes."

CHENEY: "Yes."

BORGER: "And they say that there was not one forged and you are saying yes, that there was. Do you think the commission does not know?"

CHENEY: "Probably."

/// END ACT ///

The disagreement between the Bush administration and the nine-11 commission over the extent of Iraq's involvement with al-Qaida has also found its way into the U.S. presidential campaign.

Senator John Kerry, the president's presumptive opponent in the November election, says the nine-11 panel's conclusion shows the administration rushed to war in Iraq for reasons that are not supported by the facts.

/// KERRY ACT ///

"This administration took its eye off of al-Qaida, took its eye off of the real war on terror which was in Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan and transferred it for reasons of its own to Iraq."

/// END ACT ///

But at the White House this week, President Bush left no doubt that he will counter Senator Kerry on the issue during the campaign.

/// BUSH ACT ///

"This administration never said that the nine-11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and al-Qaida. We did say there were numerous contacts between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida."

/// END ACT ///

The issue could be reignited late next month when the nine-11 panel is scheduled to issue its final report and recommendations based on its investigation of the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. (Signed)

NEB/JBM/RH/KBK