Bush must present evidence

In seeking to gather support for a war against Iraq, the Bush administration has trumpeted the supposed link between Saddam Huessein's regime and al Qaeda. Bush has gone so far as to claim that the two are "equally as evil and equally as destructive" and that "you can't distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror."\nIn light of Bush's recent remarks, one of two things must be true. Either National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, two of the most ardent supporters of the claim, have some intelligence that would substantiate the tenuous reports of links between Iraq and al Qaeda, or the administration is promoting a misunderstanding about the relationship between the two.\nDespite a common enemy in the United States, Iraq and al Qaeda are not intuitive allies. Traditionally al Qaeda has opposed secular Muslim regimes, such as Egypt, Algeria and Iraq. The destruction of these secular governments has been one the primary goals of Islamic jihadists for the past half-century. Likewise, Huessein recognizes al Qaeda and other jihadists groups as threats to his regime.\nWhile Huessein is known for offering money to the families of suicide bombers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, he does so in order to lionize attacks on Israel. The Iraqi regime does support the actions of an Islamic fundamentalist group known as Ansar al Islam, which opposes pro-American Kurdish groups in Northern Iraq. There is no evidence though that the group serves as a connection between Iraq and al Qaeda.\nThere are reports of links between Iraq and al Qaeda, though none of them have been confirmed. Mohammed Atta, one of the Sept. 11 hijackers, reportedly met with an Iraqi agent in Prague in April 2001. Ramzi Yousef, the 1993 World Trade Center bomber, is said to have escaped from New York using a passport provided by Iraqi intelligence. Al Qaeda refugees have reportedly taken refuge in Northern Iraq, though this area is under Kurdish control and out of Huessein's grasp.\nRice and Rumsfeld say that senior al Qaeda officials have been in Baghdad, and there is evidence supporting the claim that al Qaeda and Huessein are collaborating in the development of weapons of mass destruction. Until more evidence is presented in support of these allegations, though, they remain speculations, and must be regarded as such. \nHuessein and al Qaeda may indeed be cooperating, but such a partnership would, in the words of former National Security Council member Daniel Benjamin told the New York Times, "represent a dramatic departure from the record."\nIf Rice and Rumsfeld possess noteworthy evidence of a collaboration, then they should present it. If they do not, then the Bush administration must make clear that Iraq and al Qaeda are not known allies. Saddam Huessein may be trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction, and there may be good reasons to wage war against Iraq. If there are, though, then we must consider these reasons in their own right. An invasion of Iraq would be a diversion from the war on al Qaeda, and so we must weigh the threat of a known active enemy of the United States against the threat of a suspected one. Only then, and after we prudently consider the costs of such a war, could an invasion of Iraq begin to be justified.