WMD: Saddam was the WMD

To Matt Hurley's post (9/11 and Saddam), one should also add:

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• Saddam repeatedly violated the Persian Gulf War cease-fire agreement by firing on U.S. fighter jets patrolling the no-fly zone.
• The attempted assassination of former President Bush; which incidentally was convincing enough for Clinton to launch retaliatory attacks.
• The Joint Resolution authorized by Congress (voted for by both Republicans and Democrats):
  
  Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq;



• Then read in its entirety the President's explanation of his attack on Iraq where he states:

Earlier today, I ordered America's armed forces to strike military and security targets in Iraq. They are joined by British forces. Their mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors.

Their purpose is to protect the national interest of the United States, and indeed the interests of people throughout the Middle East and around the world.

Oh, by the way...that's President Clinton talking in 1998. Pesky little things those facts.

Rush said it best today on his radio show when he suggested the George W. Bush should admit his mistake. His mistake was believing the Democrats when they said they would support the Iraq War effort by voting for it in the joint resolution and then wanting to turn tail and run when things got a bit dicey.

Update: This from NRO's Media Blog (Hat Tip: Kevin Holtsberry Dot Com) is a slam dunk argument if ever there was one:

Osama bin Laden hated the United States because of the presence of our military in Saudi Arabia — a presence necessitated by the brutal, expansionist nature of the dictator next door. Military bases in Saudi Arabia, economic sanctions against Iraq and enforcement of the no-fly zones were all part of an Iraq policy that failed us on September 11. After 9/11, we had two choices to remedy that failed policy: disengage from Iraq and leave Saddam free to develop weapons, massacre the Kurds and the Shiites, and attack his neighbors; or undertake efforts to change the regime, a goal of U.S. policy since the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act.

Update 2: Powerline has also caught on to the Democrats' hypocrisy alluded to above with the Iraq War Resolution.

Update 3: The Iraq - al Qaeda Link

Update 4: ABC News claims Saddam-al Qaida link