[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by sultan: at the risk of dancing along the line of religious discussion, i think it's that very hypocrisy and hair-splitting which makes it not only possible for AQ to make those seemingly nonsensical distinctions, but in fact likely. remember, we cannot evaluate them in terms of sensible western thinking. think of psychotic profilers who hunt serial killers.

Possibly, sultan. But possibly not also. I only danced along the religious line to make the point that - while they may espouse religious ethics and ideals - fanatics are also willing to "make a deal with the devil" to accomplish their goals.

As I mentioned before, the accusations about Hussein's luxurious lifestyle and Western-society decadence(sp?) sound true to form, until you realize that Osama is also a multi-multi-millionaire thanks to Western society. So...the A.Q. may claim to follow their idea of religious purity, but Osama obviously doesn't believe in that strongly himself.

The point is that Saddam's wealth, status, contacts, and well known hatred for the U.S. would make him a very logical partner for Osama to seek out. I know that both sides are denying it, but what else would you expect them to do...say "Yeah, we've been getting weapons and training from Saddam for months now. Boy, are you Americans sure dumb not to have figured it out sooner".

I always knew that the link between A.Q. and Saddam was tenuous (at best - and that is being very generous) based on the information that was released to the public. It would be nice to see some concrete, documented evidence to finally support that claim. So, in that respect, I do hope the memo turns out to be legit.

Time will tell.