I remember this, vaguely, but if I remember correctly this Russian intelligence was just part of the whole Iraq-AlQaeda link touted by Moscow and the CIA, which was later proven to be false. It was these same intelligence agencies that insisted the weapons were in Iraq, and the CIA even went so far as to create a report of mobile chemical weapons facilities; of which we later found out they invented on suspicion alone and never actually checked. The pressure was on to give them some solid intelligence, and having none they fabricated a suspicion into fact and crossed their fingers it would turn out to be true. This whole Iraq mess is a sad state of affairs.
Gandalf_The_Grey Reviewed by Gandalf_The_Grey on . Troop Reduction Is Possible, Bush Says AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq, Sept. 3 â?? President Bush made a surprise eight-hour visit to Iraq on Monday, emphasizing security gains, sectarian reconciliation and the possibility of a troop withdrawal, thus embracing and pre-empting this monthâ??s crucial Congressional hearings on his Iraq strategy. His visit, with his commanders and senior Iraqi officials, had a clear political goal: to try to head off opponentsâ?? pressure for a withdrawal by hailing what he called recent successes in Iraq Rating: 5