Bush Distorts Qaeda Links, Critics Assert

New York Times by Michael R. Gordon, Jim Rutenberg | Jul. 13, 2007 (News Report)

Bush's references to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, and his assertions that it is the same group that attacked the United States in 2001, have greatly oversimplified the nature of the insurgency in Iraq and its relationship with the Qaeda leadership.
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Bruce Hoffman, an expert on terrorism at Georgetown University, said that if American forces were to withdraw from Iraq, the vast majority of the group's members would likely be more focused on ... Full Story »

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by Roland F. Hirsch - Oct. 1, 2008

Al Qaeda had close ties with the Iraqi dictatorship since the mid 1990s. Saddam Hussein was training their operatives in Iraq before the liberation. It is well documented that Al Qaeda has brought many foreigners into Iraq. Why do the authors keep using the strange phrase "Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia" instead of the more accurate "Al Qaeda in Iraq"? Probably because the editors of the paper wanted this to be a typical hit piece on the administration.