By Jon Kyl
The Washington Post
May 2, 2008

In his April 25 Washington Sketch column, "Iraq War Is Everyone Else's Fault, Feith Explains," Dana Milbank asserted that the "CIA was correct" that there were no links between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. The historical record tells a different story.

In 2002, then-CIA Director George Tenet wrote in a letter to Bob Graham (D-Fla.), then chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, that "our understanding of the relationship between Iraq and al-Qa'ida is evolving" and "we have solid reporting of senior level contacts between Iraq and al-Qa'ida going back a decade."

A March 2008 report by the U.S. Joint Forces Command included information about the relationship between Hussein and Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's second in command: "Saddam supported groups either associated directly with al Qaeda (such as the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, led at one time by bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri) or that generally shared al Qaeda's stated goals and objectives."

Critics of the war in Iraq often try to minimize -- if not dismiss -- the links between Saddam Hussein and terrorists. As they say, facts are stubborn things.

JON KYL, U.S. Senator (R-Ariz.), Washington

Editor's Note: The column by Milbank appeared in the Current News Early Bird, April 25, 2008.