The Algerian connection

The tireless Thomas Joscelyn, in the Daily Standard, shows Saddam Hussein’s connection with the Armed Islamic Group (GIA). According to Joscelyn, the GIA is al Qaeda’s Algerian affiliate. The Algerian-born terrorist Ahmed Ressam, recently sentenced to 25 years for attempting to blow up the Los Angeles airport, operated under its auspices. Stanley Bedlington, a former CIA official, confirmed in a December 2001 article in USA Today that some of the money Osama bin Laden funneled to the GIA came from Saddam’s Iraq.
Whether Saddam continued to fund the GIA throughout its reign of terror is unknown. I agree with Joscelyn that it would be good to find out. But even if he stopped, we are safer for having removed a leader who supported this international terrorist group at any time.

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