The information Sen. Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) was spouting on the Senate floor back in 2002 about al Qaeda and its ties to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq came from Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, appointed by Hillary’s husband, Bill.
On Oct. 7, 2002, then-Deputy DCI John McLaughlin sent a letter expressly on Tenet’s behalf to then-Senate Intelligence Chairman Bob Graham (D.-Fla.). On Oct. 9, 2002, the letter was read into the Congressional Record. “[W]e have solid evidence of the presence in Iraq of al Qaeda members, including some that have been in Baghdad,” the letter said. “We have credible reporting that al Qaeda leaders sought contacts in Iraq who could help them acquire WMD capabilities. The reporting also stated that Iraq has provided training to al Qaeda members in the areas of poisons and gases and making conventional bombs.”
The next day, on the Senate floor, Sen. Clinton told the nation Saddam had “given aid, comfort and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members.” But last week, in a letter to constituents, Clinton said: “I voted for [the war] on the basis of evidence presented by the administration … and the ‘evidence’ of weapons of mass destruction and links to al Qaeda turned out to be false.”
Nowhere did Mrs. Clinton name George Tenet—or concede that the evidence on Iraq was provided directly to Congress by the DCI her husband appointed.
