Osama in Baghdad in '98?

Take it with a grain of salt but there is a posting on MEMRI , the Arab news media translation service, that in 1998 Osama bin Laden met at the Al Rashid hotel with the lawyer for then President Saddam Hussein. The agenda? Unknown at this point.

Captain Ed of Captain's Quarters credits Kevin McCullough for the hat trick, and adds:

Needless to say, if this report pans out, it puts a completely new light on our efforts to depose Saddam -- not so much for those of us who understand the strategic necessity of removing Saddam, but for those who can only think tactically.

Indeed, it would be nice to hear the last of the stupid refrain "there was no connection between Saddam and Osama." We already know there was plenty of direct and indirect linkage, and enough circumstantial evidence, as we see it, to justify action against Saddam. Osama had the network, the communications and money, while Saddam had weapons, weapons development programs and even more money.

And lots of shared animosities toward Israel, the United States and the rest of the West.

Stay tuned.