The Connection: How al Qaeda’s Collaboration with Saddam Hussein Has Endangered America

Following the 9/11 attacks, uncertainty surrounded when and where the next attack might occur. The Bush administration and CIA director George Tenet warned of indications that al Qaeda and Iraq were collaborating, but their case faced opposition from unnamed intelligence officials, skeptical politicians, and media outlets. Major news organizations including ABC News and the New York Times reported no connection existed between the two groups, leading to widespread acceptance that Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein—a fundamentalist and secular autocrat respectively—could not work together. In The Connection, Stephen Hayes examines CIA debriefings, classified memos from national intelligence agencies, and interviews with Iraqi military leaders and Washington insiders to argue that Saddam and bin Laden did collaborate. Hayes documents a relationship spanning more than a decade that may have included cooperation on terrorist acts, chemical-weapons training, and harboring wanted radicals. Vice President Cheney cited Hayes's Weekly Standard article on this topic as the "best source of information" about Saddam-al Qaeda connections. The book draws on classified materials to address underreported and disputed information regarding America's adversaries during the War on Terror.