Give it up, Mr. Hayes

Officials of the U.S. Intelligence apparatus met in Congress yesterday, mainly to answer questions about the NSA spying program. But Weekly Standard sleuth Stephen Hayes also wanted them to answer questions about the seized Iraqi documents he's trying to chase down. Didn't happen--but it's doubtful Mr. Hayes actually expected it to. Nevertheless, here's a sample from his wish-list:

A) Reporters from the Toronto Star and Sunday Telegraph found documents in the Iraqi Intelligence headquarters indicating that a "trusted confidant" of Osama bin Laden traveled to Iraq on March 5, 1998 for meetings with Iraqi Intelligence. According to the documents, the bin Laden envoy stayed at the expense of Iraqi Intelligence at the Mansour al Melia Hotel; he was scheduled to stay for one week but extended his visit to sixteen days.

That was only a month after bin Laden's Fatwa against America, where he mentioned the suffering Iraqi people. Shortly thereafter ABC's Sheila McVicar seemed to think the connection was worth mentioning. So far, so good.

B) Based on documents a reporter found in an Iraqi Mukhabarat safe house, the San Francisco Chronicle reported in April 2003 that the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) was training Iraqi Intelligence operative as late as September 2002. Are those documents authentic?..

Ahhh, getting interesting. He continues the question..

If so, what can we learn about Russian behavior with respect to Iraq that might be applicable to Russia's role on Iran?

Ah, the rub. Do we need any more clues as to why they haven't released them? I'd wager the stash contains many embarrassing dossiers revealing misdeeds from some of our friends and partners around the globe. Saddam reportedly aced his blackmail final in dictator school.

C) The U.S. military reportedly found Iraqi documents that indicate support from the former Iraqi regime to 1993 World Trade Center bomber Abdul Rahman Yasin. Despite the fact that Yasin is still listed as a "Most Wanted Terrorist," the FBI has refused to make these documents public. Why?


Good point. Looks like the search for Mr. Yasin has been about as successful as the search for the anthrax killers. Perhaps we could ask OJ Simpson to add him to his find-the-killers to-do list?

Seriously, Mr. Hayes. Providing answers to such questions might actually confirm a link between the two WTC attacks, and despite the undeniable evidence, that's just preposterous. Besides, the 9/11 Commission said it wasn't important. Oh yeah, if you're counting on Mr. Negroponte, good luck.

Ok, one more,

D) There was much prewar discussion of the activities at Salman Pak, a facility identified by U.N. weapons inspectors as a terrorist training camp. What has the U.S. intelligence community learned about those activities since the March 2003 invasion? ..

Perhaps they've learned that this man's narrative was correct.

This decision whether to release the documents reminds me of a pro golfer musing over whether to lay up or go after a par 5 in two. Risk-reward. Is the reward of releasing docs, which would help Bush's poll numbers, worth the risk of exposing other untidy facts that might cause diplomatic heartburn and muck up future operations in the region?

My money is on the lay up.