States and terror networks

By Thomas Lifson

A long simmering dispute continues to evoke harsh feelings. Was Iraq involved in 9/11? The accepted response, that Al Qaeda acted without any sponsorship from Saddam, is not believed by everyone.

"To what extent are the networks of Islamic militants penetrated and sometimes supported by states that use the militants for their own purposes?" This is the question that fascinates researcher Laurie Mylroie, who believes that the answer to above question is at least "sometimes."

This is more than idle curiosity. Mylroie wrote a piece questioning the accepted version of the original 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, which evoked a startling reaction from one of the principals in the prosecution, a member in good standing of the conservative intelligensia. Her more recent thoughts have recently been reposted here

This is one of those back burner issues that won't go away. The larger point, that states may well be involved in the operations of terror groups from AQ on down, should be kept in mind as the Obama administration reformulates the United States' strategic posture.