Proponents of the Iraq War often qualify their position with a tacit admission that the evidence needed to justify the liberation of Iraq did not pan out. President Bush, the argument runs, made the best decision based on the best intelligence available. While this approach has its merits, hindsight highlights not only the mistakes; it also strengthens the case for invasion in the context of the Global War on Terrorism.

After September 11th, the United States essentially declared war on all international terrorist groups and the regimes that sponsor them. Any nation that supports these groups, then, is a legitimate target.One central aspect of America’s case—Saddam’s support for international terrorism—has not been refuted by information gathered since the invasion, contrary to opinions popular in certain circles.

Rather, it has been strengthened considerably. As President Bush declared in his 2003 State of the Union, “Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda.” Many links have since been established between several terror organizations and Saddam’s regime.

Deroy Murdock, media fellow at the Hoover Institution, notes that Saddam “owned and operated a full-service general store for global terrorists, complete with cash, diplomatic aid, safe haven, training, and even medical attention.” Details abound. April 2003 witnessed the capture by coalition troops of a former Iraqi diplomat, who served as a link to bin Laden, and two other international terrorists, one linked to the Lockerbie bombing and the other—Abu Abbas—to the Achille Lauro hijacking. The Duelfer report concluded that the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) trained foreign nationals “in counterterrorism, explosives, marksmanship, and foreign operations at its facilities at Salman Pak.” The report also mentions the Tiger Group, “primarily comprised of suicide bombers.”

Cell phone records discovered in the Philippines link another former Iraqi diplomat to Abu Sayyaf.Many intriguing papers have also been discovered in former IIS headquarters that link Saddam to Osama bin Laden. According to The Daily Telegraph, documents dated February 1998 describe a meeting designed to “establish a relationship…based on their mutual hatred of America and Saudi Arabia,” mentioning also a possible visit by bin Laden to Baghdad. Other documents link Iraq to the 9/11 planning meeting in Malaysia and suggest a relationship developed as early as 1993.The aggregation of other links to terror drives the final nail into Saddam’s coffin.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian al Qaeda-affiliate in Iraq, received medical treatment in Baghdad before the war. Terrorists were already in Iraq before the invasion, preparing for the insurgency. Saddam also supported Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian terrorist groups, offering donations to the families of suicide bombers. Whether Saddam’s relationship with bin Laden was “collaborative,” Saddam’s links to international terrorism were concrete and, in a struggle against “every terrorist group of global reach,” worth going to war.