Saddam's APB for Zarqawi

Remember how Zarqawi's presence in the part of Iraq Saddam didn't control was supposed to "tie" the Baath regime to Al-Qaeda? No, it didn't make any sense to me either, but now we have this: "Iraqi documents collected by US intelligence during the Iraq war and released by the Bush administration...[include] one the administration said showed that Iraqi intelligence officials suspected al Qaida members were inside Iraq in 2002."

Gotcha, lefties! Oh, wait:

However, one of the documents, a letter from an Iraqi intelligence official, dated August 17, 2002, asked agents in the country to be on the lookout for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and another unnamed man whose picture was attached.

We're sure that's because he was late for a meeting with Saddam or something. Maybe, you know, Zarqawi hadn't called recently and Saddam was getting antsy. "Abu...[wringing hands] Where is my Abu...?"

Juan Cole (our source for this beauty) follows up with this:

The September 29, 2002 Denver Post paraphrased Cheney, "He said the evidence presented against Iraq will be long and persuasive, including more details of a relationship between Hussein's forces and the al-Qaeda terrorist network."