September 11 Attacks
The coordinated attacks against New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the foiled attack resulting in the crash in western Pennsylvania, were executed with precision by a small group of terrorists belonging to Usamah Bin Ladin's organization. Estimates of the cost of the operation range from $500,000 to $2 million, well within the resources of Al-Qaidah.
The fact that the operation was relatively low cost does not exclude the indirect participation of Iraq. However, Saddam Husayn had some experience in dealing with the United States, going back to military cooperation with the American armed forces during Iraq's eight year war with Iran from 1980 to 1988. In addition, Iraqi embassy officials in Washington had some dealings with law enforcement. The Iraqis were aware of the investigative capabilities of the U.S. government.
Knowing that any attack against the United States of this magnitude would receive the highest priority attention of the United States with no restrictions on resources, Saddam and his advisors had to assess that the Americans would eventually determine responsibility. Given the animosity between the American and Iraqi governments over the continuing sanctions and no-fly zones, it is doubtful that Iraq would want any "smoking gun" pointing to Iraqi complicity in the operations. Saddam would have to expect that American popular opinion in the wake of an attack of this scale would demand overwhelming military force against Iraq.
Anthrax and Iraq
It is the anthrax attacks that make Iraqi complicity more suspect. Since the first case, which resulted in the death of Florida man, numerous other instances of exposure are appearing. Possibly, but it is the anthrax attacks that make Saddam a suspect. While Usamah Bin Ladin certainly had the resources to carry out the attacks of September 11, access to anthrax and the skills to deliver it effectively would require some expertise in biological weapons, something Iraq certainly possesses.
Would Iraq use, or facilitate use, of biological agents in an attack against the United States? To answer that, one only need look at Iraq's history with weapons of mass destruction. Beginning in the early 1980's, Iraqi military forces used mustard gas against attacking Iranian troops, and in the mid-1980's became the first and only nation to use nerve gas (Tabun and Sarin) on the battlefield. Not only did Saddam order the use of chemical weapons against Iranian troops, he ordered them used against his own citizens. The case of nerve gas attacks on the Kurdish village of Halabjah in the spring of 1988 brought worldwide condemnation of the Iraqi regime.
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