When Bush administration attacked Iraq , it argued there was a Hussein-al Qaeda connection . Peter Bergen : Exhaustive research found absolutely no evidence of a connection . Three years into the Iraq War , AQI seemed all but unstoppable . Ironically , the U.S. invasion provoked the creation of an al Qaeda arm in Iraq , Bergen says . Bergen : The CIA and other intelligence agencies were not only aware that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction but also knew he wanted to use them against Israel.
When Bush administration attacked Iraq , it argued there was a Hussein-al Qaeda connection . Peter Bergen : Exhaustive research found absolutely no evidence of a connection . Ironically , the U.S. invasion provoked the creation of an al Qaeda arm in Iraq , Bergen says . Bergen : The CIA and other intelligence agencies were not only aware that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction but also knew he wanted to use them against Israel.