National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice was interviewed on Fox News Sunday on September 7, 2003. When asked if there was a link between Al Qaeda and Saddam before the war, she replied: ” ‘Absolutely. And [Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-] Zarqawi made the coming back to his old stomping ground [Iraq]. But we know that there was training of Al Qaeda in chemical and perhaps biological warfare. …yes, the Al Qaeda link was there. And maybe they’re trying to reestablish it.’ ”
– “What the Bush Administration Said,” The New York Times, June 20, 2004