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This blog post from Scott Rosenberg is about as clearheaded as they come.

The Bush administration, and now its apologists like Safire, maintain that points 1, 2 and 3 together constitute “ties” between Saddam and al-Qaida. But here’s the fuzz: they completely ignore central contradictory facts. For instance: (1) bin Laden didn’t get what he wanted from Saddam — he was rebuffed. (2) Every credible and careful review of the evidence about Atta’s Czech rendezvous has concluded that it never took place. (3) Ansar-al-Islam operated in a part of Iraqi Kurdistan that Saddam did not control, and Ansar, far from being in cahoots with the dictator, wanted to overthrow the Saddam regime — the Islamic Ansar detested the secular Baathists.

That’s the cliff notes version you can use anytime you’re arguing with a republican about “longstanding ties”.