One of the more active terrorist networks in recent years has been that of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. At least 116 terrorist operatives from Zarqawi’s global network have been arrested, including members in France, Italy, Spain, Britain, Germany, Turkey, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. For example:

Turkey: Two Palestinians and a Jordanian who entered Turkey illegally from Iran on their way to conduct bombing attacks in Israel were intercepted and arrested by Turkish police on February 15, 2002. They were dispatched to Turkey by Zarqawi from Iran.

Germany: Although the al-Tawhid terrorist cell apprehended in Germany in April 2002 has been tied to the recently arrested Abu Qatada in Britain, its activities were controlled by Zarqawi. According to German prosecutors, the group facilitated the escape of terrorist fugitives from Afghanistan and planned to attack US or Israeli interests in Germany.

Jordan: Zarqawi planned and facilitated the October 2002 assassination of US Agency for International Development official Lawrence Foley in Amman. Jordanian PM Abu Ragheb Ali announced that the suspects arrested in December in connection with the attack received funding and instructions from Zarqawi and had intended to conduct further attacks against "foreign embassies, Jordanian officials, some diplomatic personnel, especially Americans and Israelis." Moreover, Powell revealed that after the murder, an associate of the assassin "left Jordan to go to Iraq to obtain weapons and explosives for further operations." In addition, a key Zarqawi deputy called Foley’s assassins on a satellite phone to congratulate them while he was driving out of Iraq toward Turkey, a mistake that led to his capture and confirmation that an al-Qaeda cell was operating out of Iraq.

Poison plots: Powell also disclosed that Abuwatia, a detainee who graduated from Zarqawi’s terrorist camp in Afghanistan, admitted to dispatching at least nine North African extremists to Europe to conduct poison and explosive attacks.

The principal terrorist threat today stems from the web of shadowy relationships between loosely affiliated groups. The sponsors of such groups further complicate the web, be they states or sub- state actors. Indeed, there is no precise organisational or command structure to the assemblage of groups that fall under al-Qaeda’s umbrella or that cooperate with the organisation.

The range of actors who have given Zarqawi safe haven and support clearly illustrate the current modus operandi of terrorist networks. He first surfaced as a terrorist suspect in 1999, when he led Jund al-Shams, an Islamic extremist group and al-Qaeda affiliate operating primarily in Syria and Jordan:

Taliban-ruled Afghanistan: In 2000, Zarqawi travelled to Afghanistan, where he oversaw an al-Qaeda training camp and worked on chemical and biological weapons. Such camps served as open universities, educating terrorists from a wide array of local and international groups. These students in turn established relationships and networks. 

Iran and Iraq: In early 2002, Zarqawi was wounded in the leg while fighting against US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan. He escaped to Iran, then travelled to Iraq in May 2002, where his wounded leg was amputated and replaced with a prosthetic. According to Powell, Zarqawi then spent two months recovering in Baghdad, during which time "nearly two dozen extremists converged on Baghdad and established a base of operations there. These al-Qaeda affiliates, based in Baghdad, now coordinate the movement of people, money, and supplies into and throughout Iraq for his network, and they’ve now been operating freely in the capital for more than eight months."

Syria and Lebanon: From Baghdad, Zarqawi travelled to Syria and then to Lebanon, where he met with leaders from Hezbollah and other extremists at a terrorist training camp and at the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp. US intelligence officials have definitively linked Zaraqawi to Hezbollah, magnifying their concerns about the ad hoc tactical relationship brewing between Iran’s Shi’i proxy and the loosely affiliated al-Qaeda network.

The Ansar al-Islam camp in northern Iraq: Currently, Zarqawi is believed to have returned to the Ansar al-Islam camp in northern Iraq run by his Jund al-Shams lieutenants. There, he enjoys safe haven and free passage in and out.

Powell has provided other evidence about Iraq’s links to terrorism. He revealed that an Iraqi intelligence officer is the official Iraqi liaison officer assigned to Ansar al-Islam. According to Powell, "in 2000 this agent offered al-Qaeda safe haven in the region," an offer that some operatives accepted. US intelligence also indicates that this agent operates "in the most senior levels of the radical organisation [Ansar al-Islam]." Senior Iraqi and al-Qaeda officials are known to have met at least eight times since the early 1990s; the Iraqi embassy in Pakistan was used to liaise with al-Qaeda from 1999 through 2001.

Iraq clearly sponsors terrorism. To be sure, the most dangerous terrorists in the world are not those that are tightly controlled by any government. Yet, several countries, including Iraq, have provided support for the shadowy networks and loose alliances through which the most violent terrorists organise their attacks. What Powell offered in his UN address is a convincing description of how Iraq fits into this web.