Publius time to catch up with current events. The splinter group you speak of is Ansar al-Islam, of which Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi is a member. They are associated with Bin Laden and have operated out of Northen Iraq for years. Ansar Islam has just had several of it's members arrested in Turkey when the Turks broke up a plot to bomb a Nato summit of World Leaders such as Bush, Blair, Chirac, ect... There's a link to the story. ---->
http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/23733.htm
Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi is the person Bush built his case upon in connecting Iraq to the war on terror. It turns out not to be a lie at all. Two weeks ago Jordan broke up a bomb plot paid for by Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi that intended to use chemical WMD in the Capitol city to attack the US embassy and Jordanian Government builds. Estimates say the explosion and gas cloud could have killed up to 80,000 and political impact could have destroyed the government of Jordan. You can read about it here --->
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...8527339.htm?1c
Still think he lied about a threat to US interests and our allies? Still think there were no WMD in Al-Queda hands in Iraq? These attacks would have made 9/11 look almost insignificant in terms of global impact.