Leon Panetta links Iraq war to al-Qaeda

Appearing in Baghdad Monday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta suggested that U.S. troops are in Iraq as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks, echoing a controversial Bush administration assertion largely rejected by President Obama and most Democrats.

"The reason you guys are here is because on 9/11 the United States got attacked," said Panetta, according to the Washington Post. "And 3,000 Americans -- 3,000 not just Americans, 3,000 human beings, innocent human beings -- got killed because of al-Qaeda. And we've been fighting as a result of that."

The comments from Panetta echoed past claims by Bush administration officials, who suggested a significant link between al-Qaeda and former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in the runup to the Iraq war. The Sept. 11 Commission and most expert observers have said no such link exists.

Panetta, who recently took over as secretary of defense after serving as CIA director, somewhat backtracked when questioned by reporters after his remarks, the Post notes.

"I wasn't saying, you know, the invasion -- or going into the issues or the justification of that," he said. "It was more the fact that we really had to deal with al-Qaeda here, they developed a presence here and that tied in."