The Bush administration has declassified intelligence it says proves links between Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq. The 2005 report says bin Laden ordered former al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to attack U.S. targets outside Iraq. President Bush discussed the charges at a speech for Coast Guard graduates in Connecticut.

President Bush: “Al-Qaeda knows that a democratic Iraq is a threat to their ambitions to impose their hateful ideology across the Middle East. Al-Qaeda knows that our presence in Iraq is a direct threat to their existence in Iraq. Our security depends on helping the Iraqis succeed and defeating Iraq, al-Qaeda in Iraq.”

White House aides later denied accusations of releasing selective intelligence and repeating its false linkage of bin Laden to Iraq before the U.S. invasion.