Again, goes back to that dicey definition of "ties." Seems to me you and the blog you cited are willing to engage in a bit of crass reductionism to make this connection.
Those ties are shakey Dan.
Islamic jihad EVENTUALLY became al queda
Giving money to the palis has little to do with the USA.
Should it not be normal for a man in charge of a nation to keep tabs on the many factions within his nation extremist or not?
I think others pointed this out to you but you have side stepped the issue a bit.
In this specific instance, I believe that quote from Reb stated "No real substantive ties to terrorist organizations" I cut and pasted the exact quote to make certain that I was accurately reflecting Reb's views, I don't want to put words in Reb's mouth.
The issue then is not whether Islamic Jihad had eventual ties to al Qaeda, but whether Islamic Jihad qualifies, on it's own merits, as a terrorist organization. In my opinion, I would say that Islamic Jihad, standing on it's own two legs, qualifies as a leading terrorist organization.
I would say that if you categorize Saddam's role as "keeping tabs" on Islamic Jihad then you probably haven't read the actual report. I don't blame you for not reading it, I haven't read the entire report either, not enough time in my life right now. Too much work to do. But it's something for the weekend.
It's been fun, but I've got to get back to work.
Have a great day y'all.