Ummm, how is that term in a strict Pentagon sense applicable to Al Queda, since they do not have overt standing organizations, especially in the course of clandestine operations spanning multiple countries?
"operational links" in the case of Al Queda means knowledge of and direct material support of plans to launch an attack against the United States.
Nothing in the documents captured from Saddam showed any such thing.
That is the key point here, not the debate on semantics.