generally shared al Qaeda's stated goals and objectives
Unfortunately, this isn't very compelling.

Al Qaeda's goals include such things as keeping non-muslim military etc. away from the holiest sites in Islam; a reduction of Western influence throughout the Muslim world; the resolution of the Palestinian question on terms that favor the Palestinians....

These are hardly "contentious" positions in the Arab/Muslim world (though I suspect the MEANS of achieving them would be more so), so finding other groups that "generally share" them isn't difficult. Means very little in terms of assessing active coordination and/or networking amongst such groups.


Best evidence to date suggests that Saddam held discussions with Al Queda leadership just often enough, and routed just enough money their way, to secure their non-presence in Iraq. It's not as though the Wahabist leadership cadre in AQ would have thought very highly of Saddam. Saddam really can't be thought of as a "poster child" for the Muslim faith, regardless of which Muslim sect you are/espouse.


As a leader, Saddam's first, second, and a considerable portion of all other thoughts up to his last thought, were most probably focused on maintaining himself at the top of his power pyramid. He was demonstrably willing to kill anyone who represented a credible threat -- and quite a few who were at best incredible threats -- to his regime. He would likely have viewed AQ more as a threat than a cause to be supported. A re-established caliphate would NOT keep Sadam in power -- and would likely have given him the same finish he ended up getting. Since he couldn't kill that threat, he fobbed it off as cheaply as he could.