It is amazing that here we are, a year after the supposed "end of major action" and after the proclamation of "Mission Accomplished" (there's a good "mistake" that GWBush could have come up with at the press conference...) that there is still a lack of evidence establishing the connection of Saddam Hussein to al Queda. Apparently those supposed connections that GWBush spoke about proved to be as difficult to find as the WMD he told us existed
US intelligence placed Zarqawi in Iraq prior to the start of the war...but not as an ally of Saddam Hussein, but of Ansar al-Islam.
From Janes Guide:
"Ansar al-Islam was established after 11 September 2001 in an enclave in northeastern Iraq, near the porous border with Iran - an area outside of Saddam Hussein's control. In late March 2003, US-led forces attacked its mountain stronghold, a cluster of some 16 villages and a network of caves in the Halabja Valley. Some 200 of the 800 fighters were killed, according to the PUK. Many of those who survived fled into Iran."
Janes link on al-Islam