Gen. Secretary of State Colin Powell met with reporters Thursday and for the first time admitted he had never seen definitive evidence that linked Saddam Hussein to al-Qaida. Powell said “I have not seen smoking-gun, concrete evidence about the connection.” Powell went on to defend the invasion. But a year ago at the UN Security Council Powell said there was a “sinister nexus” between Al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein. Powell told the UN, “Iraqi officials deny accusations of ties with al-Qaida. These denials are simply not credible.”