re: "connection" vs. "link"
"It's a bit of misdirection to focus on what Bush explicitly said. His right-hand man (or puppeteer, depending on your view) Dick Cheney said emphatically that Iraq and al Qaeda had an ongoing relationship, and that's flatout contradicted by the 9/11 commission reports."
Since you are "apparently" directly quoting Cheney, it might be a good idea to provide a link [or hyperlink connection] to the source you are referring to.
[Btw, do you think that the US has an "ongoing relationship" with say, N Korea or say, Iran {just wondering how you are defining things}].