Six days after his capture, U.S. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez referred to Ghul stating "the capture of Ghul is pretty strong proof that al-Qaida is trying to gain a foothold Iraq to continue their murderous campaigns." CIA Director George Tenet mentioned Ghul in his testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as an al-Qaeda member who would "never again threaten the American people", after allegedly being "sent to case Iraq for an expanded al-Qaeda presence there." Columnist William Safire claimed it was a "smoking gun" that proved a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda.