On the difference between "before" and "after"

Maybe you can help us understand this because, frankly, we're puzzled.

Today at the Corner, the blog of the conservative National Review, writer -- and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies -- Cliff May snarkily titles one post "But There Is No al Qaeda Connection in Iraq."

His proof? An article that ran in the New York Times detailing al-Qaida's activities in Iraq this week.

Maybe it's just us, but we were under the impression there was no question whatsoever about whether al-Qaida was currently operating in Iraq -- the question was whether they were there before the United States invaded. The answer to that is a resounding no, and we don't quite see how quoting an article talking about what they're doing in Iraq right now changes that at all.