BN Posted December 14, 2003 Saddam Captured Hiding in Hole Near Tikrit Sun December 14, 2003 09:48 AM ET By Joseph Logan AD-DAWR, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. troops captured Saddam Hussein hiding in a hole near his home town of Tikrit in a major coup for Washington's beleaguered occupation force in Iraq. Grubby and bearded the 66-year-old dictator was dug out by troops from a cramped hiding pit during a raid on a farm in Ad-Dawr village late Saturday, the jubilant U.S. commander in Iraq Ricardo Sanchez said Sunday. Gunfire crackled out in celebration across the country as Iraqis greeted a U.S. military video showing their once feared leader, disheveled and sporting a bushy black and gray beard, undergoing a medical examination after seven months on the run. The arrest is a boon for President Bush after a run of increasingly bloody attacks on U.S. troops and their allies that imperil his campaign for re-election next year. Saddam may also provide intelligence on alleged banned weapons. The former president, who once seemed almost to believe his own claims of invincibility and urged his men to go down fighting the invaders, gave up without a shot being fired, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told a news conference in Baghdad. http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=EKNIGGZD0INHACRBAEZSFFA?type=topNews&storyID=3989009 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SomeAlien Posted December 14, 2003 why do i feel bad for the guy? really, i was hoping he'd have some kind of legend attached to him like hitler did. being alive somewhere partying wiht tupac and elvis. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bambina Posted December 14, 2003 Salam , when I heard Saddam's arrest , I felt very happy because I thought at last the Iraqi people would have been free , even though I didn't agree with the war at the first place.But seeing thousands of people cheering in the streets and celebrating the US victory was very touching. I want to ask you guyz what was your family's reaction towards Saddam's arrest? My aunt started blaming US soldiers and that pissed me off , just because Saddam is muslim , it doesnt mean that he is a saint. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SomeAlien Posted December 14, 2003 well bambina, the reaction at my house is alot like youre mothers, not cause sadaam is muslim, although i think its a factor, but cause we dont like what the americans are doing. at this point capturing saddaam is completely unimportant for the "rebuilding" of iraq. its only helping president bush, and will probably rally the americans behind him again which means 4 more years! most americans dont even remember what this "war" was about (WMD) and i still hear people saying he was in league with bin laden or even confuse the two of them... the fact that cnn still calls the situation in iraq "THE WAR ON IRAQ" is completely ludicrous, it was never a war, it is and was the occupation of iraq... youre getting me worked up. basically, you can hate or mistrust sadaam, but you gotta wonder what the americans (who helped saddaam gain power in the first place) are doing, and watch them carefully. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abdulladiif Al-Fiqih Posted December 14, 2003 Well, who cares whether he was captured or not? and if you do, I failed to understand why? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted December 14, 2003 I was sadened today by the news that Sadam was captured because its another humiliation for the Arab world. Its all good Americans portrying this as some christmas present but deep down its sad to see how they are trying to humuliate him, not because he is a tyrant they dont give a ...... but becaus he stood up to them and did not play by the part they wrotte for him. Angel, you cant be serious you seem took the bait about the "Iraqi people" LOL. I also beleieve the strauggle for Iraqi freedom has just begun, when the evil doesr, Bush Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz with Ahmed Chalabi then they will be free. Long live the people of Iraq Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Saxardiid Posted December 14, 2003 hi guys i was very happy to see the man who killed millions of muslims and its also good day for all muslims because it shows whoever kills his people and distroys his country then they will end up humilated and in a hole before going to hell. he urged his people to die for their country while he saves this rotten one. now the message is clear for other dictators in Arab and muslim world treat your people bad and you will end up like sadam and siyad barre. but the reaction from family and friends were different. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LANDER Posted December 15, 2003 Brainwashed and narrow minded people see the capture of Saddam Hussein as "a great victory for the Iraqi people and the muslim world". In the case of the US, can people say that they are the "lesser" of two evils? that is choosing between Saddam and american occupation. I would think not, since it is haraam in the first place for a foreign force to be occuppying a muslim country. Religious manifesto aside, it is a question of honor, dignity and national identity. All that aside its for anybody with the slightest intellect not to laugh at the american pretexts for war: first it was WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION that presented a clear and imminent threat, than it was a link to terrorist organizations, than the final pretext that "every regime from Stalin to Hitler to Mao as fallen back on, that is freedom-Nom Chomsky" democratizing Iraq has become the new pretext for a war that started out otherwise. But it's ok that the american army has pillaged and destroyed the infrastructure of a muslim country and killed countless amount of its citizens because they now have SADAAM!! sadaam the demon, dictator, murderer, father of all terrorist....the answer to all of Iraq's problems? Does the answer to all the ailing problems facing Iraq lay in the capture of one man? Put things in perspective people. Somebody also mention and compared the case of Siyad Barre to that of Hussein. The 2 are nothing alike in the sense that in Somalia Barre was overthrown by somalis and his own citizens, unlike saddam who was overthrown by a foreign occupying force. Their is obviously a clear difference and consequence from the two. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BN Posted December 15, 2003 TIME Exclusive: Notes from Saddam in Custody Saddam is talking, but he isn't cooperative. New details on his capture and his first interrogation The interrogators also asked Saddam if he knew about the location of Captain Scott Speicher, a U.S. pilot who went missing during the first Gulf War. “No,” replied the former Iraqi president, “we have never kept any prisoners. I have never known what happened.” Saddam was also asked whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. “No, of course not,” he replied, according to the official, “the U.S. dreamed them up itself to have a reason to go to war with us.” The interrogator continued along this line, said the official, asking: “if you had no weapons of mass destruction then why not let the U.N. inspectors into your facilities?” Saddam’s reply: “We didn’t want them to go into the presidential areas and intrude on our privacy.” The official is doubtful that the U.S. will get a significant amount of intelligence from Saddam’s interrogations. “I would be surprised if he gave any info,” he said. Other high-ranking regime members, he said, have by and large remained mum. “Tariq Aziz [former deputy prime minister] hasn’t really spoken,” he said, “and Abid Mahmoud [saddam’s former personal secretary] hasn’t really given any information.” http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,561472,00.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Liqaye Posted December 15, 2003 We can all be acussed of buying into the myth of Saddam. it is quite simple when he realised that he was surrounded he should have SHOT HIMSELF DEAD but the real cowardice of a man that urged the iraqi people to fight to the last man showed. Somalis say daab ba dambaas dhala but in this case his sons died more "heroicly" than he ever will. p.s saddam looked like karl marx did he not? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baashi Posted December 15, 2003 If I ever saw coward under a mask, it was on his face just before the war. I can't remembar what program (60 minutes perhaps) but he was giving an interview to Dan Rather talking big like a fighter. Who would have thought that the Arab lion he claimed he was will be caught like a "rat" in a "spider" hole without a fight. Worst he was opening his mouth under the whims of a soldier...whatta disgrace! Today from the col. who captured to all the way to the president all rushed to make a lasting and remembered statement so they can go down in history as statesmen. No sympathy for him but saddened by the opportunity his captivity provides to the likes of Bush. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder Posted December 15, 2003 ...Call it wishful thinking But that man is not Saddam!!!!!!!! Saddam died in March of 2003 http://www.rense.com/general35/dksn.htm Bush had to fake this capture of Saddam for obvious reasons. Catching Saddam's double will make the American public forget about 1)Halliburton -- Well done @^%$ Chenney 2)The GI death toll 3) Osama --- Remember him, he is still alive 4) Taliban -- They almost Killed Musharaf, Karzai is resigning...they enever went away 5) Economy -- The tax cuts didn't really help that much. 6) The Occupation resistance -- they were never fighting for Sadam Of course all of these may not be so! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coloow Posted December 15, 2003 Smith western........... saaxib ummaddaasi carabta isku diin, isku nabi unbaan nahay, laakin waxkale ma wadaagno! waa sidii sayidka uu horey u yiri "Caliyow cabaadka(cakaarka) iga daa carabi waa nagee". I don't think anyone should shed a tear for a fallen dictator. The problem with the middle east, is there are far worser dictators than him. I had a friend who once said "of all the leaders in the middle east saddam hussein is the most democratic one". When I heard the news I contacted and congragulated our local imam. in the late 80:s he was imprisoned by the saddam regime (never tried). At the begining of the first gulf war, as a conscript, the sheikh spent months without food on the kuwaiti/saud border, where he was captured and taken as POW by the saudis. He was subjected to the worst kind of treatment by the saudi regime for 7 years. In 1998, the swedish government accepted him as a quote refugee! Of course as many other dictators do when they feel the heat, saddam used the religious card! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BN Posted December 15, 2003 Saddam Tried to Negotiate with U.S. Captors Mon December 15, 2003 08:59 AM ET By Robin Pomeroy AD-DAWR, Iraq (Reuters) - "I'm Saddam Hussein," the man with the scruffy beard said in English when U.S. troops found him in a dirt hole. "I'm the president of Iraq and I'm willing to negotiate." "President Bush sends his regards," they replied. U.S. officers who captured the 66-year-old former dictator in the hole next to a hut in Iraq Saturday could not believe how easy it was when after eight months of hunting they took Saddam without either side firing a shot. .... Pinned to the outside wall of the hut was a cardboard box depicting biblical scenes such as the Last Supper and the Madonna and child with the English inscription "God bless our home." Inside the bedroom was a 2003 calendar in Arabic with a colorful depiction of Noah's Ark. Soldiers were surprised at the Christian decorations, at the very basic nature of Saddam's final residence as a free man and, most of all, at the fact he gave up without a fight. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=4ZWRT4ULSBVYICRBAE0CFEY?type=topNews&storyID=3993407 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faheema. Posted December 15, 2003 Well what do you know? "Ladies and Gentleman, We got him" "We" the Americans "We" the Saviors "We" the Heroes And we happen to manage all that just before the election , perfect timing now there is a man who can higher his chances of getting re-elected. p.s. No matter how much of a Dictator he was, he should not have fallen into the hands of kufaars. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites