At the time, much was made of the capture of Saddam Hussein.
Touted by the US government-controlled American mainstream press as
a fatal blow to the insurgency that would lead to rejoicing in the
streets of Baghdad, the reality, as we have seen, has turned out to
rather different. Iraqis, logically enough, seem to be less
concerned about Saddam's capture and trial than about the fact that
a brutal US military force of occupation has essentially taken
possession of their country and its resources and has caused the
deaths of 655,000 of their fellow citizens.
After his initial capture in December 2003, Saddam was
paraded in front of the press at his first court appearance in July
2004 where he stood accused of up to 12 crimes, including the
alleged gassing of the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988. But fate
(and in Iraq these days "fate" wears the red white and blue ) has
decreed that "Saddam" will not suffer the ignominy of answering
those particular charges because his first trial for the killing of
148 people in a Shiite town in 1982 was enough, it seems, to convict
and sentence him to death. The sense of relief in the White House
over the fact that the "gassing" allegation will not have to be
dissected is surely palpable, given that, if Saddam gassed anyone,
it was with the chemical weapons supplied to him by the US
government.
When he first appeared in court in 2004, Saddam was weak and pale and could be hardly heard.
Strangely, the US military instituted a severe clampdown on
media coverage of the proceedings which were not broadcast live.
Frustrated members of the press had to wait until after the event to
receive just FOUR minutes of audio and just a few seconds of video
of the occasion. Furthermore, Saddam's lawyers claimed that they
had been denied access to their client and that they had received
death threats from members of the Iraqi government. While no
mainstream media outlet at the time offered an explanation of these
strange occurrences, logic would suggest that there is something
about the man that appeared in court that the US military did not
want the Iraqi people and the rest of the world, to see, or hear. It
is one thing to present a few seconds of specifically chosen footage
of a possibly drugged or mind programmed Saddam lookalike on
television and thereby half-convince Iraqis that knew Saddam that
the person in court is the real deal. It is a much more difficult
task however to make an impostor's voice sound like the real
Saddam's. There is also the danger that the impostor might suddenly
and unexpectedly reveal his true identity. It seems likely that it
was for this reason that the US military had to limit and edit the
audio coverage and then "clear" it for broadcast.
Saddam's second "public" appearance came in May 2005 in the
form of sensationalist pictures of the former dictator in US custody
in his underpants.
In US custody, half-naked Saddam
TIMES
NEWS NETWORK MAY 20, 2005
LONDON: A
British tabloid has run a humiliating, half-naked photo
feature on Saddam Hussein, the prisoner firmly in US military
custody, sparking fears of an Arab backlash and an investigation
into possible human rights abuses.
The US authorities have promised to
investigate how and when the intimate photographs of the former
Iraqi dictator wound up in The Sun , Britain's best-selling
newspaper. The tabloid, frontpaged on Friday a photograph of a
bare-chested Saddam standing in white underpants and folding a
pair of trousers.
The photograph is headlined 'Tyrant's in his
pants' and sets the tone for still more humble ones inside the
tabloid. The inside photographs show the man who once had a palace
in every part of Iraq meekly washing his clothes by hand. Yet
another photograph shows Saddam asleep on his bed. The Sun , which
refused on Friday, to reveal where, when and how it came by the
sensational photographs of the Butcher of Baghdad, would only
quote American military sources to say they
handed over the photos in the hope of dealing a body blow to the
resistance in Iraq.
"Saddam is not superman or God, he is now just an ageing
and humble old man. It's important that the people of Iraq see him
like that to destroy the myth," the American source is quoted to
say. The source added, "Maybe, that will kill a bit of the passion
in the fanatics who still follow him. It's over, guys. The evil
days of Saddam's Baath Party are never coming back - and here's
the proof." But a furore has erupted over the release of the
photographs, with presumed American logistical support, from
Saddam's American-run prison, at a compound near Baghdad since his
December 2003 capture.
British military experts pointed out that the
photographs, which may or may not be up to one year old, could
still be deemed to have contravened Saddam's rights as a prisoner
and could have violated the Geneva Convention.
West Asian observers said the photographs of
the toppled dictator wearing nothing but white underpants risked
re-igniting the Arab sense of burning rage over the Iraqi prisoner
abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib. Under the Geneva Convention, Iraq's
invaders, the US-UK-led military alliance, are not allowed release
photographs and details about prisoners of war such as
Saddam.
Saddam's status as a high-profile prisoner of
the West makes the photographs particularly sensitive because
Arabs might feel the West is poking fun at it.
Western diplomats said the photographs could
spark a new wave of violence against the
West.
At his second day in court (his third public appearance),
again the world and even his lawyers were denied the opportunity to
hear "Saddam" give evidence in his own words, and were provided with
only short video segments with the former dictator's words
interpreted for us by the US military.
Saddam Back In Court
Tuesday June 14, 2005 The
Guardian
Appearing by turns pensive and quizzical,
Saddam Hussein returned to public view yesterday when Iraq's
special tribunal released video images of the former president
being interrogated.
The first official
pictures since his court appearance last July were mute but
a tribunal statement said he was being questioned about a 1982
massacre at a Shia village north of Baghdad, one of the cases
expected to arise at his trial.
Saddam's chief lawyer, Khalil al-Duleimi,
said he would have to view the video before commenting. The tribunal said Mr Duleimi was present during the
filming.
However, a London-based member of the defence
team, Giovanni di Stefano, said the former president was without legal
assistance during the video and that it would be
inadmissible in the trial.
The defence team has accused the tribunal of
denying it proper access to the ousted dictator, withholding
documents and leaking information to the
press.
Since that time, the trial of "Saddam" has resembled a south
American soap opera more than a credible trial, with constant
adjournments and outbursts from just about everyone involved in the
show, not to mention the untimely and suspicious deaths of several of
"Saddam's" lawyers, the murder of the only witness to Saddam's alleged
mass graves, and the testimony of one of Saddam's lawyers that he
was psychologically disturbed, terrified about his possible
execution, urinated on himself several times during the
interview and broke into tears without reason. Par for the course, I
suppose, in the judicial system of a country that is entirely
controlled by the psychopathic leaders of another.
But let's back up a little to the time of the actual capture
of "Saddam". You may remember images of the unearthing from a "rat
hole" of some old bugger on a farm in the village of al-Dwar near
Saddam's home town of Tikrit in December 2004. This, we were told,
was "Saddam", finally captured more than 7 months after Bush had
bravely declared "Mission Accomplished" from the safety of an
American aircraft carrier docked in an American port. Images of the
capture scene revealed a hole in the ground and a prone and
disheveled santa-claus-type character with a burly American soldier
poised over him for the 'money shot'. The money as it happens, was
produced soon thereafter, $750,000 in crisp $100 dollar bills in a
nice metal box, but it wasn't long before suspicions were raised by
the presence of yellow dates on a tree at the entrance to the "rat
hole" (below). You see, In Iraq, dates grow and ripen between March and August,
with harvesting taking place between August and October. It is
unlikely therefore that any variety of date would still be hanging
on a tree in mid December in Iraq. At the very least, this
information allows us to conclude that in all probability, "Saddam"
was not captured in December as alleged by the US government, and
that we are dealing with some sort of staged show for the general
public.
|
|
|
|
Indeed, it seems that a planned and staged "capture" of
"Saddam" was common knowledge in political circles in Washington in
2004:
McDermott in Hot Water for Saddam
Quip
By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press Writer December 15,
2003
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash.,
who earned headlines across the globe last year for criticizing
President Bush while in Baghdad, is enmeshed in a new controversy
over remarks he made about the capture of Saddam Hussein.
In an interview Monday with a Seattle radio
station, McDermott said the U.S. military could have found the
former Iraqi dictator "a long time ago if they wanted."
Asked if he thought the weekend capture was
timed to help Bush, McDermott chuckled and said, "Yeah. Oh,
yeah."
McDermott went on to say, "There's
too much by happenstance for it to be just a coincidental
thing."
When interviewer Dave Ross asked again if he
meant to imply the Bush administration timed the capture for
political reasons, McDermott said: "I don't know that it was
definitely planned on this weekend, but I know they've been in
contact with people all along who knew basically where he was. It
was just a matter of time till they'd find him.
"It's funny," McDermott added, "when they're
having all this trouble, suddenly they have to roll out
something."
State Republicans immediately
condemned McDermott's remarks, saying the Seattle Democrat again
was engaging in "crazy talk" about the Iraq war.
[...]
LaHood: Hussein's capture imminent
Pantagraph Staff Tuesday, December 2, 2003
BLOOMINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood held his thumb
and forefinger slightly apart and said, "We're this close" to
catching Saddam Hussein." [...]
A member of The Pantagraph editorial
board -- not really expecting an answer -- asked LaHood for more
details, saying, "Do you know something we don't?"
"Yes I do," replied LaHood.
[...]
Let's pause for a moment and have a closer look at the
physical evidence for the claim that the real Saddam was captured
almost three years ago. Consider the following images of "Saddam"
and Saddam, paying close attention to the teeth of both
men:
Check
out the teeth
Notice
anything?
|
|
While I am not claiming that these images provide conclusive
proof that we are dealing with two different men, it does seem
reasonable to suggest that there is cause for significant doubt. The
source of the problem here is the fact that the US government had
only to claim that this man is the real Saddam for the vast majority
of people to accept it as fact. In the months prior to his capture,
news reports were increasingly informing the public that US troops
were searching for Saddam and were "closing in" on him. Then, when
anticipation was deemed to be at its height: "Bingo" "We got him!"
With such a build up of expectation among the general population
that Saddam would "soon be captured" there was no real chance that
anyone was going to look closely at the details when the event
finally occurred. The fact remains however that when all of the
evidence IS scrutinized, we are led to the conclusion that it is
highly improbable that the man that was "caught" in a "rat hole" in
December 2003, appeared in court in July 2004, was splashed across
the British tabloids in May 2005, and yesterday was sentenced to
death, is in fact the real Saddam Hussein.
Iraqi Commander Swears he saw USAF fly Saddam out of
Baghdad
Bill
Dash Alamo Christian Ministries Online
10/16/2003
Film will soon be made public of an
Iraqi Army officer describing how he saw a US Air Force transport
fly Saddam Hussein out of Baghdad. The explosive eyewitness testimony was shot by independent
filmmaker Patrick Dillon, who recently returned from a risky
one-man odyssey in Iraq. In the film, the officer, who told Dillon
that he commanded a special combat unit during the battle for
Baghdad airport and whose identity is temporarily being withheld,
explains in detail how he watched as the Iraqi dictator
and members of his inner circle were evacuated from Iraq's capital
by what he emphatically insists were United States Air Force cargo
planes. [...]
Dillon says his film lends
major support to what many have believed for years: that Saddam
was little more than an american tool, a stage-managed "evildoer",
just one in a long line of useful villains bought and paid for by
the United States in order to better manipulate international
politics and commerce. [...]
Hussein Given Safe Haven in Belarus?
The World Tribune - 25 April 2003
Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein has obtained safe haven in Belarus, several
intelligence agencies believe.
Western intelligence sources said several
intelligence agencies in the Middle East and Europe base this
assessment on new information about a March 29 flight from Baghdad
to Minsk. They said the flight of a chartered cargo plane could
have transported Saddam, his sons and much of his family to
Belarus.
"There's no proof that Saddam was on the
plane but we have proof that a plane left on that day from Baghdad
airport and arrived in Minsk," a senior intelligence source said.
"If you can think of anybody else who could obtain
permission to fly out of Baghdad in the middle of a war, then
please tell me."
U.S. officials and Iraqi opposition sources
said Saddam and his sons appear to have escaped two assassination
attempts during the war. But they did not confirm the registration
of a cargo flight from Baghdad to Minsk on March 29, Middle East
Newsline reported.
The sources said the cargo aircraft took off
from an unspecified Baghdad-area airport and entered Iranian air
space on the flight toward Minsk. They said Iran did not attempt
to interfere with the Iraqi flight.
About two weeks later, a registration of the
cargo flight was found by the U.S. military in wake of the capture
of the airport and the rest of the Baghdad area. Baghdad
International Airport was captured on April 4.
U.S. officials said
Saddam had been exploring the prospect of fleeing to Belarus over
the last year. They said the Iraqi
ruler was in close contact with Belarus President Alexander
Lukashenko and that Minsk became a major military supplier to
Baghdad.
Within hours after the
departure of the cargo flight to Minsk on March 29, the Saddam
regime was awash with rumors that the president had
escaped. Intelligence sources said the rumors spread
rapidly throughout the military command and among field officers.
"There was a significant decline in Iraqi
combat strength starting from around March 31," an intelligence
source said. "In interviews with coalition interrogators, Iraqi
commanders have attributed the decline in combat to the feeling
that Saddam had fled."
Saddam may find refuge in Belarus Says
Rumsfeld
Ottawa Citizen 31.12.2002
The former Soviet
republic of Belarus has emerged as a possible refuge for Saddam
Hussein after American officials hinted that the Iraqi leader
might be allowed to flee into exile to avert a U.S. assault on
Baghdad.
A visit to Iraq by a presidential
delegation from Belarus last week coincided with a suggestion by
U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that Mr. Saddam and his
family could "leave the country."
Mr. Rumsfeld said in a television interview:
"If he doesn"t care to give up his weapons of mass
destruction, then he"s got the choice of leaving."
As military preparations intensified with the
mobilization of two more aircraft carrier battle groups and a
1,000-bed hospital ship, U.S. officials emphasized that no deal
had been struck to allow Mr. Saddam to escape.
Mr. Rumsfeld's remark may have been no more
than a psychological gambit intended to stir confusion in Baghdad.
Yet the Belarus visit heightened American
suspicion that Mr. Saddam might be making contingency plans for a
last-minute dash.
While it remains far from certain that the
Iraqi dictator would flee, Mr. Rumsfeld recently singled
out Belarus as one of the few countries that might offer him
sanctuary.
"If Saddam Hussein is in a corner, it is
because he has put himself there," he told a congressional
committee.
"One choice he has is to take his
family and key leaders and seek asylum elsewhere. Surely one of
the 180-plus countries would take his regime - possibly Belarus."
The former Soviet republic has become a
pariah state under the dictatorial rule of President Alexander
Lukashenko and is suspected of violating United Nations sanctions
against Iraq.
Saddam in Belarus?
debka.com
However, according to our
information, the deposed ruler and his sons were carried to safety
in Minsk in late March aboard two chartered
airliners. This week, the Polish
news agency PAP sent a team of reporters to the Belarus capital to
check on this account. They quote Natalia Pietkiewicz,
spokesperson at President Aleksandr Lukashenko's bureau, as
evading a direct reply when asked if the former Iraqi ruler was in
the country. She said: "We have no information that Saddam Hussein
is in Belarus." This is a long way from a flat denial.
The big question is how did the trio and its
following of several hundred manage to elude coalition air forces,
by then in full command of Iraqi skies, a question which leads to
another: How did the men at the
pinnacle of enemy power come to survive the two wars the Bush
administration fought in less than two
years?
Consider also the testimony of Former Russian Prime Minister
Primakov that Saddam had made a "pre-war deal" with the US...
'Saddam, US had pre-war deal'
24/06/2004 - (SA) News24.com
Moscow - Former
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein cut a deal with the United States
before the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, former Russian prime
minister Yevgeny Primakov said in an interview published on
Thursday.
"There was an understanding with the
Americans, as paradoxical as it may seem," Primakov told the
Russian daily Gazeta in a lengthy interview.
"Why weren't the bridges of the
Tigris blown up when the American tanks approached Baghdad? Why
weren't Iraqi aviation and tanks used, and where are they now?"
asked Primakov, a former head of the Russian secret service and a
specialist in Arab affairs who was formerly on good terms with
Saddam.
"Why was there an immediate
ceasefire? Why was there practically no resistance a year ago?" he
added.
Primakov, who now heads Russia's
chamber of trade and industry, also cast doubt on the authenticity
of footage of Saddam's reported capture that circled the world on
December 14.
"They showed two
soldiers with guns with palm trees in the background near the hole
(where Saddam was reportedly hiding). At that time of year, date
palms are never in bloom," he said.
"Finally, any man can tell you that
such a long beard (as Saddam had when he was reportedly caught)
could not grow in seven months," he said.
"All evidence suggests that Saddam
surrendered earlier and the story of the hole was invented later,"
he said.
Primakov, who was also Russian foreign
minister, made two secret trips to Iraq at the request of
President Vladimir Putin, shortly before the invasion by US and
British troops.
Iran then backed up the Russian Prime Minister's
story...
Iran Media Leaks Secret US Deal with
Saddam
Gulf
News Apr 15, 2003
AN Iranian news agency close to top
conservative military figures attributed the fall of Baghdad to a
secret tripartite agreement between Saddam Hussein, Russia and the
US.
According to the Baztab agency, 13 days after
the start of the war, Saddam and Russian intelligence allegedly
pledged to hand over Baghdad with minimal resistance to allied
forces provided they spared the lives of Saddam and a hundred of
his close relatives. The US, for its part, promised to
safely send Saddam and his entourage to a third country.
Baztab added that Mohammed Saeed Al Sahaf,
Iraqi Information Minister, was instructed to stay in Baghdad
until the very last moments to lend the impression that everything
in Saddam's camp was under control. The agency also claimed that
Russia gained $5 billion to orchestrate this agreement.
[...]
Saddam's wife could not recognize her
husband
04/13/2004 Pravda.ru
Last week, American authorities arranged a
meeting of the former Iraqi dictator with his wife.
She was the first of Hussein's relatives to
meet with the ex-leader of Iraq at a new place, at the American
military base in Qatar. Accompanied by Sheikh Hamad Al-Tani,
Sajida Heiralla Tuffah has arrived from Syria on his private jet
in the end of March.
The outcome of their meeting turned
out to be quite scandalous. Sajina claims that the person she
encountered was not her husband, but his
double.
If someone were to say for sure that it was
not insinuation, it would have been easy to believe the wife with
a 25-year experience. It is also possible to assume that Saddam
has simply changed since the day of his sons' deaths, June 24
2003. This however is highly unlikely. In case we believe
Hussein's wife, all DNA testing of the ex-Iraqi leader should be
considered a mere fake. Overall, today there remain more questions
then there are answers.
A few days after his
capture, ordinary Iraqis reacted skeptically to the news that this
was indeed the real Saddam.
Iraqis doubt real Hussein behind bars
Globe and Mail December 18,
2003
Baghdad -
Jassim Abu Ahmed almost spits his disgust at the television set
showing yet another image of the dazed and bedraggled Saddam
Hussein.
"It's not him," Mr. Ahmed says,
waving his hand and looking away from the screen.
In an interview given to Deborah Moore in July 2004,
one of Saddam's "lawyers", Giovanni Di Stefano, stated categorically
that Saddam would not face execution and would not be handed over to
Iranian authorities who are seeking his extradition for alleged war
crimes during the Iran/Iraq war. When asked how he knew this he
stated that he would not say anymore on the matter.
Salem Chalabi established the Iraq
International Law Group (IILG), which describes itself as "your
professional gateway to the new Iraq." Assisting Salem in setting
up the IILG was a partner Marc Zell (the IILG's website has been
registered in Zell's name). Zell is an Israeli settler of the Gush
Emunim (Bloc of the Faithful) stripe. Here the plot
thickens.
Zell had for many years been Feith's partner
in their Washington-Tel Aviv law firm, Feith and Zell (FANDZ).
FANDZ had been set up when Feith left government to pursue the
work of a "foreign agent" representing Turkey and some Israeli
interests.
Following the Baghdad opening of the IILG,
Zell soon opened, in the U.S., an office for Zell, Goldberg &
Co., which promises to assist "American companies in their
relations with the U.S. government in connection with Iraq's
reconstruction projects." It is interesting to note that Zell,
Goldberg still uses the website FANDZ, the site of the old Feith
and Zell firm. So when Zell boasts his connections to government,
businesses know exactly what is meant.
In the relatively short period of time since
the fall of the Ba'ath Party regime, IILG and Zell, Goldberg have
facilitated contracts in the tens, possibly hundreds of millions
of dollars.
Salem Chalabi incidentally has also been
appointed by the Coalition Provisional Authority to head the Iraqi
tribunal that will investigate and prosecute the crimes Saddam and
his cohorts committed against the Iraqi people. His uncle is
meanwhile railing against the former regime's corruption and
demanding the right to investigate profiteering and kick-backs he
alleges occurred in the UN's food for oil
program.
|
Ahmed Chalabi discusses the finer points of "acting
under the influence" with "Saddam" |
|