Saddam Hussein Captured

[Delete]

Saddam Hussein Captured Alive Near Tikrit
9 minutes ago

By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Without firing a shot, American forces captured a bearded and haggard-looking Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) in an underground hide-out on a farm near his hometown of Tikrit, ending one of the most intensive manhunts in history. The arrest was a huge victory for U.S. forces battling an insurgency by the ousted dictator's followers.


AP Photo


Reuters
Slideshow: Iraq

Saddam Hussein Captured Alive
(AP Video)



Latest news:
· Many Arabs Skeptical on Saddam's Capture
AP - 3 minutes ago
· White House: Capture Good News for Iraqis
AP - 3 minutes ago
· Saddam Captured Hiding in Hole Near Tikrit
Reuters - 4 minutes ago
Special Coverage





"Ladies and gentlemen, we got him," U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer told a news conference Sunday, eight months after American troops swept into Baghdad and toppled Saddam's regime.


"The tyrant is a prisoner."


In the capital, radio stations played celebratory music, residents fired small arms in the air in celebration and passengers on buses and trucks shouted, "They got Saddam! They got Saddam!"


Washington hopes Saddam's capture will help break the organized Iraq (news - web sites) resistance that has killed more than 190 American soldiers since President Bush (news - web sites) declared major combat over on May 1 and has set back efforts at reconstruction. U.S. commanders have said that while in hiding Saddam played some role in the guerrilla campaign blamed on his followers.


In the latest attack, a suspected suicide bomber detonated explosives in a car outside a police station Sunday morning west of Baghdad, killing at least 17 people and wounding 33 more, the U.S. military said.


Saddam was one of the most-wanted fugitives in the world, along with Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), the leader of the al-Qaida terrorist network who has not been caught despite a manhunt since November 2001, when the Taliban regime was overthrown in Afghanistan (news - web sites).


Saddam was captured at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in a walled farm compound in Adwar, a town 10 miles from Tikrit, said Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq. The cellar was little more than a specially prepared "spider hole" with just enough space to lie down. Bricks and dirt camouflaged the entrance.


A Pentagon (news - web sites) diagram showed the hiding place as a 6-foot-deep vertical tunnel, with a shorter tunnel branching out horizontally from one side. A pipe to the concrete surface at ground level provided air. The entrance to the hide-out was under the floor of a small, walled compound with a room in one corner and a lean-to attached to the room. The tunnel was roughly in the middle of the compound.


A U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Saddam admitted his identity when captured.


Sanchez, who saw Saddam overnight, said the deposed leader "has been cooperative and is talkative." He described Saddam as "a tired man, a man resigned to his fate."


"He was unrepentant and defiant," said Adel Abdel-Mahdi, a senior official of a Shiite Muslim political party who, along with other Iraqi leaders, visited Saddam in captivity.


"When we told him, 'If you go to the streets now, you will see the people celebrating,'" Abdel-Mahdi said. "He answered, 'Those are mobs.' When we told him about the mass graves, he replied, 'Those are thieves.'"


The official added: "He didn't seem apologetic. He seemed defiant, trying to find excuses for the crimes in the same way he did in the past."


The White House said Saddam's capture assures the Iraqi people that the deposed leader is gone from power for good.


"The Iraqi people can finally be assured that Saddam Hussein will not be coming back — they can see it for themselves," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.


Bush planned a midday address to the nation on the capture, McClellan said.





Eager to give Iraqis evidence that the elusive former dictator had indeed been captured, Sanchez played a video at the news conference showing the 66-year-old Saddam in custody.

Saddam, with a thick, graying beard and bushy, disheveled hair, was seen as doctor examined him, holding his mouth open with a tongue depressor, apparently to get a DNA sample. Saddam touched his beard during the exam. Then the video showed a picture of Saddam after he was shaved, juxtaposed for comparison with an old photo of the Iraqi leader while in power.

Iraqi journalists in the audience stood, pointed and shouted "Death to Saddam!" and "Down with Saddam!"

Though the raid occurred Saturday afternoon American time, U.S. officials went to great length to keep it quiet until medical tests and DNA testing confirmed Saddam's identity.

DNA tests confirmed Saddam's identity, said the president of Iraqi Governing Council, Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim.

Saddam was being held at an undisclosed location, and U.S. authorities have not yet determined whether to hand him over to the Iraqis for trial or what is status would be. Iraqi officials want him to stand trial before a war crimes tribunal created last week.

Amnesty International said Sunday that Saddam should be given POW status and allowed visits by the international Red Cross.

Ahmad Chalabi, a member of Iraq's Governing Council, said Sunday that Saddam will be put on trial.

"Saddam will stand a public trial so that the Iraqi people will know his crimes," said Chalabi told Al-Iraqiya, a Pentagon-funded TV station.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) hailed the capture, saying the deposed leader "has gone from power, he won't be coming back."

"Where his rule meant terror and division and brutality, let his capture bring about unity, reconciliation and peace between all the people of Iraq," Blair said in brief comments at his 10 Downing St. office.

In Tikrit, U.S. soldiers lit cigars after hearing the news.

Some 600 troops from the 4th Infantry Division along with Special Forces captured Saddam, the U.S. military said. There were no shots fired or injuries in the raid, called "Operation Red Dawn," Sanchez said.

Two men "affiliated with Saddam Hussein" were detained with him, and soldiers confiscated two Kalashnikov rifles, a pistol, a taxi and $750,000 in $100 bills, Sanchez said. The two men were "fairly insignificant" regime figures, a U.S. defense official said.

Celebratory gunfire erupted in the capital, and shop owners closed their doors, fearful that the shooting would make the streets unsafe.

"I'm very happy for the Iraqi people. Life is going to be safer now," said 35-year-old Yehya Hassan, a resident of Baghdad. "Now we can start a new beginning."

Earlier in the day, rumors of the capture sent people streaming into the streets of Kirkuk, a northern Iraqi city, firing guns in the air in celebration.

"We are celebrating like it's a wedding," said Kirkuk resident Mustapha Sheriff. "We are finally rid of that criminal."

"This is the joy of a lifetime," said Ali Al-Bashiri, another resident. "I am speaking on behalf of all the people that suffered under his rule."

Despite the celebration throughout Baghdad, many residents were skeptical.

"I heard the news, but I'll believe it when I see it," said Mohaned al-Hasaji, 33. "They need to show us that they really have him."

Ayet Bassem, 24, walked out of a shop with her 6-year-old son.

"Things will be better for my son," she said. "Everyone says everything will be better when Saddam is caught. My son now has a future."

After invading Iraq on March 20 and setting up their headquarters in Saddam's sprawling Republican Palace compound in Baghdad, U.S. troops launched a massive manhunt for the fugitive (news - Y! TV) leader, placing a $25 million bounty on his head and sending thousands of soldiers to search for him.

Saddam proved elusive during the war, when at least two dramatic military strikes came up empty in their efforts to assassinate him. Since then, he has appeared in both video and audio tapes. U.S. officials named him No. 1 on their list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis, the Ace of Spades in a special deck of most-wanted cards.

Saddam's capture leaves 13 figures still at large from the list. The highest ranking figure among them is Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a close Saddam aide who U.S. officials have said may be directly organizing resistance.

U.S. forces had indicated they did not think Saddam would be captured alive.

Saddam's sons Qusai and Odai — each with a $15 million bounty on their heads — were killed July 22 in a four-hour gunbattle with U.S. troops in a hideout in the northern city of Mosul. The bounties were paid out to the man who owned the house where they were killed, residents said.



FULL STORY

 

[redhippo]

poor hunted creature

 

[Elefekt]

Well either way he could of made it go differently. He could have allowed the US to go in. If he wasnt hiding anything then whats the difference? It wasnt only the US that was doing this it was a UN thing even tho led by the US. He was supposed to allow them because of the treaty from the other war so its his fault it turned like this no matter what you say. Yea sure the US started it but it could have been over like nothing. Its kind of funny because this is only the beginning. I have an article that tells how this falls into place with some of the leaders who are trying to unite the world....O well too much said.

 

[Delete]

What do you guys think they will do with him now once they have him? You think they will just hand him over to the IRAQIS? Or should the u.s. try him for war crimes, and if they did wouldn't that mean death?

 

[-SMH-]

Originally posted by Delete
What do you guys think they will do with him now once they have him? You think they will just hand him over to the IRAQIS? Or should the u.s. try him for war crimes, and if they did wouldn't that mean death?

they have already moved him out of the country. they will probably question him as much as they can and then he will go on trial.

 

[slipondajimmy]

yea yea so i cant get off this subject. Where do you think he should face trial? Iraqi people want him to face trial there. According to CBS ........................

Iraq's interim government established a special tribunal Wednesday to try top members of Saddam's government for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. At the time, they said Saddam could be tried in absentia.

Lt. Gen. Richardo Sanchez affirmed at a news conference Sunday that the U.S.-led coalition was still deciding what to do with Saddam.

"At this point, that has not been determined, we continue to process Saddam at this point in time and those issues will be resolved in the near future," Sanchez said.

Iraqi officials were more certain. Iraq's Governing Council said Saddam would face public trial in Iraq.

Adnan Pachachi, a member of Iraq's Governing Council, said Saddam would face open, public trial inside Iraq. That was echoed by other members of the council as well.

"There's no question that the process will be an Iraqi process," Pachachi said.

Governing Council member Mouwafak al-Rabii said any trial would be conducted in accordance with international norms.

"Iraq is truly victorious now because of the arrest of the tyrant, but we won't lose sight of human rights and international standards," he said in Baghdad.

There was no immediate official U.S. reaction to the Governing Council claims.

 

[-SMH-]

i think he should stand trial in iraq. although i would like to see two trials since his crimes werent just against iraqi people. maybe a trial in iraq and some kind of world trial by the un or something.

 

[redhippo]

trapped

the elusive fugitive finally caught in a trap!!












:kickass:

 

[Coastalguy]

They found the rat in his hole! :lol:

ST

 

[phrone]

Originally posted by TSC
I think Osama would've been a better catch...

Agree. Both would be nice though. :D

 

[Elefekt]

Osama is too hard to catch...

I dont know I think Saddam is long gone and his body remains, I think he doesnt have his mind and that he is just blank.

 

[Kodeking]

The government is trying to fool us, he wasnt captured, its a look alike. Don't believe anyone. :P

 

[Grrilla]

Originally posted by armstrong
Right. The CIA helped this guy, providing him his chemical and biological weapons, and turned a blind eye when he used them against his people.

The CIA didn't go out and purchase the chemical and biological weapons that are necessary to kill one million people and than turn a blind eye to the whole affair or sit back in the stadium seats and cheer on their man Sadaam. The US (CIA by proxy) was funding a different individual 30 years ago than the Sadaam of a decade or a year ago. How can one predict what a man will become? And what if your choices are limited to choosing between the lesser of the the existing evils. And if the US goes out and recruits an individual with the outstanding qualities needed to preside over a fair and productive government, the US is interfering with the existing infrastructure of the country and there a soverignty issue. This is the kind of tightrope the US has to continually walk- damned if you do, damned if you don't. Damned if you don't intervene (and turn a blind eye to)stop the man that you once sponsored but has now has turned into a monster that is "cleansing" his county. Yet the US is an imperialist aggressor and "bully" when they take military action (after repeated attempts at negotiation). I could continue w/ a long list of similar conundrums the US faces, but this is enough to give the general flavor of an underdiscussed issue.

And when people of other countries say "the US" this or the "US tha"t, what image is being conjured up? I'm a white Caucasian descendent of Europeon immigrants. I live in a city where I'm a minority- Latin immigrants and their descendents being the majority and along with Asians, the fastest growing ethnic groups in the country. The next time you point your finger at the US, remember you are pointing your finger at alot of people that are alot like you.

For the record, I was and am very anti-war and was extremely disappointed and downhearted when Bush became President. But at the same time, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy and relieved when Sadaam was caught. Yes, another conundrum.
:?

 

[armstrong]

I apologize if I offended you, Michael.

I spent a lot of time in the US, have lots of American friends, and 2/3 of my immediate family are American residents or citizens. I believe that most Americans are good people. In fact I think that the 'goodness of people' there is above the worldwide average, if such a thing can be measured.

What I severely dislike, and probably what most anti-US sentiment focuses on, is American foreign policy. Historically, it has been consistently self-centered and aggressive. Blame it on your superb negotiation skills, if you like, but I think it is more of a lack of a sense of fairness and reciprocity at the highest levels.

So you can't blame us when we look askance at US foreign policy moves with suspicion, as we have learned through bitter historical lessons that your foreign policy initiatives are always looking out for number one. In the case of Iraq, there is widespread suspicion that it wasn't for the benefit of Iraqis that this war started, but because of Iraq's oil.

Finally, I believe that a lot of Americans, being free and independent thinkers, believe as I do that there really is something fundamentally unfair with US foreign policy. I hope and pray with the rest of the world that one day these fair-minded people will one day gain ascendancy in your political system.

 

[Rico]

you sure they got saddam ?

 

[Grrilla]

Yes (w/ small amt of healthy reservation). I believe there is a level of conspiracy in the world, but not at every bend and turn in the road. I don't know the latest concerning the DNA tests and how Sadaams DNA was originally derived, but if the DNA matches up, as I heard it did, and the original source is validated, than it's him. If it looks like a duck, talks like a duck, and walks like a duck, it's a duck. And I dont think the CIA (or whomever), and the new Araqi leaders (or whomever)are pulling a stunt

 

[Grrilla]

I apologize if I offended you, Michael

Not at all Armstrong, in fact I agree with almost all of your points. Where we may depart somewhat in our thinking centers on the degree of US self interest involved in influencing Foreign policy; and to what degree is the FP actually humanitarian/altruistic, and trying to help out? (w/o mutual backscratching, which is another issue that also comes into play here).
Is the oil supply our only motive for our involvement in Iraq? To what degree did, the oil supply influence American policy decisions in this matter and can we ascribe most of the acts of and motives behind US foreign policy as being self-serving? We can take this one step further by admitting that humans are inherently self-serving, (in an instinctual, imprinted, unconscious context- ie survival instincts), and that in all interactions where something physical (land, food, commodities) is at stake, we can expect to see self-interest coming from all parties involved. Rather than trying to remove self-interest from the equation, should we shift the focus to monitoring this self interest that we understand and accept as already being there?
A few yours back I read a book entitled STTO "History Lessons Your Teacher Never Taught You" and my eyes were opened to how atrocius and misguided US foreign policy generally has been, and to hard facts revealing that many of our American heroes were less than heroic. Also, why were we taught and why are our children continuing to be taught an incomplete version of American history that is biased, slanted, sanitized, static, unbalanced and boring .In a nut shell, this stems from the upper-Middle class influence (they have money), and control over K-12 history text books via the publishers editorial boards . Thus, their "keep the status quo" and biased values are projected onto the books. Also involved is how recent is the history? It is not healthy for the stability of any country or government to pick apart it's own institutions or icons. Thus recent history that is critical of or to close to the current leadeship will tend to be suppressed or glossed over. Unbelievable how VietNam is barely a part of recent Americn history textbooks!
Time to run. Always enjoy open, free and intelligent discussion, regardless of whether I agree or not. Even have been known to appreciate William F Buckley although I rarely agree w his point of view. :lol: :tu:

 

[Evilhaider]

Many good points made here. Some I agree with, others I disagree with. But in all the forums I have visited, I have never been as impressed with the way the debate was conducted. There was no resorting to pettyness and personal attacks and many intelligent opposing views were brought up while acknowledging points of others. I have to commend all those who participated on keeping a cool head and not resorting to the kind of things that get threads like this locked up and/or deleted on other boards. Take care guys

 

[rambo6376]

Originally posted by armstrong

Finally, I believe that a lot of Americans, being free and independent thinkers, believe as I do that there really is something fundamentally unfair with US foreign policy. I hope and pray with the rest of the world that one day these fair-minded people will one day gain ascendancy in your political system. [/B]

I dont know how people will react to my saying this but IMO individuals are free and independent thinkers but the general public is as stupid and brainwashed as can be. Most people just believe whatever is fed to them on TV. "They hate us because we love freedom." Gimme a break... they hate us (however you wanna define 'they') because we have a history of safeguarding our freedom and either stifling or ignoring the desire for freedom by others. I think the vast majority of people are decent at heart, but they are just unaware of what really goes on in the world - textbooks in high school are not going to teach you about the instances where we have overthrown democratically elected governments in sovereign nations.

.... just my two cents.

 

[phrone]

Originally posted by Kodeking
The government is trying to fool us, he wasnt captured, its a look alike. Don't believe anyone. :P

I can see what your talking about Jason..

 

[billinchina]

Saddam Parody

I received this in an email. It is a flash music video parady about Saddam's doubles.

http://www.toccionline.com/creations/realhussein/