Free Republic

http://netwmd.com/articles/article849.html Baghdad, Iraq — Half past ten in the morning on Monday, January 3, an Iraqi National Guard unit, escorted by a dozen uniformed U.S. military, pulled up to Abdul Karim Muhammadawi's headquarters in the Hay al-Jamiah section of Baghdad. Muhammadawi, known to the Iraqis as Abu Hatem, is renowned among Iraqi Shia as "the Robin Hood of the marshes." Hailing from al-Amarah, during Saddam's rule, he led a persistent Shia resistance which harried local Baathist commanders and protected political opposition. A member of the now-defunct governing council, he has since joined the Iraqi National Alliance (al-Ittilaf al-Watani al-Iraqi), the...

Barely a week after my last visit to Fallujah, twenty-two policemen died when their station came under a fierce and organized assault by some seventy attackers. I have often wondered if my mustachioed friend with whom I lunched was among the fatalities, but I will never know. Nor will I ever know the identity of the assailants. Hearing about the attack in Baghdad, I surfed the internet for additional information. I found anti-war websites — among them, the indomitable Occupation Watch — that called the gunmen the "resistance." The London-based news service Reuters used the term "guerrillas"; another news source...

...The genuine Iraqi patriots are those risking their lives to rebuild their country and prepare for elections. They are being threatened, and murdered, by members and allies of the old regime who want to restore Sunni Baathist political domination. Or to put it more bluntly, we haven't yet defeated Saddam Hussein's regime. If Mr. Rumsfeld has made a single large mistake as Defense Secretary, it has been underestimating the resilience of this enemy. To be fair, this is a familiar mistake in U.S. history, the tendency to declare victory too soon and let the enemy regroup and fight on.... Also...

The main problem that I have with the way that the war in Iraq has been fought is that there was to much emphasis on Sadam and not enough on the Baathist party that was the real power behind his dictatorship and the dictatorship in Siria. While Hitler was our enemy we fought a war against Nazism and Fascism. If we did the same in Iraq I think it might have worked out better.

...The argument for postponement, of course, is that the insurgency in Iraq will make holding elections difficult.... But Iraq's anti-democratic forces already seem to be operating at maximum capacity, and recent coalition operations are reducing their ranks as they've lost safe havens. The last thing these terrorists should see now is that their resort to violence can force postponement of the vote. That could lead to even more violence and another delay, and then another.... The danger is that any significant postponement will shift Shiite sentiment in the direction of more radical voices -- Moqtada al-Sadr's or others'. Moreover, if...

Saddam Hussein grew up as a cadre in the highly ideological and dogmatic Ba'ath party structure. His speeches, from the time he entered government in 1968 until his demise, had a consistent ideological, pseudo-intellectual character, even if in the final decade a layer of Islamist rhetoric was added. From his first declarations to his last, he always presented the Arabs as the master race, whose history and accomplishments are glorious. He has always had a mystical belief in self-purification through violence, the notion that the soul is elevated through warfare and killing . And who created Saddam's Ba'ath Party? One...

In a chilling reminder of the Nazis, a report based on confessions reveals how far the Iraqi regime went to get its enemies. Saddam Hussein established a special assassinations unit that made use of poisons and other James Bond-style weaponry to kill his enemies abroad, according to the report published by the Iraq Survey Group last week. Before the poisons were used in the field they were tested on political prisoners, many of whom died in a macabre series of experiments that ran for two decades until at least 2001. The research, says the US report, was part of a...

Maher said world better place with Saddam!

When it comes to killing our enemies, Mom was right.... ... But as soon as Saddam's statue fell, the Bush administration seemed to run out of juice, as if it depended upon unchallenged success and couldn't adjust when faced with unpleasant surprises. The senior officials charged with Iraq's reconstruction proved every bit as resistant to reality as the Clinton administration ever was. ... We can still be optimistic about Iraq — thanks to the incredible job done by our military — but it's striking how the Bush administration's dithering, make-it-up-as-you-go-along approach to the occupation in Iraq resembles the previous administration's...

A series of truces agreed on last month, encompassing Mr Sadr's stronghold in al-Thoura, Baghdad's eastern slum, as well as the Shia holy cities and other towns further south, are still holding. His own home turf in the capital has been more peaceful than it has been for months. Former fighters are now being paid to collect rubbish, plant trees, direct traffic and help the Iraqi police. The new government has promised to pay for a new sewage system so that the slum detritus will no longer flow past Baghdad's grimmest tenements. Outside the city, the clergy behind Mr...

Iraqi leaders set up tribunal to try Saddam Hussein and other Baathist regime members, Iraqi Governing Council says. Details soon. 1st Post for me and I am happy that it is good news.

The legacy of a mass murderer.A field outside Baghdad THE DEAD DON'T TALK in Iraq but their graves do. In northern Iraq, a grave was unearthed last July with several thousand bodies, mostly women and children. From the bullet holes in the top of the skulls, it was clear the deaths weren't natural. The victims had been shot from above while kneeling or after being forced into a mass grave. They had personal household items with them like baskets. They had their clothes on. These were clues that helped identify their hometown and led to the conclusion they'd been compelled...

Moqtada al-Sadr and the Second Iraq War Compiled By: Ryan Mauro tdcanalyst@optonline.net April saw the beginning of the offensive planned by Iran and Syria as previously reported in the last issue of monthly analysis. Imad Mughniyah, as well as Iranian agents in Iraq are orchestrating the internal Shiite revolt. On the other hand, the remnant Baathist resistance and the volunteer radical Islamic force are being orchestrated by Syria. We have discussed a lot about their role in the Second Iraq War, and more will be revealed in the upcoming April issue of WorldThreats.com’s Monthly Analysis. It is clear that Iran...

Bashar Assad’s Syria: The Next Target in the War on Terror Compiled By: Ryan Mauro tdcanalyst@optonline.net On January 23, 2004 Jane’s Intelligence Report had Rumsfeld quoted as saying that the United States was considering a multi-faceted attack on Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, to wipe out terrorists there including Hezbollah. Limited action in Somalia was also mentioned.[1] The increased pressure on Syria certainly shows an escalating series of events that could culminate in such limited strikes. People in the Bekaa Valley have reported that a US military attaché to our embassy in Beirut has been seen visiting the area with military escort.[2]...

Feb 15, 2004 Iraqis Arrest Baathist Leader From List of Most Wanted Saddam Followers By Lee Keath/ Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A special Iraqi police unit arrested a senior Baath Party leader on the U.S. military's most-wanted list during a raid Sunday on his home in a Baghdad suburb. The capture of Mohammed Zimam Abdul Razaq leaves only 10 top figures still at large from the list of 55 issued after the Saddam Hussein regime fell. Abdul Razaq was No. 41, and the four of spades in the military's "deck of cards" of top fugitives. Deputy Interior...

An Iraqi citizen who assisted U.S. forces in the capture of a prominent diehard of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein's regime has become a millionaire. "We have approved a payment of $1 million to the Iraqi informant," Dan Senor, senior spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority, reported today from Baghdad. The Iraqi, whose name remains undisclosed for security purposes, had provided information that led to the Jan. 11 capture of Khamis Sirhan al-Muhammad, a former Baathist Party regional leader in Anbar Province, which includes Fallujah, Khalidiyah and Ramadi. Thanks to the Iraqi's tip, U.S. 82nd Airborne Division soldiers and special operations...

Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 160 January 29, 2004 No.160 The Beneficiaries of Saddam's Oil Vouchers: The List of 270 The following report from MEMRI's Baghdad office is a translation of an article which appeared in the Iraqi daily Al-Mada, [1] whichobtained lists of 270 companies, organizations, and individuals awarded allocations (vouchers) of crude oil by Saddam Hussein's regime. The beneficiaries reside in 50 countries: 16 Arab, 17 European, 9 Asian, and the rest from sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.Only a portion of the 270 recipients are listed and identified. BackgroundThe following points should be taken into consideration:...

I witnessed the dead of Belsen: we must always confront tyranny By James Molyneaux (Filed: 27/01/2004) My first encounter with Belsen was the sight of dead bodies hanging from the electric fences. These victims had thrown themselves on the fences to end their own unimaginable suffering. The camp authorities had left them where they died. It was May 1945. The Allied and Russian armies were battling to link up in central Germany; Field Marshal Montgomery led his 21st Army Group to Lüneburg, with our RAF Regiment Wing in close support. On arrival at Tactical Headquarters, we had been briefed on...

Pro - U.S. City in Iraq Is Rebel Target SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AP) -- Women chat on cell phones and stroll the boulevards after dark. Traffic flows along clean-swept streets lined with construction sites and brightly lit liquor stores. This mountain-ringed city in the largely Kurdish northeast is Iraq's most tranquil, prosperous and pro-American. For that, a gaggle of rebels and anti-U.S. provocateurs have taken aim at Sulaimaniyah. City fathers have responded with tough crackdowns. ``We are threatened,'' says Barham Salih, the U.S.-educated technocrat who heads the regional government in this city of aging yellow villas and forlorn parks. ``What you...

The next time you hear someone complain about the US overthrow of Saddam, point them towards this site. These photos are, unfortunately, real and very graphic. Scenes of Iraq's killing fields.What you will never see on our US liberal 6 o'clock news: http://www.9neesan.com/massgraves/

Simple as it is unscientific. For some reason this is an important issue to me. For me it's more an issue of Christian hegemony than terror. "Should we take out the Syrian Baathist dictatorship?"

<p>In the wake of Saddam Hussein's capture, Iraqi government officials have become quite open about voicing their displeasure with the United Nations' failure to help their people during decades of oppression by the deposed Ba'athist dictatorship. After U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan gave a speech to the Security Council on Tuesday ruling out an early return of the United Nations to Iraq, he was sharply criticized by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.</p>

Ex-Baath Party Official Gunned Down   BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen attacked two former officials of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, killing one in a hail of submachine gun fire, critically wounding another and killing her 5-year-old son, officials said Saturday.The two separate attacks in the Shiite Muslim city of Najaf appeared to be part of a series of revenge killings against local members of Saddam's regime, which brutally repressed Shiites. On Wednesday, an angry crowd lynched another Baath official accused in a 1991 crackdown against Shiites.On Friday, gunmen killed Ali Qassem al-Tamimi, the district mayor of Najaf's al-Furat neighborhood, as...

Scientists carefully document thousands so carelessly killed MAHAWEEL, Iraq - The killers kept bankers' hours. They showed up for work at the barley field at 9 a.m., trailed by backhoes and three buses filled with blindfolded men, women and children as young as 1. Every day, witnesses say, the routine was the same: The backhoes dug a trench. Fifty people were led to the edge of the hole and shot, one by one, in the head. The backhoes covered them with dirt, then dug another hole for the next group. At 5 p.m., the killers - officials of Saddam Hussein's...

It is generally hard to find anything good to say about Bashar Assad. But the Syrian dictator surprised us over the weekend when he handed Turkey 22 Islamists suspected of involvement in the horrific Istanbul synagogue bombings of Nov. 15. Might this gesture reflect a newfound understanding of Syria's position in the world? Syria is bordered by Israel, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. Two of those five -- Israel and Turkey -- are Western-friendly democracies; Iraq will soon be a third; and Jordan is leaning in the same direction. The despotic Baathist ideology Syria shared with Saddamite Iraq has been...

KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) - Izzat Ibrahim, right-hand man to Saddam Hussein and the next most wanted Iraqi leader, has been killed or captured in a U.S. raid near the city of Kirkuk, Iraqi Governing Council sources said on Tuesday. "There was a major action against a highly suspicious objective last night in Kirkuk and it is very possible that Izzat Ibrahim has been captured or killed," said one member of the Council, Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, adding he had been in contact with U.S. forces. Another high-level source in the U.S.-appointed Council said he had been informed that Ibrahim had been captured...

President Bush Discusses Iraq in Veterans Day Address Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Washington, D.C. 1:16 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Ed, thank you very much. It's an honor to be here. I appreciate your invitation. I want to thank you for your decades of leadership in the conservative movement. Presidents come and go, except here at the Heritage Foundation. (Laughter.) I appreciate being with your good bride, Linda; the trustees of the Heritage; the longtime Heritage supporters; and the Ronald Reagan Fellow at Heritage, a man who is a fine leader and a fine Attorney General, Ed...

In the breaking news window at Haaretz: Radical Iraqi Shi`ite leader Moqtada al-Sadr calls on his armed followers to capture Saddam Hussein `dead or alive`

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad: 'Terrorism is a State of Mind' Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad, in an interview on September 30, 2003 with the Italian daily newspaper Il Corriere della Sera, discussed his country's role in Iraq, its complex relationship with the U.S., the 'road map,' weapons of mass destruction, and human rights in Syria. The following are excerpts from the interview which was conducted by Antonio Ferrari: (1) Question: "The U.S.A. keeps accusing you of destabilizing Iraq, of sending fighters, of hiding weapons of mass destruction. The list of allegations is becoming long and dangerous. Do you not fear that...

<p>On Thursday, weapons in spector David Kay offered Congress a simple, and entirely rational, explanation for why the United States had not yet uncovered vast stashes of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It's all about size. Or lack thereof.</p>

<p>Much of the discourse on Iraq continues to be dominated by myths - provable falsehoods that happen to confirm the prejudices of the antiwar crowd and/or those disposed to think our mission is failing now.</p> <p>The mythos now culminates in the notion that a patriotic Iraqi "resistance" is slowly gaining ground against a hated occupation. But the distortions go back much farther.</p>

<p>BAGHDAD &#8212; A former Ba'ath Party official has confessed to planning the massive car bombing that killed the senior Shi'ite cleric Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim and more than 80 others last month, a top Shi'ite security official said.</p> <p>Ayatollah al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), was killed in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf on Aug. 29. The incident has threatened to further divide Iraqi Shi'ites oppressed by former President Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party, which was primarily Sunni.</p>

The Baathist ideology requires continual conflict and bloodshed. Saddam likes to call himself The Struggler, and his rule has been marked by incessant strife. He led his nation through a bloody eight-year war with Iran that produced World War I level casualties, a ruthless campaign of genocide against the Kurds, the invasion of neighbouring Kuwait, a war with the United States and the rest of the world, civil wars in the north and south of his country, and now another potential war with the United States and its allies over weapons of mass destruction. There has been no respite. The...

BALAD, Iraq (AP) -- American forces have launched a fourth major offensive against insurgents in central Iraq to blunt expected attacks against U.S. soldiers during upcoming holidays marking historical events of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, military officials said. U.S. military officials have received intelligence reports -- including letters addressed to community leaders urging attacks against Americans -- indicating that pro-Saddam and Islamist insurgents plan anti-U.S. actions. The strikes would be timed to the July 14, 1958 anniversary of the overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy and the July 17, 1968 coup by Saddam's Baathist Party. The Army's 4th Infantry Division...

BAGHDAD, Iraq Americans can be proud of the role their fighting men and women played in freeing Iraq of Saddam Hussein and his cronies. The people of Iraq are now on the road to political and economic independence.The first official step in this political transition at the national level occurs today, with the convening of the Iraqi Governing Council. This is the latest sign of progress. For the first time in decades, Iraqis are truly free. More than 150 newspapers have been started since liberation. All major cities and 85 percent of towns now have a municipal council where Iraqis...

Thu July 3, 2003 10:15 AM ET BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States is offering $25 million for any information that leads to the capture of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein or proves that he is dead, a spokesman for Iraq's U.S.-led administration said on Thursday. "(Administration head) Ambassador (Paul) Bremer will be announcing a new $25 million reward for information leading to the capture of Saddam Hussein or information confirming his earlier death," the spokesman told reporters. He said $15 million was being offered for similar information about either of Saddam's two sons, Uday and Qusay.

CAMP BOOM, Iraq - U.S. forces launched a massive operation early Sunday to crush insurgents and capture senior figures from the ousted regime in a show of force designed to stem a wave of deadly attacks on U.S. troops. The operation, dubbed "Desert Sidewinder," is taking place in a huge swath of central Iraq stretching from the Iranian border to the areas north of Baghdad, and is expected to last for several days, military officials said. Americans arrested a man in Khalis, 45 miles north of Baghdad. He is suspected of recruiting young men to launch attacks on Americans, according...

Baathists aren't only angry ones, Iraqis sayDisputing U.S. reports, many say Hussein backers are not behind attacks.By Tom Lasseter and Natalie PompilioInquirer Staff Writers FALLUJAH, Iraq - Ahmed Manaa's face was dark with anger. He was tired of the U.S. troops rumbling up and down his city's streets in their big tanks, pointing their guns at passing cars. They are nothing but occupiers, he said, and they should go back to America, before another war begins.He doesn't fit the profile of anti-U.S. elements whom American army commanders so often describe: He doesn't mourn the fall of Saddam Hussein and has...

Saudi nationals have joined the Sunni insurgency against U.S. troops in Iraq. At least one U.S. soldier daily has been killed over the last few weeks. Meanwhile, a U.S.based Saudi opposition organization has reported that two Saudi nationals have been killed in the sporadic fighting, Middle East Newsline reported. Last week, the U.S. Army's Third Division sent its 2nd Brigade to launch an operation in several Sunni cities to quell the insurgency. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Health insurance for the self-employed: Special offer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. officials confirmed that Saudi nationals have financed and participated in the Sunni insurgency. They said elements in Saudi...

Purge of Ba'athists may total 30,000 Rory McCarthy in Baghdad Saturday May 17, 2003 The Guardian The US-led authority running Iraq said yesterday that up to 30,000 Ba'ath party members would be banned from taking part in a new government. The purge, to begin within a week, is likely to make it even more difficult to find qualified staff to run the ministries and other authorities. "Deba'athification will entail some inefficiencies in the running of the government," an official of the office of reconstruction and humanitarian assistance said. "That's the price we're willing to pay in order to extirpate Ba'athism."...

Until last month, Syria and Iraq had a lot in common. Both nations were Baathist dictatorships. Both openly supported Palestinians terrorists. And both maintained an active interest in developing weapons of mass destruction. The difference, of course, was at the top. While Iraq was ruled for decades by an unstable megalomaniac, Syria's long-time ruler, Hafez Assad, was conservative and savvy. Assad's special skill was that he knew how to present himself as a necessary evil. Thus, in the 1970s and 1980s, Washington tacitly supported the entry of Syrian troops into Lebanon as a means of ending that country's chaotic civil...

Dozens, and perhaps hundreds, of Iraqi officials escaped to Syria, according to fresh assessments by intelligence organizations including the U.S., British and Israeli services, which were surprised by the large numbers involved after initial estimates that only a few dozen made their way to Syria during or prior to the war. But while the escapees include relatively high-ranking officials, and at least one minister, Saddam Hussein and his inner circle are not believed to be in Syria. The large number of Iraqis who found refuge in Syria is why Washington and London have stepped up pressure on Damascus and the...

Cyanide-Shooting Guns Found in Baghdad .c The Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Soldiers searching homes in a Baath Party enclave on Sunday turned up weapons straight out of James Bond movies - among them suitcases that concealed submachine guns and air pistols that fired cyanide pellets. The men of A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, found 21 briefcases specially designed to hold Heckler and Koch MP-5K 9 mm submachine guns. The guns could be fired by pulling a trigger on the handle of the case. There were also several silencers for 9 mm pistols and a gold-plated MP-5...

SADDAM'S 'LOVE SHACK' US troops have discovered what they described as Saddam Hussein's "love shack" in Baghdad. Reports said the secret hideaway resembled "a playboy's fantasy straight from the 1960s". Troops said it reminded them of the Austin Powers spy spoofs. They yelled Powers' catchphrases "yeah, baaabeee" and "shagadelic" as they went from room to room. Associated Press reporters with US forces said the split-level, one bedroom house in central Baghdad had a mirrored bedroom and lamps shaped like women. On the walls were air-brushed paintings of a topless blonde woman and another of a moustached hero battling a crocodile....

FOR SALE: riverside residence, slightly looted. One careful Christian Baathist owner, whereabouts unknown. Likely to be finding alternative accommodation shortly. Times reader. Seeking long lease. You do not have to look far inside the shattered doors of the house of Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, to work out who it belonged to. Behind the high walls of the palatial villa in Baghdad’s affluent al-Jadariyah district, the white window latticework combining the eight-pointed Baath party star with the Christian cross immediately points to Mr Aziz, one of the most durable survivors of Saddam Hussein’s regime. In a charred heap...

Is perky "Today Show" host Katie Couric actually rooting for Saddam Hussein to survive U.S.'s military's repeated attempts to take him out? It sure sounded that way during a report she delivered on the fate of the Baghdad Butcher yesterday. While chatting about Saddam with NBC's Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski, the multi-million-dollar morning host asked whether U.S. officials had been able to "confirm reports he was taken to Tikrit, and then Mosul, and then hopefully to Syria." Hopefully? Surely Ms. Couric didn't mean to suggest that she actually hoped the brutal dictator would escape justice by fleeing to another terrorist-sponsoring...

Just caught this on LBC (Lebanon Broadcasting Corp) news in Arabic about one hour ago (9:15 p.m. Eastern Time).They showed a dramatic review of the day's events in Baghdad centering around liberation of central Baghdad.One clip showed US tanks moving into the historic square with the huge Saddam statue that was toppled. This square seems to be very near a hotel for Westerners in Baghdad.Next clip showed the two Iraqi guys holding up a banner assailing and ridiculing "human shields" as "wankers" and urging them to 'go home'.The final clip was of what appeared to me to be a "human...

Ban me, but have the courage to accept the truth. This War is wrong. Many innocent Iraqis have died. Many Americans have died. Iraq is in chaos. No food. No water. No power. I don't care if staged events involving a few criminals and looters make the people appear to be happy. Ask the ones who had their lives destroyed by American bombs. There are no WMDs. America will remain in Iraq long enough to: A) plunder its resouces B) ensure a Bush election victory in spite of massive deficits and a terrible economy. THIS WAR IS WRONG.

In an interview in a Lebanese newspaper, Syrian President Bashar Assad has lashed out at Israel, saying as long as the Jewish state exists it will be a threat. Assad, who has expressed support for Saddam Hussein's regime in the face of coalition action, gave the interview to the pro-Syrian daily Al-Safir. His comments were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute. The Syrian leader claimed the U.S. is doing Israel's bidding in the war on Iraq. "[The Americans] removed their masks and said that they wanted oil and that they wanted to re-draw the map of the region...