Saddam was held by Kurdish forces, drugged and left for US troops

Yahoo News ^ | Sat Dec 20,11:00 PM ET | AFP

[Nachum]

LONDON, (AFP) - Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) was captured by US troops only after he had been taken prisoner by Kurdish forces, drugged and abandoned ready for American soldiers to recover him, a British Sunday newspaper said.

Saddam came into the hands of the Kurdish Patriotic Front after being betrayed to the group by a member of the al-Jabour tribe, whose daughter had been raped by Saddam's son Uday, leading to a blood feud, reported the Sunday Express, which quoted an unnamed senior British military intelligence officer.

The newspaper said the full story of events leading up to the ousted Iraqi president's capture on December 13 near his hometown of Tikrit in northern Iraq (news - web sites), "exposes the version peddled by American spin doctors as incomplete".

A former Iraqi intelligence officer, whom the Express did not name, told the paper that Saddam was held prisoner by a leader of the Kurdish Patriotic Front, which fought alongside US forces during the Iraq war, until he negotiated a deal.

The deal apparently involved the group gaining political advantage in the region.

An unnamed Western intelligence source in the Middle East told the Express: "Saddam was not captured as a result of any American or British intelligence. We knew that someone would eventually take their revenge, it was just a matter of time."

[lchoro]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_503527,001300180038.htm

The newspaper said the full story of events leading up to the ousted Iraqi president's capture on December 13 near his hometown of Tikrit in northern Iraq, "exposes the version peddled by American spin doctors as incomplete".

Could be true, or could the above paragraph reveal the ulterior motive behind this version? No one in the US forces broke rank and told the true version of events about the Jessica Lynch rescue. Both the Iraqi doctors and Jessica Lynch gave different version of events than the US Army.

[freedumb2003]

It's a big discussion point over at DU.

Never have those idiots given me more entertainment than these last few weeks. I should have invested in Aloca with all the tinfoil hat ideas they are passing around. The "amen" chorus on this story is too precious for words.

[TheDon]

Ridiculous! Saddam was abducted by aliens who examined him, then left him to be caught.

[gooleyman]

I find it difficult to believe that Saddam would have been found in one piece if the Kurds had had him.

-----
You mean after his daughter had been raped by this creeps son, he would let him live!!! After what this a$$hole did to his fellow Kurds, he would let him live!!! Utter B.S.

This was probably put out by Dizzy Deans cronies.

[Zeppo]

No one in the US forces broke rank and told the true version of events about the Jessica Lynch rescue. Both the Iraqi doctors and Jessica Lynch gave different version of events than the US Army.

None of those are unnamed sources, while the sources in this case are all unnamed.

[longtermmemmory]

victory has 1000 mothers

[Map Kernow]

Anything is possible. But not everything is likely or plausible. For the sake of believing that "Bush lied" and that our troops weren't really responsible for Saddam's capture, I have to believe that a) Uday raped a girl from some tribe before the war; b) this was a tribe in the Tikrit area; c) this tribe captured Saddam while he was on the run in order to satisfy a blood feud over the rape, yet d) kept him alive--in fact pretty healthy and well-fed---in order to e) turn him over to the Kurds, who f) decided to leave him in a spider hole near a farm house near Tikrit in the Sunni triangle with loaded weapons at his disposal, just so the Americans could claim to have captured him on their own, g) in return for the American's promise to give the Kurds influence over a national government h) the Kurds don't really care that much about because i) they effectively have control over their northern part of the country, and are more concerned about what happens in Ankara than what happens in Baghdad, let alone Tikrit.

Now maybe all those things happened. But maybe the CIA drugged Mohammed Atta and the 18 others and exercise mind control over them to have them fly all those planes and crash 'em. I don't believe that either.

Like I said, sounds like something made up to vindicate Arab "honor." And to try to denigrate ours.

[skinkinthegrass]

This did not happen. The Kurds would have (literally) eaten him alive. Look at the source of the article. It's probably some Clinton lackey sitting in a basement somewhere with an old Corona typewriter and a table covered with crack.

Its' been said before...AFP sounds like a Typical Leftist British Paper...Are they trying to restore honor to the natives in the area?...thereby snuffing out the glory of Saddam's Capture?..The story's *ull$hit.

[SICSEMPERTYRANNUS]

Even if this was true, who gives a flying f***, we got him, thats all that matters. The Kurds are our allies in this fight. < rant off >

SIC

[skinkinthegrass]

See how easy it is to write "news". Where do I apply?

HAHA...Proof of the VRWC, after all...>ring< >ring<...Shrillary is on the phone for you.

[thegreatbeast]

And anybody capturing Saddam would have gone for the gold- the $25m. That kind of money solves a lot of problems.

[Map Kernow]

Never have those idiots given me more entertainment than these last few weeks. I should have invested in Aloca with all the tinfoil hat ideas they are passing around. The "amen" chorus on this story is too precious for words.

You kind of HAVE to be amused at them. But a sobering thought: if this bunch of "deadenders" really does represent the Democrat "base," then I wonder how we're ever going to work our differences out with these guys peacefully.

[skinkinthegrass]

Anything is possible...I don't believe that either. Like I said, sounds like something made up to vindicate Arab "honor." And to try to denigrate ours.

...the last is the truth / keep it simple...good point.

[Iconoclast2]

What is a steaming pile is that someone as canny as Saddam is going to tell people to put him in a hole he can't climb out of, with no back door. The real question is who put him there.

[longtermmemmory]

have you heard the latest latest? It goes like this:"saddam was in jail before, saddam got out then, saddam rose to power and got revenge. Saddam is in jail now, saddam will get out again and do the same."

I bet the Al queda types a working overtime for some kind of jail break.

[battousai]

"I find it difficult to believe that Saddam would have been found in one piece if the Kurds had had him."

Not to mention the 750K cash or the AK47's and the sidearm he had with him.

[Map Kernow]

One more little point I thought of: what's this business about Saddam being "drugged"? I saw the films of him immediately after capture, and I've seen people who've been sedated, and Saddam did not look drugged. (Bored, maybe...but not drugged).

This claim made me think of a story sourced last week from CNN (I think) from Saddam's daughter Raghiba (who actually is not bad looking...I'd sully Arab honor again for her sake....), who claimed that her dada had been drugged because he would have gone down with guns blazing otherwise---she then claimed that he "looked drugged." She also claimed that the pictures of Saddam getting a checkup from an Army medic were broadcast in order to "demoralize the Arabs."

I rest my case, Your Honor. :)

[luvbach1]

Saddam was not captured as a result of any American or British intelligence.

Let me get this straight: Saddam was captured without US or British gaining intelligence of where he was. So how did they find him? If that's not the stupidest thing I've heard this week...

[Texasforever]

The obvious rebuttal is that Saddam is still alive. If we were fabricating his capture he sure as hell would not be alive to talk about it nor would the "Kurdish captors".

[longtermmemmory]

Remember monty python and the holy grail. (somehow appropriate given the region) The knigw who had the limbs cut off and was saying it was just a scratch?