US assassins 'kill Iraqi chiefs' in Baghdad

scotsman.com ^ | Sun 30 Mar 2003 | IAN JOHNSTON

[Destro]

American government officials made no request for details of the operations to be withheld from publication in the US, as they have sometimes done in other cases involving on-going covert operations.

Happy to oblige in getting the word out.

[dighton]

Happy to oblige in getting the word out.

Any time. God bless and protect our Special Forces.

[Cold Heat]

Germany’s foreign intelligence agency said yesterday it had been unable to find any evidence that Saddam uses a series of doubles.

That is because we killed them all!

Thanks for your assistance Germany! We will be looking to return the favor......................

[Travis McGee]

These undercovers are the bravest of the brave.

[vigilante2]

thank you that helped to make my day!

[UofORepublican]

What idiots. Everybody and their Uncle knows he uses doubles. I've seen the doubles on TV get interviewed. You just have to shake your head and not let the stupidity bother you.

[Jonah Hex]

SOCOM... when you care enough to send the very best.

[wretchard]

"You could not really pretend to be an Arab for very long. And just imagine trying to hide in the shed behind someone’s house. In the end, someone is going to come to the shed.

 

If they were of Arab extraction, no pretense would be necessary. During a recent deployment of Special Forces to the Philippines, some of the Americans were of Filipino extraction, and had spent enough time "downrange" or speaking the language at home to be indistinguishable from the locals. They were certainly visually indistinguishable.

In the runup to the war, a number safe houses would probably have been prepared. There would be a support team separate from the shooters. The support team could be US agents working as Iraqi policemen, ambulance drivers, garbage collectors -- anyone with an alibi for moving around freely. The shooters could also be indistinguishable from locals. It would be hard and dangerous, but not impossible.

[Porterville]

Cool

[arkady_renko]

Haven't seen Aziz in a few days...

A_R

[jwalsh07]

Very Special Men.

[Clinging Bitterly]

There has been some interesting stuff in that Scotsman. Some of it seems speculative, but hey, it always seems to be good for our side.

Dave in Eeugene

[Lancey Howard]

IF saddam is still alive, he will not vacate his bunker of 4' thick walls, which are allegedly impenetrable by "bunker buster" missles. Special Forces units need to get close enough to the bunker/compound to find a way to gas it or heat it up to an unbearable temperature. Seal it off from all outside air sources. Hit it with ultra-low radio frequencies. Whatever.

On the other hand, I would be surprised if we didn't have some kind of missle which could unleash some serious acid on its target. Saturate the target with acid, wait a few days, then blow the weakened structure to smithereens with a bunker buster. Okay, I'm dreaming.

[RasterMaster]

The Iraqi officials seem to be working down the list of their 'leaders' to appear on TV...but they don't appear to have the big conferences anymore.

[Destro]

This may be an attempt to keep the Iraqi's guessing--so they want the news out as wide as possible.

[Capriole]

When I hear of this sort of thing I always wonder how the good guys can tell the bad guys apart. It seems to me that most of the Arabs look alike. Am I wrong? Is it just me? I mean, they all have black hair, darkish skin, black moustaches, and brown eyes. A lot of them are wrapped up in their rags. And they're all named Mohammed or Ali or something. It's amazing that the snipers can shoot any of them and know he got the right guy. But then we know I'm the most disgraceful unenlightened racist.

[doug from upland]

Indeed, what they do and the courage it takes is truly remarkable.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Foxnews is quoting a high ranking Defense official as stating that " Iraq will fall from within"! Perhaps referring to this Special Forces activity!

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[Fester Chugabrew]

Encore!

Up your ass, Saddam.

[BunnySlippers]

Any time. God bless and protect our Special Forces.

In fact, when this thing is over, I think we ought to do a real military appreciation celebration ... maybe a "Mother of All Ticker Tape Parades". Our young men have stepped up to the plate.