Iraq Vows to Turn Desert Into Invaders' Grave

Reuters ^ | 3-31-03

[Oldeconomybuyer]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said on Monday Iraq would turn the desert into a grave for invading U.S. and British forces if they did not retreat or surrender. He also said the number of volunteers from other Arab countries had risen to 5,000 from 4,000 a day earlier.

"We will turn this desert into a big grave for the Americans and British," Sabri told a news conference in Baghdad. "They will not emerge from our land safely."

Urging the advancing troops to retreat or surrender, he said: "With the passing of every day, they are sinking deeper into the mud of defeat and their losses are increasing."

Sabri said the American and British forces, trying to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, were using tactics of divide and rule but would not succeed. He branded U.S. and British leaders criminals from the dark ages.

"I call on all U.S. and British soldiers to surrender to us because this is the only way to survive or else they will die," he said.

Sabri gave no figure for the number of U.S. and British prisoners of war but said: "They are all being treated well in accordance with Islamic and Arab customs."

Iraq has said the war is going well but the United States also says its military campaign is going according to plan, with U.S. and British forces already controlling 40 percent of Iraq.

The Iraqi forces are heavily outgunned but Sabri said they have been boosted by volunteers from other Arab states, adding: "Now the number of (Arab) volunteers has exceeded 5,000."

He said Arab states that have not supported Iraq would face "severe punishment" by their own people.

[EternalVigilance]

"I call on all U.S. and British soldiers to surrender to us because this is the only way to survive or else they will die,"

...the Black Knight said as he was deprived of his last leg...

[Conspiracy Guy]

If this guy doesn't shut up this could get bad. It is hard on the US and Brit troops to fire their weapons when they are bent over laughing their Azzes off.

[joesnuffy]

[backhoe]

Gee, no "Precious Blood of the Martyrs" bombast & braggadocio?

Pretty tame for Jihad Jive...

[wideawake]

Wow. 400 million Arabs in the world and five whole thousand have volunteered if you buy the number Iraqi propaganda is selling.

That's a really impressive number - by the way: every single soldier kicking your Arab asses right now is a volunteer and there's a lot more than 5,000 of them.

[goldstategop]

All they could recruit was a measly 5,000 volunteers?? Oooh, I'm shaking in my boots now. Do the Iraqis really expect a militarily superior force to surrender to them?? Yeah, sure we will... ;-)

[tuckrdout]

You know, I have wondered if Saddam's regime is planning on setting off a nuke when all our troops are in Baghdad? While Saddam sits comfortably in his nuke proof bunker...he blows everyone off the face of the earth, then he emerges as a triumphant Islamic leader who beat the "infidels"! Sending thousands of his people into Islamic "paradise" as jihad warriors...he would not be condemned in Islam.

I see this as his war plan. He is thinking of the bigger aspect. He would like to not only be the leader of Iraq, but all the Arab nations. And if he did this we would be crippled by a nuke attack, and we might have a hard time stopping him, for a while.

[laz17]

"They are all being treated well in accordance with Islamic and Arab customs."

This does not bode well for our POWs...

[dennisw]

They talk like the Vegas Mafia....They used to bury their victims in the desert.

[goldstategop]

They've already buried murdered POWs. Respect under Islamic and Arab customs has been demonstrated for all to see.

[Future Snake Eater]

Oooh, look at me, I'm a big, bad Arab. I will kill you and your family. Ooooh, I'm so tough, I can kill 2-year old girls with merely a single punch. Ooooh, please don't shoot at me, I'm a freakin' pansy!

[Centurion2000]

"We will turn this desert into a big grave for the Americans and British," Sabri told a news conference in Baghdad. "They will not emerge from our land safely."

Urging the advancing troops to retreat or surrender, he said: "With the passing of every day, they are sinking deeper into the mud of defeat and their losses are increasing."

This sounds JUST LIKE the Onion article about the Taliban and how our troops would lose there :)

[11B3]

Have you stopped your medication? Or are you on "other" meds? If he were to light off a nuke, he wouldn't be the leader of Jack or $hit. His "nuclear proof bunker" only has 6' of concrete for the roof - good for a 15 kiloton blast outside a 250 meter radius. Our nukes are far more accurate than that, and 15 kt is a small one. If he were to try that, you could expect a response of over 10 megatons.

[Semper Paratus]

We're coming out of the desert into the fertile crescnet now.

[Keith]

Hitler said basically the same crap just a few days before his little gasoline honeymoon.

[Blood of Tyrants]

"Come back! I'll bite you in the kneecap!"

[Mare]

Gee, I wonder how these 4 to 5,000 volunteers are getting past our troops. Maybe Naji Sabri is "beaming" them in.

[Walnut]

who do they think they are convincing?
We are Americans. we kick ass. and we do a great job. I'm so proud I am an American
By the way Mashpee Ma on Cape Cod had a great rally for the troops over the weekend
Go Cape Cod

[tuckrdout]

I hope you are right. That is all I have to say...I hope you are right and I am wrong.