Saddam, sons targeted in strike

MSNBC.com ^

[GulliverSwift]

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 8 — A U.S. Air Force warplane dropped four enormous bombs Monday on a residential neighborhood where “extremely reliable” intelligence information indicated that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his two sons were staying, senior administration officials told NBC News. The sources would not rule out the possibility that Saddam could have moved before the planes struck, but they said it was highly likely that he and his sons were dead if they were still there when the bombs hit.

BASED ON an intelligence source on the ground in Baghdad, U.S. military officials were confident that Saddam and his sons, Uday and Qusay, were attending a meeting in the neighborhood, senior officials said.
Officials quickly called in Air Force jets to strike the location Monday with four GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition weapons, the 2,000-pound smart bombs known as “bunker busters.” Diplomatic officials and officials at the Pentagon told NBC News that they were highly confident that they killed everyone at the meeting.
Military officials at U.S. Central Command forward headquarters in Doha, Qatar, confirmed the airstrike but would not comment on its possible effect.

BUSY DAY FOR COALITION
If Saddam was killed, U.S. military planners would have achieved one of their prime objectives in the war. It would cap a dramatic day in which U.S. forces established a foothold in one of Saddam’s palaces in Baghdad after swooping into the city the day before.
Coalition forces moved to cut off escape routes from the capital. Meanwhile, in a city near Baghdad, the military was led to a site where suspicious chemical compounds were stored — a discovery that, if verified, could prove that Iraq had continued its banned weapons programs.
U.S. troops remained in the presidential compound on the west bank of the Tigris River, apparently determined to deliver a powerful message to residents and Saddam loyalists that his regime was broken.
They had been part of an early morning assault by more than 70 tanks and 60 Bradley fighting vehicles from the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. The attack was a power play designed to prove to Saddam and the Iraqi people that “we can come and go at our pleasure,” a U.S. military official told NBC News on condition of anonymity.

[looois]

I'm bothered by this. That all three would be in the same location cannot be. Maybe it's just a ploy on our part to get him to stick his ugly head back up to show he's alive, while we've got resources in place which can spot him.

That isn't going to work, either.

I've been misled before. Will hold judgement until they show me the fried bacon.

[TLBSHOW]

lol

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Fox had it at 9:46 PM EDT

[GulliverSwift]

If Saddam was killed, U.S. military planners would have achieved one of their prime objectives in the war. It would cap a dramatic day in which U.S. forces established a foothold in one of Saddam’s palaces in Baghdad after swooping into the city the day before.

Of course, the Information minister would probably prop his dead body up on a chair and do a little ventriliquism with his "dummy."

CNN's Christianne A-manpower would call it "further proof that the regime is still intact."

[NY.SS-Bar9]

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead!

[kattracks]

US targeted Saddam in bombing, result not known

WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Monday bombed a target in Baghdad where Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein may have been inside, a U.S. official said.

"There was intelligence that came in this morning which suggested that there was a gathering of Iraqi intelligence officials and
possibly including Saddam and both of his sons in a residential district of Baghdad," the official told Reuters.

The information was passed to Central Command which authorized aircraft in the area to bomb the site.

There was no confirmation yet that Saddam or his sons were killed in the strike, the official said.

CNN reported that the building targeted in the bombing was completely destroyed.

Another U.S. official told Reuters U.S. forces struck "leadership targets of oppportunity" in Baghdad, but declined to say
who was the target or whether Saddam and his two sons were believed dead or alive.

The fate of Saddam and those of his sons, Qusay and Uday, have been the subject of intense speculation since they were
targeted in an initial U.S. strike on March 19 on a residential compound on the outskirts of Baghdad.

That initial bombing started the U.S.-led war against Iraq. A man believed to be Saddam has been seen on videotapes aired
on Iraqi television since that first strike but it has been unclear when those tapes were made, shedding little light on whether
the Iraqi president had survived that first strike.

04/07/03 22:09 ET

[The FRugitive]

I don't know how reliable this is...what is the Iraqi Information Ministry saying? ;)

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

In one sense I hope this is not true. I don't wish to hear, for the rest of my life, Saddam seen in Athens, Rome,Paris and Richmond Virginia.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

CNBC has Photos of the crater!

[1poedpatriot]

THIS JUST IN: Generalissimo Franco is still dead

[rwfromkansas]

Has CBS broken into the game?

I am at work, not watching tv, so I am not sure what they are doing.

[AnnO]

Funniest comment of the Whole War so far.....LOL

[Yo-Yo]

Of course, the Information minister would probably prop his dead body up on a chair and do a little ventriliquism with his "dummy."

Weekend at Saddam's?

[salmon76]

Please...Please drive the dogwood stake in his heart, shoot him with a silver bullet, etc.

This guy has more lives than Rasputin...Yeah, that's the ticket...use poison! I think we've recently found some poison in the vicinity...use that...USE THAT!

Sorry, I'm getting carried away. It's not everyday that you get to kill a demonic, sadistic, gruesome human being.

[GulliverSwift]

The NCAA championship's going on right now on CBS. I believe it's still half time, so Dan Rather can break in if they let him.

[1poedpatriot]

http://www.zoooooom.com/large.htm

[Michael121]

Baghdad Bob Says - "brave Iraqi Soldiers have taken themselves apart to quadruple their numbers, they were not blown up by the criminals bombs. They are really blessed by Allah they can rip off thier parts and continue fighting"

The Brits gave Saddam years ago, something called a Jaguar, some kinda voice recognization system. We have been monitoring it. hehehehe.

[Maynerd]

LOL

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Can't you see it though, reports of: " Saddam seen at a McDonalds in Glendale, California." No a body is better!

[GulliverSwift]

LOL!