Posted on 04/15/2003 3:57:28 PM PDT by MadIvan
BRITISH troops were racing against time last night to free prisoners believed to have been buried alive by Saddam Hussein’s fleeing henchmen.
Army engineers were called in after British officers heard scratching beneath a wrecked statue of Saddam in al-Faw. Local people said they had seen two coachloads of prisoners being sealed into a secret chamber under the site.
Hundreds of Iraqis kept a vigil yesterday as engineers with pneumatic drills and a bulldozer worked to break through a yard of concrete believed to have been poured into a stairwell leading to the dungeon.
Several British troops said they had heard a response after they stopped digging, called for quiet and knocked on the ground.
The sound of a series of scratching noises has been distinct at least twice since work started on Monday afternoon.
Lieutenant-Colonel Simon Wolsey, of 29 Commando Royal Artillery, which called in the digging teams, said: “We stopped work and knocked on the floor after ordering complete silence and I definitely heard something.
“It sounded like someone scratching at the concrete from below. A medic who was with us used his stethoscope and confirmed he heard the noise. Locals are adamant that they saw coachloads of prisoners, possibly Kuwaitis from the last war, being brought here before the coalition forces arrived.
“We have an obligation to help if there is even the slightest chance of someone being alive down there.”
Men from 59 Commando Engineers were working in shifts inside the statue’s 30ft-high hollow plinth.
Others, backed by the bulldozer, were trying to burrow in from outside.
The steel figure of Saddam, which vanished during fighting, used to dominate a huge marble, pillared amphitheatre in al-Faw town which was dedicated to the tyrant.
British troops stepped in to help after finding local people on the site tearing at the rubble with their bare hands.
Staff Sergeant George Lamplough, 35, who was among the digger teams, said: “I’ve just worked 12 hours solid trying to get through the concrete, and it’s tough going.
“We can’t be sure we’ll find anything, but we’ve shown the locals that we believe what they’ve told us and that we’re willing to help.
“Noises have definitely been heard when we’ve stopped to listen, by some of us as well as the locals. So we’ll press on as long as necessary.”
Abu Alal, 47, a shopkeeper and the town’s self-appointed mayor, said yesterday: “We are certain that people are trapped underground and are very grateful to the British for their help.
“It would be a wonderful miracle if someone came out of there alive after all this time.”
The lavish amphitheatre was opened by Saddam 13 years ago and was once adorned with fountains clad in gleaming marble.
But Mr Alal said he recalled teams of foreign engineers arriving on the site and is convinced that a secret bunker complex was installed.
He pointed out masses of heavy-duty cables leading underground and said that two of the classical-style pillars were hollow air shafts. A heavy digging tool was later fitted to a bulldozer to aid the army teams last night.
From your keyboard to God's Eyes!! I'll be praying hard for these folks this week!!
Shoot, I imagine they'd ignore that. That's what happens when you introduce facts to a liberal. In one ear, out the other and never stopping to visit in between . . .
. . .don't know what to say; except 'enjoy lunch'; stay away from current events. . .politically incorrect conversation. . .her feelings. . .and of course, favorite websites!
. . .as for the 'feelings' of Leftists; they seem to overlook the fact that the luxury of their perspective was paid for by the sacrifice of 'innocent' lives in real wars. . .
Also seems by their current standards of judgement; Nazi war criminals would have been considered 'freedom fighters'. . .
I was thinking of numbers only from the beginning of the war to the end of the hostile actions.
It would be one for the books. :o)
They were just so vindictive that evil is the only word.
. . .this is true. . .
The threat of WMD were hanging over the head of the U.S. and Israel and other enemies of Saddam. They were a serious threat to world security.
But the day to day horror suffered by the Iraqi people defies description. I think most of us knew there were atrocities, but never in my wildest imagination did I think they were as bad as what we are hearing. I think Saddam is far worse than Hitler and knowing what we know about Hitler and after asking for 50 years, why did we let it happen, we find the same appeasers at work, and the likes of CNN aiding and abetting, and complicit in the propaganda.
I'm furious and crying.
If I hear one more idiot ask, "but what if we don't find weapons of mass destruction," I'm going to puke. Who the hell cares. They've already found tons of evidence of weapons violations (which of course, the left ignores). Freeing the Iraqi people from torture and fear of torture and being treated worse than animals is more than enough justification. Gee, maybe we should find out they tortured animals and the left would finally be outraged.
You said it all in a nutshell.
Leni
This is being reported by The Straits Times this morning.
www.command-post.org
The left only hates those that oppose IT!
MEGA- 
Stay Strong
Fuzzy
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