Posted on 07/22/2003 2:46:30 PM PDT by demlosers
MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay were killed in a six-hour gunbattle with U.S. troops at a villa in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul Tuesday after a tip-off from an Iraqi, the U.S. military said.
"We're certain that Uday and Qusay were killed," Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, told a hasty news conference in Baghdad after four charred bodies taken from the Mosul villa were flown to the capital.
"They died in a fierce gunbattle," he said, adding they had barricaded themselves inside the house and fired small arms at U.S. soldiers. Two other bodies removed from the villa were still being identified.
As word spread of the deaths of the feared and ruthless brothers, celebratory gunfire crackled across night-time Baghdad.
Uday, 39, Saddam's eldest son, was notorious throughout Iraq for his cruelty and playboy lifestyle. Qusay, born in 1966, was one of his father's most trusted lieutenants and widely seen as his heir apparent.
"An Iraqi source informed the 101st airborne division today that several suspects including Qusay and Uday...were hiding at the residence," said Sanchez, adding that special forces had been called in for the operation.
The informant stands to claim at least part of the two $15 million rewards Washington placed on the heads of Uday and Qusay.
U.S. soldiers at the battered hulk of the once imposing concrete villa told Reuters a barrage of rocket and machinegun fire had been aimed at the residence. Four U.S. troops were wounded.
U.S. officials said one of the two unidentified bodies might be that of Qusay's 14-year-old son.
Mosul residents said shots were fired from the house as the troops took up positions and approached it in the morning sun.
SADDAM STILL ELUSIVE
There was no sign of Saddam himself. He is still thought to be on the run in Iraq three months after he was ousted by U.S.-led forces.
But the deaths of his sons will be a boost to President Bush and may help convince Iraqis that the threat of the old ruling family returning is now at an end.
Bush has been under pressure over a mounting death toll among U.S. soldiers in guerrilla-style attacks that they blame on die-hard supporters of the former Iraqi leader.
A new ambush Tuesday claimed the life of a sixth soldier in five days. A Sri Lankan Red Cross technician was killed in another incident, highlighting general lawlessness.
Ordinary Iraqis have been grumbling ever more loudly about the failure of the occupying U.S. and British forces to restore basic services and hand power back to Iraqis.
"(The deaths of Uday and Qusay) certainly is good news for the Iraqi people and it's good news for our forces," said Paul Bremer, head of the U.S.-led administration in Iraq.
There was delight among people in Baghdad as news from Mosul filtered through to the capital, although many said they could not relax until they had proof the brothers were dead.
Sanchez said he would address the issue of proof on Wednesday, but that "multiple" sources had identified Saddam's sons.
A least one Baghdad man reflected widespread hatred in Iraq against Uday, who ran much of Iraq's media and sport.
"I don't want him dead. I want to torture him first," said Alaa Hamed, who was a producer at Uday's television channel.
He said Uday had personally beaten him with electrical cables when he made mistakes.
U.S. forces have announced the capture of 34 of the 55 Iraqis on a most-wanted list of members of Saddam's regime. Uday and Qusay were numbers two and three and the aces of hearts and clubs respectively on a deck of cards given to U.S. troops.
U.S. FORCES UNDER PRESSURE
The death Tuesday of the 39th U.S. soldier to be killed by hostile fire since Bush declared major combat over on May 1 highlighted the pressure his forces are under. Bush said on Monday he would welcome military help from abroad.
But countries such as France, Germany and Russia, which opposed the U.S. and British invasion of Iraq, want a clearer U.N. mandate before getting involved in a messy situation which they had warned Washington could be the result from a war.
The U.N. Security Council Tuesday met three delegates from Baghdad's new Iraqi Governing Council presenting a case for recognition. They were the first Baghdad delegates to go to the United Nations since Saddam was toppled.
But diplomats at the United Nations, scene of so much sharp diplomatic skirmishing over Iraq before U.S. bombs began falling on March 20, said the Governing Council would not be allowed to take up Baghdad's seat in New York for now.
The 25-member Governing Council was appointed by U.S. authorities in Baghdad nine days ago.
Adnan Pachachi, spokesman for the Iraqi delegation, told the Security Council: "The state intelligence services and mandatory arrests and random executions are done for once and for all.
"The people of Iraq have...tasted a sense of freedom that has been denied to them for so many decades."
OK, I know I'm going out on a limb here, but I sense a certain disaffection in his voice...
This may be true now, but wait until these folks remember that under Okey and Dokey, they had electricity and running water for an hour or two a day. Then they will all mourn their loss.
< /sarcasm >
The question is: Are you ready?
FMCDH
As I commented to my wife, this "hollow victory" (see the unutterably stupid anti-American comments by the NPR reporter) means that Saddam's regime simply has no future, under any circumstances. For all practical purposes, it's over. The tyrant is gone and his successors are dead.
Prediction: The attacks on US forces will now start to calm down.
Why do you say this? Because he loved his children and wants revenge? Or that he knows his time is limited and will strike out? Other?
"I don't want him dead." said Iraqi Alaa Hamed...
Each.
I hope they make a big show of giving this informant his $30,000,000.00, tax free, in cash.
Of course, they'd better give it to him some unnamed US state.
Maybe. Or if not, he might be furious at the disrespect our soldiers showed towards him by swiss-cheesing his heirs.
Or that he knows his time is limited and will strike out?
Definitely.
Other?
Well he's also fat, ugly, unemployed, homeless, and ineligible (as far as I know) for US welfare checks.
No, they won't be assistants, they'll live the horror of every person they've tortured.
Today is the first day for the rest of their eternity.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.