Posted on 10/30/2006 4:10:24 PM PST by Mr. Brightside
Saddam Accepted the American Ultimatum Before the US Invasion, According to Rights and Freedom International
Monday October 30, 4:35 pm ET
TORONTO, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- A former political adviser to Saddam Hussein's son said today that Saddam was willing to yield to all American demands before the U.S. invasion of Iraq -- but that the Bush administration refused his offers.
The disclosure was made by Hossam Shaltout, a Canadian aerospace engineer, former American pilot, and founder of the peace organization Rights and Freedom International (http://www.rightsandfreedom.com), who said that war could have been averted, but Bush aides blocked his efforts to announce Saddam's decision.
"Saddam was willing to yield to all American demands, announced and unannounced, to reach peaceful resolution," said Shaltout, "but the Bush administration, including Elizabeth Cheney, undersecretary of State, David Welch, the U.S. ambassador in Egypt, and Gene Cretz, his political attache, did not respond to his offers."
Shaltout said he was planning to fly from Amman to Baghdad to announce Saddam's decision, but the Royal Jordanian Airlines officials claimed that the US ordered the flight to leave five hours earlier causing him to miss the flight, preventing him from announcing on CNN that Saddam would bow to the Bush ultimatum. Shaltout said he traveled by road to Baghdad, delaying him almost one day, but raced to get the communique approved from Saddam to broadcast over international TV stations broadcasting from Baghdad.
Couple of hours before the expiration of the Bush ultimatum, Saddam ordered Colonel Amer, his strongman, to facilitate Shaltout's broadcast of the communique. Colonel Amer ordered Allaa Mecky, the head of the Iraqi Channel 2 television, to accompany Shaltout and help him broadcast the communique."
It was very late at night and CNN in Baghdad was closed. So they went to al-Jazeera, and Shaltout told al-Jazeera Washington correspondent Hafez Almirazy on the air that he had the Iraqi government's official reply to the Bush ultimatum. Moments after Mirazy asked him for a brief, the plug was pulled on the transmission. Shaltout has a copy of that interrupted broadcast.
Shaltout said that when the Americans arrived in Baghdad, he offered his assistance to U.S. military officials. Instead he was arrested by Marines who went to his hotel suite taking his documents. Shaltout has the videotape of his arrest, and several supporting documents.
Here is complete title,
Saddam Accepted the American Ultimatum Before the US Invasion, According to Rights and Freedom International
Gee, is this guy hawking a book or just another agenda driven dude?
Am sure Saddam was believable and all!
Muslims lie.
Amazing that this is coming out NOW! What timing - where has this man been - in Hillary's cellar 'till now? I smell a large, very large RAT!
Interesting that the guy comes up with this story one week before the election.
Makes you go "Hmmmm."
Saddam accepted before the invasion but after the deadline--one does not halt a moving invasion just because the tyrant lies once again at the last second.
B.S.
Gee, an October surprise. Who would have thought?
BS. If this were true, Saddam could have gone on Iraqi TV and made that announcement instead of sending some other person to catch a flight to make the announcement on a foreign news show. It's laughable on the face of it.
Didn't this story come out a couple of years ago too? I'm not criticizing, it just seems familiar.
IMO, no way was Saddam giving in. He was even offered safe passage out of Iraq and refused. I think this isjust another pre-election hit and pre-Saddam sentencing, don't you?
I remember this and yes it was right after the deadline. He was just trying to buy more time.
I also remember satellite pictures of military trucks crossing the border to Syria. The kind of trucks that carry missiles. Funny how you never see those pics or hear anything about that anymore either. -_-
Am I the only one with healthy long-term memory?
We have a motive!!! He has a $350,000 lawsuit against the US Army. (You would think that Yahoo/AP reporters could go to Google and get the same information. It took me two minutes.)
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1522516,00.html
____________________________________________________________________
'Tortured' Canadian sues US
06/05/2004 07:13 - (SA)
Toronto - With the White House Wednesday under heavy fire over the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, a Canadian businessman is claiming he endured daily torture by American soldiers after being seized in Baghdad.
Hossam Shaltout, 57, an Egyptian-born Canadian who lives in Los Angeles, is demanding damages of $350 000, in a complaint filed with the US Army.
He says his five-week ordeal which ended when he was deported to Egypt, left him suffering from depression, flashbacks, and an obsessive desire for death.
Shaltout says he was arrested by US soldiers outside his hotel in Baghdad during a riot in April 2003, and taken to the Bucca detention facility in Umm Qasr, southern Iraq.
He had travelled to Iraq on behalf of his peace group "Rights and Freedom International" in a bid to convince Iraqi leaders to step down to avoid a war with the United States.
After he was taken to Bucca in an armoured personnel carrier, Shaltout claims he was subjected to a daily diet of interrogation and torture.
Right-hand man
"Mr Shaltout was accused of being both a speechwriter for Saddam Hussein as well as his 'right-hand man,'" said Shaltout's Portland, Oregon-based lawyer Thomas Nelson in the complaint lodged with the US Army last week.
"When Mr Shaltout refused to confess, he was beaten in a variety of ways - he was hit with open hands, fists, shoes, and gun butts.
"The most alarming form of torture was when the interrogators put gun muzzles at his head or body, which put Mr. Shaltout in great fear of imminent death."
Shaltout, who is in Saudi Arabia and could not be immediately contacted Wednesday claims that he was kneed in the groin and hit about the face while in leg irons and handcuffs after he launched a hunger strike.
He is claiming $350 000 in damages, claiming he now suffers depression, post traumatic stress disorder and other physical and mental ailments.
Shaltout is also claiming compensation for loss of property and the damage to his business while he was in detention.
Look at the source. Rights and Freedom International
AP/Yahoo are not motivated to find the truth.
It's not a news story. Look at it again. It is a press release from the group sponsoring this guy.
I have to make an account just to call B.S.
I distinctly remember Saddam challeging Bush to a debate and scoffing and ignoring the warnings courtesy of BBC of all sources.
Also, courtesy of BBC, Saddam never thought we would invade. He was calling Bush's bluff so to speak.
AP/Yahoo reporters don't want people to know this and know few will will seek out the information on their own.
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