Saddam has Koran written in his blood (NOT PLAYING WITH A FULL DECK ALERT)

Decorated with intricate designs, the delicate Arabic script of the Koran seemed to have been written in red ink.

In fact, a skilled artist copied the 605 pages of the holy book using Saddam Hussein's blood. The Iraqi dictator donated three pints over two years and this, mixed with chemicals, was used for every verse.

The resulting Koran was laid out in the Mother Of All Battles mosque in Baghdad, built to commemorate Saddam's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and his subsequent defeat at the hands of the United States and Britain.

The mosque boasts eight minarets. Four are designed to resemble the barrels of AK-47 assault rifles and four are in the shape of Scud missiles. A hexagonal marble building in which the blood-written Koran is on display is crowned with its own minaret - of the Scud variety.

Saddam is seeking to reinforce his grip on power by wrapping the mantle of Islam around his rule. Iraq's ruling Ba'ath party was once an avowedly secular movement and fought Islamic extremists with unparalleled ferocity.

Yet Saddam has launched a "faith campaign", designed to prop up his regime with appeals to the Muslim faithful. Senior Ba'athists have begun learning the Koran by heart, religious instruction has been stepped up in schools and many ulemas, Islamic scholars, receive official funding.

The most visible part of the campaign is the mosque-building boom in Baghdad. The Mother of All Battles mosque was completed on April 28 last year, Saddam's 64th birthday. Among the items on display is a large plaque, at least 10ft long, bearing his signature.

A stone tablet carries his address to the nation when the war with Iran ended in 1988, after eight years of fighting. "Oh brave Iraqis, sons of our immortal Arab nation, oh you brave men in the armed forces, this day is the day of days," said Saddam. The conflict was a costly stalemate that claimed one million lives and gained Iraq nothing.

Another tablet depicts Saddam's words at the outset of his next military adventure. As the allied ground attack began in 1991, he told Iraqis: "Oh God, open everything to our hearts and our vision." Four days later, his army was hurled out of Kuwait.

The mosque shamelessly mixes Islam with Saddam's personality cult and the glorification of warfare. But some interpret its message differently.

Jassam Mohammed al-Jibori, the ulema who leads afternoon prayers, said: "President Saddam Hussein is a real Muslim. He looks for peace. He wants peace. He is a symbol of peace. God is the most powerful and, with His blessing, the Iraqi people will defend their president and sacrifice themselves. They will sacrifice more for him even than the army."

A few miles away, the second-largest mosque in the world, after Mecca, is under construction. A vast skeleton of arches rises among a tangle of cranes, surrounded by the chaotic jumble of an immense building site.

The dome of the Grand Saddam mosque will be the size of a football field. It will rise from the centre of an artificial lake in the shape of the Arab world, from Iraq to Morocco, and four large towers at each corner of the lake will house an Islamic university. Those, at least, were Saddam's original plans when he appointed himself chief engineer and launched the scheme in 1994.

Eight years later, the Baghdad skyline is dominated by an incomplete shell, formed by a circle of eight arches. There is little visible activity on the building site and the cranes are usually stationary.

While Iraq's hospitals and schools fall apart, grandiose projects still capture the imagination of the leader. But as the prospect of an American-led war looms closer, Saddam's most visible legacy to Iraq might be the shell of an unaffordable, half-built mosque.

The Mother of All Battles mosque . . . ROFL . . this is a freakin' riot ! Saddom and Osama seeking to claim credit for who looses worse.

Saddom: I suck so bad, I purged my border with Iran kicking off an 8 year long war that cost close to a million souls on both sides.

Osama: I suck so bad, I can barely convince mentaly deranged and overtly depressed jihadists to blow up inosent people.

Saddom: I suck so bad, I couldn't occupy a small defencless country for more than a few months.

Osama: I suck so bad, I can't find a host government to even admit they know my name.

Saddom: I suck so bad, I brought pain and pestulance to not only MY people, but people of the entire region, setting the example for all future tyranical dictators to aspire to.

Osama: I suck so bad, My own country of birth (Yemen) allows predetor drones to hunt my fellow mentaly deranged and overtly depressed jihadists.

Saddom: I built The Mother of All Battles mosque.

Osama: OK, you got me. That's really lame.

Here's what is actually being said in the Mosque -- what did you expect?

The following Friday sermon was delivered in 'The Mother of All Battles' mosque in Baghdad and was broadcasted on Iraqi television. While the preacher, Dr. Sheikh Bakr Abed Al-Razzaq Al-Samaraai, focused on religious edicts relevant to the month of Ramadan, a significant portion of his sermon also dealt with Iraq's political situation.[1] The following are excerpts from the sermon:

Who Does Bush, the Little Dwarf, Think He is to Threaten the Descendants of Muhammad?
"…Brothers, today more than ever before, we need the grace of Jihad of the soul… particularly in this difficult hour in which the Islamic nation [is] experiencing, an hour in which it faces the challenge of [forces] of disbelief of infidels, Jews, crusaders, Americans and Britons. They challenge Allah, His Book, His Prophet, they challenge you the believers. They believe that their castles will protect them from Allah. They think that with their bombs, planes, missiles and advanced [weapons] they will scare us. By Allah, no!!! You [the West] are the real terrorists. We will scare you with the help of Allah. We stand strong; Allah will not allow the infidels to overcome the believers. Who are you, Oh foreigners. Who are you, Oh descendents of pigs and apes, to scare Muhammad, who is supported by Allah, as well as by Gabriel and the [other] Angels…??? Who are you, anyway, Bush [you] little dwarf to threaten Muhammad and his descendents!!?? We challenge you with our words, before challenging you with our weapons. Who are you to threaten us, our feelings and our holy places??!!."

Jihad is Now a Personal Obligation of Every Muslim (Fardh 'Ayn)
"We know and believe, Oh Allah, that these hardships are a test for us and for our patience. We tell you, Oh Allah, that we are patient… and we will fight them with all kinds of weapons. Jihad, Jihad, Jihad, Jihad. Oh nation of the Koran, the nation of Muhammad, Oh Muslims: Jihad for the cause of Allah, and for defending Muhammad's holiness [sic]. Whoever does not defend Muhammad and the Koran, will not smell the aroma of paradise forever. What is the meaning of this peaceful slumber? What is the meaning of this numbness? What is the meaning of these hollow statements that do not rise to the level of the needed responsibility? Today, after the capture of Jerusalem, and after the infidels defiled the Arabian Peninsula and are threatening Arabs and Muslims, the holy places, and especially Iraq - Jihad has become an obligation of every individual Muslim [Fardh 'Ayn]. Anyone who does not comply, will find himself lost in [hell], side by side with Haman, Pharaoh and their soldiers. These are not just words of a sermon delivered from the pulpit of a mosque with enthusiasm, they are religious law. Ask the jurisprudents, if you don't know that."

Welcome Death, Welcome Martyrdom
"[The Americans] do not scare even one baby in the nation of Muhammad… We challenge the infidels with [our] faith… Who are you, Oh criminal [i.e. President Bush]? Who are you, Oh infidels, to threaten us? We are the believers; we are the believers in the power of Allah. Allah is truth, The Prophet is truth, and Islam is truth. I confess that there no G-d but Allah, and that Muhammad is His Prophet… Welcome death, welcome martyrdom for the cause for Allah…"

The Month of Ramadan - The Month of Victory
"You the patient, Oh [sons] of the Iraqi people, you the patient, Oh [sons] of the Iraqi people; you are the warriors of Jihad, you are Allah's chosen… I pray to Allah at this blessed hour and in this blessed day that He turns the month of Ramadan into a month of victory… We call upon You in the name of Your Beloved, the Prophet Muhammad, to make this land secure… and a trap for the enemies…"

Bush! Allah Will Settle His Account With You
"Oh Allah, let the infidels fight each other, and dry their blood in their veins. Send Your soldiers against them; Allah, shake the ground under their feet; Allah, destroy their fleet and their weapons; fight their soldiers; Allah, and plant fear in them; Oh Allah, confuse their words; Allah, make them prey to the Muslims; Allah avenge Muslims' blood from them… Oh Allah, reduce the word of the infidels, and heighten the word of the believers. Oh Allah, raise the banner of monotheism, raise the slogan of monotheism… 'Allah Akbar' to the criminals; 'Allah Akbar' to America, 'Allah Akbar' to Britain… Oh Allah do not let the Jews or the crusaders overcome the Muslims… Allah, help the Jihad warriors everywhere… Oh Allah, for Thee we fight, we kill and are killed. Allah will settle His account with you, Bush! Allah will settle His account with you, Ariel Sharon; Allah will settle His account with you, Britons! Allah will settle His account with you, enemies of Allah… Our dead for the cause of Allah are Shuhada [martyrs] in paradise, while their dead are in hell…"

"Allah, support the leader of the monotheists, the President, the Jihad warrior in the victorious- with the help of Allah- Saddam Hussein… [Allah] hold his hand towards a crushing victory, that will realize the Muslims' might; Oh Allah, protect him on his left and his right, from above and bellow, from behind him and at his front."

[1] Iraqi TV, November 8, 2002.

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