Posted on 01/18/2003 12:45:51 PM PST by areafiftyone
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - President Saddam Hussein hailed worldwide anti-war demonstrations on Saturday and said the protests showed that Iraq had international support for standing up to the United States.
Saddam ordered his top officers to look after their soldiers to gain their confidence and make sure they were well-fed and kept warm as they prepared to sacrifice their blood to defend Iraq.
Tens of thousands of people took part in protests across the globe on Saturday to demand that Washington abandon likely plans to invade Iraq over alleged weapons of mass destruction.
"They are supporting you because they know that evildoers target Iraq to silence any dissenting voice to their evil and destructive policies," Saddam told senior military officers and his son Qusay, the commander of the elite Republican Guards.
A recording of the meeting was broadcast on Baghdad's state- run television.
"Iraq's cause has become clear...it simply is that Iraqis are in their country while others cross the seas to reach them and tell them 'we want to share with you your country or we want to be the masters and you the followers'," Saddam said.
"We don't need to exert ourselves to make Iraqis understand that their cause is just. They understand that their cause is just," he added.
The United States is massing tens of thousands of troops, hundreds of tanks and aircraft, and several battleships and aircraft carriers to the Gulf to be ready to launch an offensive if Iraq's fails to disarm. Baghdad denies it has any nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
The Iraqi strongman, who said on Friday that U.S. troops would be committing suicide if they tried to take Baghdad, said Iraqis would not be defeated despite the superiority in arms and technology of the American military machine.
"You, as military people, know that the battle will only be determined by armies on the ground, but despite this your enemy has the capability of harming when it uses long-distance weapons," Saddam said.
But he said Iraq would emerge victorious.
"When a people believe in the justice of its cause, it can stand fast in the face of evil, no matter what equipment or technology it has. This is the lesson that you are teaching the world now," Saddam said.
He ordered the officers to look after soldiers and keep them warm, "like you would check on your young children before going to bed and check their blankets while they are sleeping."
These people are definitely giving comfort to the enemy and trying to undermine the morale of American and British forces. I don't care what anyone says - trying to paint the Allied armed forces as "babykillers" is not on. As such, the leftists are traitors - not traitors to be executed, but certainly detained.
Regards, Ivan
But fortunately, I think the world is blessed in that few people know who Ramsey Clark is, and still fewer care.
Regards, Ivan
The left hates us but we do the right thing in spite of their anti-American protests. I doubt for a moment that this is misguided or uninformed, it's pure and simple hatred against our beloved President and all things republican.
These protesting jerks are greedy, selfish, cowards, and partisan opportunists, risking the lives of our military and our country itself for their warped, evil ignorance. I said a few choice words myself while watching some of that $#!@ this morning.
Fortunately, they also mostly understand that our cause and their cause are the same. See:
*Lightbulb*
As I sit here typing I just thought of something. This war with Iraq has the potential to be something that hasn't happened before -- something truly new, and something that the Left ought to be worried about. I mean, like really worried.
A victory in Iraq will present the United States with a huge opportunity to prove that everything the Left has asserted about our intentions and our character and the nature of the war is total lie. Have we had a chance like this before?
You might say WWII, but Left wasn't as organized and visible or as big as it is nowadays, and there was no significant protest movement, at least not like in Vietnam. So How about Vietnam Nam? Well, there was a visible protest movement, but we didn't win the war. How about the Gulf War? Well, we won decisively and liberated Kuwait, but it was so sudden that no protest movement had time to spring up.
No, this Iraq thing is a new thing, with a combination of elements that we haven't seen heretofore. We have the vile sociopath Saddam, we have an oppressed population in Iraq, we have a good-guy Texan in the Whitehouse, and we have this incredible dramatic buildup that's dragged on long enough for the Left to get up off the couch and do its protest thing. And they've cranked it up pretty good, with marches and chants and puppet shows, and Martin Sheens and Sean Penns, and Jim McDermott's and Ramsey Clarks, etc. etc. etc.
In other words the protest movement is nearing full blossom and the ideological left has committed itself fully and openly to being against this war. It has flown all its charges against America -- that we're greedy bullies just in it for the oil, etc. etc. -- on a banner for all to see.
So if we win decisively in Iraq, ridding the world of Saddam and liberating the Iraqis, and if we behave ourselves afterwords as we always have, which is as a nation full of generosity towards the defeated, then we will have proved the Left utterly wrong, for all to see, big time.
This looks like a truly unique opportunity. I hope we see more silliness from the Left, because the more they extend themselves before the war, the more egg will be on their face afterwards.
He wasn't there so his "knowledge" does not convey the message. The following is a short reminder.
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