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Israel believes Saddam spoke live in morning TV broadcast
Jerusalem Post ^ | Mar. 20, 2003 | HERB KEINON

Posted on 03/20/2003 6:08:27 AM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John

Israeli Foreign Ministry experts believe that Saddam Hussein was speaking live on camera when he addressed the Iraqi nation this morning on television and radio, shortly after the US launched a war against him.

Officials at the ministry's Center for Political Studies reached this conclusion largely based on the fact that Saddam was wearing glasses, and also because the Arabic he spoke was not very sophisticated, suggesting the speech was put together on the spur of the moment.

Had the speech been staged, it is unlikely that Saddam would have been shown wearing glasses, or appearing to read his remarks rather than having them memorized, the officials said.

Saddam also appeared to be under a lot of pressure and more disorganized than usual, when he made the speech, in which he characteristically lashed out at "criminal Zionism" in addition to the United States, it was noted.

In the speech, Saddam accused the United States of committing a "shameful crime" by attacking Iraq and urged the Iraqi people to "go draw your sword" against the enemy.

"We promise you that Iraq, its leadership and its people will stand up to the evil invaders, and we will take them to such limits that they will lose their patience in achieving their plans, which are pushed by criminal Zionism," he said.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: iraq; saddamhussein
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To: Allan
As a side comment to my last post
I have heard from fairly reliable sources
that the location of any telephone
used in conversations in Middle Eastern countries
can be determined instantaneously
from within the USA.
21 posted on 03/20/2003 6:24:38 AM PST by Allan
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To: MrBambaLaMamba
Saw the clip, it looked like one of his doubles. Maybe Saddam is off visiting Osama. We can hope.

I agree MrBambaLaMamba. I think that the glasses and the beret were conspicuous attempts to limit the amount of facial, eye and hair details. Also, nothing was said that would suggest that it was in response to a direct attack on him. It was more of a canned response to a traditional wide-scale bombing attack.
22 posted on 03/20/2003 6:24:54 AM PST by AaronInCarolina
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To: maquiladora
That was just a date, first given on the Gregorian calendar, then on the Islamic calendar..."Twentieth of March, 2003 corresponding to Seventeenth of the Muharram of 1422 Hejira."
23 posted on 03/20/2003 6:25:17 AM PST by steveegg (The French have removed 1 leg from the UN; it is now LN (League of Nations).)
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To: VRWC_minion
I agree - my guess is that it was a very scared "double" forced to go on camera.
24 posted on 03/20/2003 6:25:21 AM PST by VRWCTexan
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To: Mr.Clark
Right--and one of the pundits noted there was a wavy feature to the broadcast, indicating it was a tape.
25 posted on 03/20/2003 6:25:47 AM PST by NautiNurse (Usama bin Laden has produced more tapes than Steely Dan)
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To: Trust but Verify
Yes, saw it...tape seemed to be, well, a tape. Also, never a mention of the strikes that had just occured. Something the tape did would not have occured if live according to one of Shep Smith's last reports last night.
26 posted on 03/20/2003 6:26:38 AM PST by madison46
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To: Lynne
Have they said any more than that? I hope they are right!
27 posted on 03/20/2003 6:26:44 AM PST by shattered
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To: Hatteras
If any television or radio stations are still operating in Iraq, it is because we choose to allow them to operate. Why would we do that? To entice a rat out of its hole. If we leave the rat a little soapbox to climb up on to squeek to the world, we have a better chance of drawing a bead on him.
28 posted on 03/20/2003 6:27:05 AM PST by Kevin Curry
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To: chiller; TLBSHOW
When you look at side by side photos of Saddam and last night's imposter, the diffences stand out. Use a ruler to compare the proportion between each man's eyes, then the distance from eye to top of head. There is no way that big forehead is under that hat!
29 posted on 03/20/2003 6:27:06 AM PST by myprecious
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
Also, notice "Saddam" did not mention the missle attacks. If it was live or very recent, he probably would have mocked them or something. Instead, he just criticized attacks in general.
30 posted on 03/20/2003 6:28:05 AM PST by Mr.Clark (From the darkness....I shall come)
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To: myprecious
If it was a double, why are so many people reporting that it was the real SH? Why the confusion..
31 posted on 03/20/2003 6:28:42 AM PST by shattered
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To: Dog Gone
I don't believe it was him.

The mustache was lighter, the face with thinner, the shoulders not as broad. Also, Saddam as a cleft chin and 'corn teeth'.
32 posted on 03/20/2003 6:30:02 AM PST by Hillary's Lovely Legs (Too many people around here really need Charm School.)
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To: over3Owithabrain
Live braodcasts don't have tape dropouts and tape wrinkles. This was from tape, without doubt.

I am not qualified to tell if it was SH or a double, but I am convinced it was from tape.

33 posted on 03/20/2003 6:32:42 AM PST by savedbygrace
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To: shattered
If we announce that we did get the guy the first night, then the UN whinners would demand we stop since we accomplished regime change.

On the other side, it would make it difficult to motivate their troops to keep on fighting if the threat of Saddam's revenge is removed.

Both sides have too much to loose by announcing that the snake's head is severed.

We can only hope it was accomplished.

34 posted on 03/20/2003 6:33:03 AM PST by myprecious
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To: Hillary's Lovely Legs
I don't think it was him either, but he apparently has so many doubles that I don't know if I could tell the difference. I am sure that Israeli intel knows, however, and so would the pentagon.
35 posted on 03/20/2003 6:33:25 AM PST by GWfan
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To: UncleSamUSA
Even a double would have reason to be scared to assume the identyy of Saddam. Whether or not it really was Sadamm or his double, they equally have reason to fear for their life.
36 posted on 03/20/2003 6:33:55 AM PST by rstevens
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
I thought it was fairly easy for our techs to examine the broadcast and determine that it was videotape.

Live or tape, real or fake, it's all just a shell game. Unless 'Saddam' appeared on screen with a new edition of a newspaper, or describing very recent events beyond his control, the address proves nothing.

37 posted on 03/20/2003 6:34:50 AM PST by Petronski (I'm not always cranky.)
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To: Mr.Clark
Betcha we got him but not the kids. Aziz is probably toast as well as the other major players. The kids both look like not ready for prime time players and will fold soon. Putting one of the doubles up there like a confused uncle would fit their mo in my opinion.
38 posted on 03/20/2003 6:36:19 AM PST by Thebaddog (woof)
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To: CindyDawg
Did any of yall hear what sounded like a gun shot during this speech?

I did. Wondered who was being assasinated.

39 posted on 03/20/2003 6:36:29 AM PST by Krodg
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To: Trust but Verify
FR threads on Saddam speech:

http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/869554/posts

http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/869575/posts

40 posted on 03/20/2003 6:36:42 AM PST by Anomaly in Illinois ( "If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism; if you steal from many, it's research(never forget)
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