http://www.wokr13.tv/news/national/story.aspx?content_id=422B960A-26BA-4891-9E60-21C8818788D4 Ex-Marine Says Public Version of Saddam Capture Fiction United Press International A former U.S. Marine who participated in capturing ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said the public version of his capture was fabricated. Ex-Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh, of Lebanese descent, was quoted in the Saudi daily al-Medina Wednesday as saying Saddam was actually captured Friday, Dec. 12, 2003, and not the day after, as announced by the U.S. Army. "I was among the 20-man unit, including eight of Arab descent, who searched for Saddam for three days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced," Abou Rabeh said. "We captured him after fierce resistance during which a Marine of Sudanese origin was killed," he said. He said Saddam himself fired at them with a gun from the window of a room on the second floor. Then they shouted at him in Arabic: "You have to surrender. ... There is no point in resisting." "Later on, a military production team fabricated the film of Saddam's capture in a hole, which was in fact a deserted well," Abou Rabeh said. Abou Rabeh was interviewed in Lebanon
I agree with Mulder that at this point its mostly academic in terms of US affairs but this could further hurt US credibility in the Arab World at a time when we're staking our future security on shepherding Arab democracy. The other problem with this is why haven't we heard Saddam mentioning this in his trial? If stuff like this has been edited out of testimony then few will believe he is getting a fair trial. Of course there's a high possibility this isn't true and Saddam was captured the way the US military portrayed. The sad truth is that there's been so much confusion and rumor coming out of Iraq everything has to be taken with skeptically.
What is the point of changing the story of how he was captured? Is it less impressive that the US grabbed him from a house than a hole? I don't get it.
Speculating, but I would imagine at the time the Pentagon was thinking that if they make it look like he was weak and just hiding for his dear life like a rat, then it would, supposedly, sap the motivation of the insurgency by making their theoretical leader look weak and helpless. Otherwise, if you say we took him and everybody went down in a blaze of glory, it has the opposite effect and rallies nationalistic/ethnic sentiment to an extent. The insurgency got much worse after he was captured so obviously in the end it made very little difference, if this is actually true.
That's exactly it. Think of how many times you heard Cheney or someone else from the Admin. talk about pulling Saddam from his spider hole as a sign of weakness and cowardice.
The insurgency has almost nothing to do with Iraq. Look how indiscriminately the insurgents kill Iraqis. The insurgency is about being anti-American. Whatever happened to the story circulating that it wasn't even the Americans that captured Saddam.. except as another staged event? It was Kurds as I recall.
If you can name one country that could do what we did in Iraq without insurgents fighting back, I'll believe you.
Propaganda ops in the midst of a guerella war? duh? I guess we shoulda issued a headline: Glorious Saddam Holds Out Fiercely Against The Infidel Crusaders
Can you convince me that the bulk of the insurgents are not either former Baathists or Republican Guards or jihadist mercenaries? Aren't the insurgents made up of those who lost privilege when Saddam was ousted or murderous mercenaries who are mostly non-Iraqi?
This image is from snopes. It says they have no reason to question its authenticity. Given that he looked like that while he was being examined for lice, he looked like his ass was pulled out of a hole.
lots of people think that the video was fabricated...though for what purpose??? .... to make him look like a scared rat??? he already was seen as a a-hole what difference does it make how he was caught???
Al-Medina...um...this is a newspaper in Saudi Arabia, guys. Home of such stories as, "9/11 was a Jewish Conspiracy" and "American CIA atacked itself in order to blame Arabs" and the old traditional favorite, which appears from time to time "Passover matza made from ground bones of Gentile Babies."
