Ex-Marine Says Public Version of Saddam Capture Fiction

[G_j]

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.



Story found at:
http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news

[BattyDem]

1. Gee, I'm shocked.

:eyes:

[Bluebear]

2. Quelle surprise!

yeah it's FRENCH freepers.

[lala_rawraw]

3. Stiff drink needed n/t

[mike_c]

4. EVERYTHING they say is a lie....

Everything. The Bush administration lies "just because." It lies reflexively.

[G_j]

8. certainly true, but

the Pentagon has always been pathological about lying also.

[Toots]

42. Even "The Lump in the Bed"?

A made up love poem. Supposedly Bush* wrote it and left it on Laura's pillow. They will absolutely lie about ANYTHING. To me that one incident is most telling about all their LIES. They are driven to LIE. Everything about them is scripted even to where their feet have to be. Bush* has to be seen as a romantic hero who is saving America. That is what Republicans think they should be pictured as because those are their movie heroes. John Wayne etc. Everything is "make believe" with them. Everything.

[whistle]

5. I've been waiting for a story like this

[Richard Steele]

10. I saw this HERE somewhere a few months ago, actually.

And of course, within a few days of his capture,
alot of folks had already pointed out that the
official "spider hole" photos were BOGUS...
(and they are)

Frankly, I have ZERO evidence that the guy we have in a cell
is actually Saddam.
It is a Known FACT (admitted even by the US gov)
that he had 3 "doubles" who played his role for
him at public events....

Where are they?

And why would a man with BILLIONS of dollars stashed
in accounts all over the world...need to hide in Iraq?

[Igel]

6. Eh. It was breaking news over a year ago.

The story vanished, being mostly uncorroborated.

On one view, it must be true, because it means the US is lying.

On another view, it's a great honor saver for all involved--the valiant Arab/Muslim warrior subdued by other valiant Arab/Muslim warriors in a fierce fight. Nobody gets humiliated in a pitched fight when there's no chance of winning, and it's less humiliating to have an Muslim Arab leader surrendering to Muslim Arabs than to others.

For many, it boils down to who you think has a greater reason to lie. But that's just me being really cynical.

[moodforaday]

36. Interesting though

that it was published by UPI, which is owned by "Rev." Moon. They're not known for exposing Bush's lies.

At the same time, you're making a very good point on the face-saving angle. It's one of the things we'll probably never know.

[Cleita]

7. Yeah, some have mentioned that some of the background didn't

jive with the seasons. I guess they didn't figure that the gullible would notice.

[leftchick]

9. Just the fact the US has a "Military Production Team" says it all

Great Find G j! These fuckers in charge are the worst. :grr:

[bribri16]

11. More lies, from a lying administration. Who should ever trust us again?

[Al-CIAda]

12. What about this war or this entire administration has NOT been phonied?

Psyops on the American people -again.

[Just Me]

13. WE are more powerful than YOU, Bushco/neoCON regime!!!!

WE reject your "belief" that, WE are too stupid and ignorant and "poor" that we deserve being subjected to your "righteous" lies and manipulation and exploitation.

HOW DARE YOU TREAT YOUR OWN PEOPLE LIKE THEY ARE "MORONS"!!! HOW DARE YOU STEAL OUR POTENTIAL AND OUR TRUST TO ADVANCE YOUR FUCKED-UP "UTOPIA",...AND PROFIT OFF YOUR EXPLOITATION!!!

I don't "hate",...but, I find your abuse and betrayal and exploitation SO REPULSIVE that, I hope you are on death row for the rest of your lives,...as we anti-death penalty folks HOPE to save your suffering to the day you die.

[Old and In the Way]

14. This is why the troops can't come home.

Seriously, they are essentially quanrantined until Bush leaves office. Then, the ones remaining alive will come home and we will finally get the real story of what happened in Iraq.

I never believed Saddam down the hidey hole. I never believed that he'd allow his personal appearance to go to hell like it did. That whole production was strictly red meat for the Bushbots.

A phoney capture in a phoney war by this phoney administration.

[YankeeFan]

34. Gee, Mister...

So who were those National Guardsmen who came back from Iraq to my home State a few months ago?

When they came back in chartered busses local TV crews were all over the scene along with the local - and highly Liberal - newspapers covering the story.

Men and women who had been mobilized for about 18 months were coming home! And while they were going to go back to their normal "One Weekend a Month", they knew it was going to be a long time before they were going to be called up again.

Now if everybody who was sent over there is staying over there, then who the hell came back?

Stepford Soldiers?

[Flubadubya]

38. "Highly liberal" newspapers....

You say that with such "reverence"... :eyes:

[emdee]

15. "The Hole" story always seemed so phony....

but why - why lie about that?
emdee

[moodforaday]

37. Propaganda

Not so much for the US market as for Iraq and the whole Islamic world, to portray Saddam as a coward who'd rather hide in a hole in the ground than stand up and fight, especially at the time so many of his countrypeople were doing exactly that. Call it character assasination.

[leftchick]

39. silly, you saw how they handled the capture of the sons didn't you?

The Saddam capture had to be big made for TV news!

[MADem]

46. Because it was a psyops thing

The guy with the palaces, reduced to hiding in a hole like a rat. Yeah, that's the ticket!!!!!

They wanted to appeal to the Iraqi masses. Problem was, even though he was an asshole and a despot, he was THEIR asshole and despot. It is a strongman culture over there, if not Saddam, some tribal leader with a large following and massive clout--the tendency is to respect a tough guy, who can be compassionate, who can be mean, who is decisive, and to whom you can cede all responsibility so that you can get on with your own life. The younger generation questions this, but the old schoolers just see that as the way life is. Chimpy's crew, however, did not understand that nationalism (and no one did nationalism better than Saddam) can trump everything, especially when your life does not get better, but instead far worse, under "liberation."

Same deal with the UNDERPANTS photos--those were, of course, PLANTED. If any old reporter could get that close to Saddam in jail, or even a military member with a camera, then there is a security issue that is significant and troubling. The goal was, again, to make Saddam look small and unimportant, washing his socks in his undies, but instead, the people looked at this as UNFAIR...you don't hit even a mean, miserable bastard when he cannot hit back. Justice is one thing, gratuitous shaming of an Arab, an Iraqi, even if he is a shit, is something else entirely.

It backfired, because these people running this Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL) do not understand the culture, and they never will. They are too centered on themselves. For the Iraqis' part, they never will be convinced, like many of us, that the war was about anything other than an oil grab.

[journalist3072]

16. The Bush Crime Team not being honest?

Who knew?!

[Tahkcalb]

17. I know it's a dump but...

[Gay Green]

18. When the news first came out about Saddam's capture I swallowed the spider

hole story hook, line and sinker.

And now... how could I have been so gullible??? :banghead:

Anybody else with a brain could have easily seen how impossible it would have been for an near-elderly or elderly man like Saddam Hussein to get into that hole, let alone climb back out at gunpoint.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

19. What really surprises me is that the story didn't go like this:

This morning Saddam Hussein was captured by a lone parachuter who was dropped into a hell hole of raining bullets and artillery. As he silently crept on his belly to the well guarded barracks of Hussein, it was difficult to recognize this lone hero, face darkened with the mud and blood of war. It was no other than our brave courageous president. A bloody gun battle ensued, but in the end there were only two men standing. Beaten and humiliated Saddam...and brave George the mighty warrior. But George was faster on his feet than the old man, and soon showed him his super human strength as he pummeled Saddam with fists of iron.

That was probably the version they showed junior when they gave him his "special" newspaper.

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. my, my that IS GOOD fiction

I wish the truth was stranger than this fiction

;-)

[MADem]

47. Was he wearing his flight suit with his push up athletic supporter? n/t

[jhain]

20. YAWNNNNNNNNNN

MSN *thinks* they can win us back with belated truths.

Puh.

[psychopomp]

21. Didn't the same or a very similar story get posted on DU shortly after the

capture?

I seem to recall a marine of Lebanese extraction saying that the capture was staged and that Hussein had been found in a middle-class home surrounded by US snacks, US goods and chocolates. Really.

[tavalon]

22. That was exposed not too long after his capture

This isn't new news.

I guess it's just reconfirmation.

[skids]

23. Recycling garbage is good.

While this is an ooooold story, I think it is good to dig up these little chestnuts -- with Bush's falling approval ratings, more people are likely to listen now than back when they came out. So dig back, folks, I'm sure there are so so many.

As an aside: to me, the first obvious clue that Iraq was as much a sham as a bungle (I knew it would be a bungle before the tanks left Kuwait) was the failure of the leadership to protect the intelligence assets of Saddam's regime in the first few days. I mean, they let people loot and burn the Iraqi intelligence dossier files. I'm sure Saddam was just as paranoid about terrorist organizations as he was about political dissidents -- how many terrorist groups could have been busted based on materials in that building? I guess we'll never know. Even at the height of incompetence, no U.S. administration would have allowed this -- the only explanation was they didn't care one bit about terrorism, really, and given what we now know, probably wanted the files destroyed.

Of course, all the media seemed to care about at the time was the stolen artifacts from the museum.

[johnnydrama]

24. heard this before

Jives with the story of Jessica Lynch's heroic rescue and the bravery of the soldiers who shot their way to find her amongst a hail of bullets.

Oh wait, that's all a lie.

[newyawker99]

44. Hi johnnydrama!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[NVMojo]

25. It seems I heard something like this at the time it happened ...

wish I could remember what, where, etc...

[TexasLady]

26. This is the first I heard of it, and my DH knows

of a man from FT Hood, who had a computer that needed working on,saying that HE was one of the ones that captured Hussein, and that he bragged to my DH that he got a big promotion,and some really good bonus money for it.I remember seeing the pics of it on the guy's computer.
I wonder if that all ties in...of course the guy could be tellin' a fib, but then again.....
hmmm..

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. color me surprsied

[Desertrose]

28. What we were pretty sure of before, but good to hear it from someone there

Not surprised...the whole "Saddam in a hole" thing sounded like a fabricated story like everything else from this admin.....


Thanks G_j :hi:

:loveya: :hug:
DR

[G_j]

43. I thought the story worth noting again

though I posted a few others in the last week that I thought were more signifigant but recieved less attention.

I am working on an anti-(all)war rant...

:hi:

:loveya: :hug:

[don954]

29. i saw this in the news a while ago and it was dissed as propaganda

from the "terrorists". But now its hitting PBS news, wonders never stop. Just how deep is this rabbit hole??

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. You sure yuo want to go down

you may never come out, it is that deep.

[lumpy]

31. Spider holes

'Oh what tangled webs we weave when first we practice to deceive'.
Another staged propaganda scene perpetrated by this administration. Just as so many of us suspected.

[OneBlueSky]

33. NOTHING originating from BushCo can be considered true . . .

in fact, the opening assumption must be that whatever they're telling us about Iraq is a lie . . . their record speaks for itself . . .

[mogster]

35. "a military production team"??

Is this the same people that today works in the Pentagon Channel?

Yikes! Propaganda is so much considered an integrated part of doing war these days...

[farmbo]

40. Remember...these jerks scoff at the "Reality based community"

Remember this 2003 quote from a 'senior administration official' (Read: Karl Rove):

The aide said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''

[subchicagogal]

41. What about the story about the Kurds capturing him?

Do any of you recall the story that hit at the time of Saddam's capture that it was actually the Kurds who captured him? Here is a link to an article from the Sydney Morning Herald about it http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/21/1071941612613.html

The story also appeared in other media around that time because I remember reading about it.

Will we ever know the true story about what happened???

[MADem]

48. I remember it, and I believe that story, and here is why

The announcement was made by a Kurdish leader on Kurdish radio about a half-day before "Ladies and Gentlemen, WE GOT HIM!" was aired live around the world.

They were likely trying to pull together a really good fiction when the Kurds blew their effort. And I will betcha a donut that a lot of the public works projects going on in Kurdistan right now were funded by the cash they got at that turnover!

[subchicagogal]

52. Great point!

I wonder how much cash they got??? And, you are correct, it was made before we announced that we had him. There must have been a rush to cut a deal with them to save face -OR- the Kurds came to us and offered a trade.

[MADem]

54. The Kurds probably made the announcement to hurry the payoff

They threw down--we'll go international if you do not pony up those suitcases full of dough.

They subsequently got very coy when asked--payoff made????

Also, if you recall, when the Americans approached the farm, they observed two individuals running away, but made no attempt to stop them. Why? Those were the tip-off artists! Over here, ya dummies, OVER HERE!!!!

On edit--I think the take was either 25 or 50 million US, likely the latter...

[napi21]

45. I read this story here before too. Other than wishful thinking,

why should we believe this soldier?

Oh, I know, so many Shrub lies have been proven, this just must be another one. Yes, the TV display did olook staged, but if what this soldier is telling the true story, and there was a fierce battle, there must be many others who were there too. Where are they?

If this is the true story, will Saddam state this in his trial? Or maybe he has already and we just haven't heard!

There's just so damn much floating out there, without actual proof, I have a hard time believing ANYONE ANYMORE!

[MADem]

49. They refuse to air Saddam speaking

The few bits of video are unaccompanied by audio...supposedly to protect the judge. Yeah, right...

[Wind Dancer]

50. This info was covered in the documentary "Control Room."

http://www.controlroommovie.com/site/01.html

If you haven't had a chance to watch it, I highly recommend it.

[MADem]

55. I keep meaning to see that film n/t

[iconoclastic cat]

51. What would be the purpose of lying about that?

[spooked]

53. So Bush could say they "SMOKED HIM OUT"

It's a cowboy thing. lol

[danalytical]

56. I'm not sure I buy into this

About 6 months back there was a pciture of a US soldier holding Saddam after punching him in the face. I though I saw that guy on the news too, but can't remember. ANyway here is the snopes on it.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/saddam.asp

[crimson333]

57. Plus, I either read or saw it...

but in an interview with Saddam, he said he was in the hole, but not living in it. He was staying in the house, and he only went to the hole when soldiers were close by.