Saddam Hussein - Articles - Zimbio

Weapons of Mass Destruction… in Iraq?

Mon, 8 Jul 2008 01:35:14 GMT

posted by rightcommentary

We all remember Secretary of State Colin Powell’s address to the United Nations. To critics of the Bush Administration, this speech is nothing but lies. There were no weapons of mass destruction they said, nor the precusors of such programs. Saddam was defenseless.

Let me briefly revisit one part of Secretary Powell’s speech:

Thanks to intelligence they were provided, the inspectors recently found dramatic confirmation of these reports. When they searched the home of an Iraqi nuclear scientist, they uncovered roughly 2,000 pages of documents. You see them here being brought out of the home and placed in U.N. hands. Some of the material is classified and related to Iraq’s nuclear program.

Nuclear program. Remember that? While the Bush Administration may have exaggerated the imminency of the threat of nuclear weapons development - the fact of the matter is Saddam did have the precursors of a nuclear program and was actively working on nuclear weapons. Proof of this fact - today, the United States finally exfiltrated the enriched uranium yellowcake to Canada.

According to the Associated Press reports:

The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein’s nuclear program - a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium - reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.

The removal of 550 metric tons of “yellowcake” - the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment - was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam’s nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.

550 metric tons. To give readers some ideas of how much weight that is - it is the equivalent of 233 cars.

So while Saddam Hussein may not have had weapons of mass destruction - while Saddam may not have represented an imminent nuclear threat - it wasn’t all wrong… he did have 600 tons of yellowcake. Eventually he would have turned the yellowcake into enriched uranium.

… and given how freaked out the world is over Iran’s pathetic attempts at enrichment, just imagine where we would be if Saddam had gotten to the bomb first.

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Saddam Hussein’s Nuclear Program Was Real After All

Sat, 6 Jul 2008 09:25:51 GMT

posted by dissfunktional

The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein’s nuclear program, a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium, reached a Canadian port Saturday, July 5, 2008, to complete a secret United States operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad.

Yellowcake, which can be enriched for use in reactors and, at higher levels, nuclear weapons using sophisticated equipment, is the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment. 550 metric tons of yellowcake were just removed, bringing relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.

The removal culminated more than a year of intense diplomatic and military initiatives, kept hushed in fear of ambushes or attacks once the convoys were under way: first carrying 3,500 barrels by road to Baghdad, then on 37 military flights to the Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia and finally aboard a U.S.-flagged ship for a 8,500-mile trip to Montreal.

Earlier this year, the military withdrew four devices for controlled radiation exposure. The lead-enclosed irradiation units contain elements of high radioactivity that could be used in a weapon.

More details can be found here.

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Is Saddam Hussein Owner of Crashed UFO?

Sat, 25 May 2008 14:55:00 GMT

posted by skywatcher
“An UFO-related incident that occurred four years ago poses a troubling question whether any kind of cooperation is possible between Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and extraterrestrials,” UFOlogist Joseph Trainor declared in his review UFO Roundup (issue 51 of December 17, 2002). “On December 16, 1998, during Operation Desert Fox against Iraq, a video clip aired on CNN showed a UFO hovering over Baghdad; it moved away to avoid a stream of tracer anti-aircraft fire. At that time we all thought it was another UFO sighting, although captured on videotape. But now, ufologists think it was much more than a mere incident.” Jack Sarfatti reported that Friday evening, December 6, 2002 “someone called the Art Bell radio show, claimed his connection with the military and informed that a UFO crashed in Iraq several years ago. The USA is currently searching for any pretext to invade Iraq. In fact, the USA is motivated by the greatest fear that Saddam will reverse-engineer the crashed alien spacecraft.”
It is allegedly said that the craft crashed during the Gulf War (1990-1991), or more recently (probably in December 1998). This became some kind of Iraq’s Rosewell. The USA is currently reverse-engineering the Rosewell craft and fears that Saddam’s scientists may become even more successful than Americans in this or that sphere. It was said that these researches may give Iraq a considerable advance and even make it a leading super power.
UFO Roungup’s Arab journalists failed either to confirm or to deny these rumors. Aiasha al-Hatabi replied to Joseph Trainor that “he heard nothing about a UFO crash in Iraq.” In the words of Mohammed Daud al-Hayyat, “there are talks about extraterrestrials in Iraq, but nothing is said about any crash. It is rumored at a market in Sulaimaniya, to the south of Zarzi, that aliens are Saddam’s guests. Where do they stay then? People mention some underground base. But Saddam has a palace in this valley, an old stronghold Qalaat-e-Julundi. Earlier it belonged to the royal family. After the revolution, the government took possession of the fortress, and now, like every palace in Iraq it is “a summer residence” of Saddam Hussein. The fortress is mentioned here for a very simple reason: it is practically impossible to penetrate into it. The citadel stands on a hill surrounded with vertical precipices on three sides; the precipices plunge down to the Little Zab river. It is said that Saddam lets aliens stay there.”

After invasion in Iraq Marines See UFO in Iraq Again on 1-5-08

Beginning At the Ending

Thu, 4 Apr 2008 06:30:00 GMT

posted by sincerae
Putting up a notice for a memorial service for Saddam Hussein in Tunisia

I feel that examining Saddam Hussein’s life should begin with his death. Seeing himself, as some say, in the same league with various great and notorious leaders of old, he probably did not want to die a quiet death in advanced old age in some bed. I believe he really wanted to go dramatically and be in that special class of rulers who end up executed. His type of death would add to his remembrance.

Like me also, you probably watched the execution of Saddam Hussein on YouTube as soon as you heard it could be seen online. Like me, you probably expected that in the age of YouTube, his final moments would wind up online.

I was not excited to see Saddam’s demise, but I did want to see if he died bravely. Some news sources like CNN claimed he died with fear in his face. What I saw was an elderly man who looked tired, perhaps defeated, resigned, and perplexed. He looked around in the video before the noose was put around his neck as if he was trying to take in all he could see in his final moments on earth. I was in Turkey at the time of the execution. Turkey like Iraq is predominately Muslim, so I was told by a colleague that Saddam was saying a prayer which Muslims pray before they die.

Saddam Hussein was sentenced to hang for crimes against humanity on November 5, 2006. Saying that he was a military man and therefore viewing hanging as shameful and a means of execution reserved for common criminals, he demanded that he be shot by a firing squad. His demand was not met. He was hanged at Camp Justice or Camp Al-Adala on December 30, 2006 at 6 AM in the morning. Reactions to his execution were mixed, with some applauding it and others like The Vatican and human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemning his death on the gallows. Mass demonstrations were held in several countries in protest of the execution. President Bush for all his macho and hawkish talk shied away from viewing it.

Saddam going to the gallows. The official Iraqi government version.

******Warning this video shows the actual execution of Saddam Hussein. View with caution.******

Video of Saddam’s body in an ambulance.

Saddam’s funeral.

He's ALive!

Tue, 7 May 2008 06:00:00 GMT

posted by sincerae

I think the above clip is very funny.

The execution of Saddam Hussein was no laughing matter, however, for his supporters still inside and outside Iraq nor to his family. Going into two years after his death his first wife and first cousin Sajida and other reputed spouses have yet to come forward to tell the world how they feel about the final years of their husband’s life in captivity and as a defendant in a trial for crimes against humanity. I often wonder why this is.

Saddam’s eldest daughter Raghad did come out and make a statement shortly after his execution to a group of supporters and the media in Amman, Jordan. She lives in exile there. Her comments have been capped by the Jordanian government, however. Early on after the deaths of her brothers in 2003, she and her sister Rana were told by the Jordanian government to not make political statements. This was probably for security reasons. Jordan borders Iraq, and the population there is mostly Palestinian. Saddam was a hero in the Palestinian cause, so I am sure the Jordanians do not want to see their country disrupted by constant demonstrations and some kind of attack by the overzealous. Both sisters have both behaved themselves, though rumor has it Raghad has been given the nickname “Little Saddam.” She is said to be fiery, stubborn, resilient, and determined just like her late father.

This is Raghad below dressed in more conservative Muslim garb. I think this may have been taken about 100 days after her father's death at some religious ceremony. Raghad Saddam Hussein seems to have a penchant for changing appearances and appearing as a conservative Muslim lady at times and at others times with her head uncovered sporting what appears to be designer accessories. Her father changed "costumes" a lot too.

Raghad after her father's execution (below).

Like I promised, this blog will also present some Saddam Hussein humor, but nothing that is too disrespectful of the man. He was America’s favorite villain for over 15 years. It is time a different side of him is explored and revealed.