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SADDAM AIDE SURRENDERS
April 12, 2003 10:21 AM Subscribe

SADDAM AIDE SURRENDERSSaddam Hussein's chief weapons adviser has surrendered to the US military. US officials had described Lieutenant General Amir al-Saadi as the person they most wanted to speak to about Iraq's weapons programmes. Now we will know about WMD or the integrity and effectiveness of the give-inspections-a -chance folks. Any bets to be placed?
posted by Postroad (42 comments total)

Who is this "Saddam Aide"? Some kind of soft drink? Does it vibrate?
posted by armoured-ant at 10:31 AM on April 12, 2003

Umm... I bet it doesn't change the fact that we had no evidence prior to starting a war and invading another country.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 10:35 AM on April 12, 2003

Which playing card is he?
posted by cardboard at 10:38 AM on April 12, 2003

Which playing card is he?

I think he's the pawn. No, wait. Sorry. He's Colonel Mustard. Or maybe he's their Grand Moff Tarkin...
posted by armoured-ant at 10:52 AM on April 12, 2003

My guess is that many of you (1) did not read the article (link_) and thus do not know his name, or, 2. confused Saddam aide with sodomize and lost interest when you found it was not the latter. But you are a cute crew.
posted by Postroad at 10:56 AM on April 12, 2003

forgot this from another unrelaible source:
Debka notes: Saddam's scientific adviser, General Amer Hammoudi al-Saadi, who liaised with UN weapons inspectors, surrendered to US forces in Baghdad Saturday. He is first of the 55 most wanted Iraqi leaders to turn himself in.

The general insisted Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction. Nevertheless, DEBKAfile’s sources believe Al-Saadi holds valuable information on Saddam’s forbidden weaponry. His surrender was secretly negotiated before the war"
posted by Postroad at 10:58 AM on April 12, 2003

LOL yeah I think 2 is pretty common around here
posted by stbalbach at 10:58 AM on April 12, 2003

Now we will know about WMD or the integrity and effectiveness of the give-inspections-a -chance folks.

The guy surrendered. That doesn't mean he's going to cooperate any further or tell them anything different than he's told them already. He's on one of the 'playing cards' and probably figured this was the best way to avoid having four 2000 lb bombs knocking on the front door.
posted by xiffix at 11:02 AM on April 12, 2003

DebkaFilter
posted by matteo at 11:06 AM on April 12, 2003

woohoo! another post about iraq. now we can start to have heated debates! i fully support the war, which liberated the poor people of iraq. if we hadn't invaded saddam would be killing, torturing and dismembering people every single day! for who knows how long? okay XQUZPHYR, we didn't have any proof that they were going to attack us, or anyone, but they certainly liked wasting iraqis. okay, we wasted iraqis too, but that was by accident. the iraqi gov't did it on purpose! they executed them in public and made their relatives applaud the executions! now things will change. we couldn't be as evil as the recent iraqi regime if we tried.
posted by mokey at 11:14 AM on April 12, 2003

we couldn't be as evil as the recent iraqi regime if we tried.

But try you must.
posted by spazzm at 11:20 AM on April 12, 2003

But I bet Saddam's Aide won't stop Postroad from trolling the front page with inflammatory comments about "so called" people.
posted by benjh at 11:23 AM on April 12, 2003

we couldn't be as evil as the recent iraqi regime if we tried.

If the Rule of Law is pushed down a slippery slope, does it make a noise when it hits the bottom?
posted by Armitage Shanks at 11:32 AM on April 12, 2003

News item. Guy found. He probably will talk to take a walk (lessen sentence, as is usually the case). I ask merely: will we find out about WMD (where they are) or is the claim that has been made by some that there are no WMD and hence the war using WMD as guise to enter the country. You consider that a troll? odd.
Try this: http://www.washtimes.com/national/gertz.htm
posted by Postroad at 11:34 AM on April 12, 2003

Gloatfilter.
posted by 2sheets at 11:40 AM on April 12, 2003

will we find out about WMD (where they are)

Why don't we wait and see before puntificating on the front page? We can argue all we (or you, specifically) want about whether or not weapons will be found, but until some actual news comes out, it's just pointless conjecture.

I certainly hope we find giant stockpiles of weapons all over the place, because if not we look like the world's thug for taking this country out without any real evidence.

So, to recap, find weapons: USA isn't imperialistic and the UN is weak, don't find weapons and we look like the asshole to the whole world. Is there anything else to say Postroad?
posted by mathowie at 11:46 AM on April 12, 2003

I read this article that said we might find weapons.
posted by wrench at 11:59 AM on April 12, 2003

Drudgefilter
posted by ejoey at 12:10 PM on April 12, 2003

Do you want your WMD with ketchup or mayonnaise?
posted by skellum at 12:34 PM on April 12, 2003

My guess is that ... confused Saddam aide with sodomize and lost interest when you found it was not the latter. But you are a cute crew.

Temper, temper. Here's a bet - people who trade information for protection are inherently unreliable and likely to tell you what you want to hear rather than what they really know or believe.

All in all it's just frantic scratching at the bottom of the well for any sign of this WMD crap, isn't it? I mean, before controlling the country militarily the US had all this fantastic knowledge about where all this stuff was and so on, but couldn't tell anyone. Now they're looking for people to tell them what they ostensibly already knew? What a waste of time - oh, and blood.
posted by holycola at 12:36 PM on April 12, 2003

bitchfilter
posted by angry modem at 12:48 PM on April 12, 2003

Re: Guardian Link

Secret units in desperate hunt for banned arsenal

Why does that sound like a plot summary for 2005s' biggest summer blockbuster?
posted by blue_beetle at 12:50 PM on April 12, 2003

Here's a bet - people who trade information for protection are inherently unreliable and likely to tell you what you want to hear rather than what they really know or believe.

Guardian: Saddam Hussein's senior weapons adviser has reportedly surrendered to US military authorities, insisting that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and that the US-led invasion was unjustified.

He hasn't gotten the memo yet, holycola.
posted by y2karl at 12:52 PM on April 12, 2003

I LOVE SODOMY!
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 1:01 PM on April 12, 2003

But they found one of Saddam's Love Shacks...

One of the air-brushed paintings depicted a topless blonde woman, with a green demon behind her, pointing a finger at a mythic hero. From the tip of her finger came a giant serpent, which had wrapped itself around the warrior.

Another showed a buxom woman chained to a barren desert mountain ledge, with a huge dragon diving down to kill her with sharpened talons.

Invasion on grounds of bad taste justification under development. Feverish search for paintings of Foxy Blondes On Black Velvet underway.
posted by y2karl at 1:02 PM on April 12, 2003

Feverish search for paintings of Foxy Blondes On Black Velvet underway.

is this why Karl?

I thought it was the oil.
posted by clavdivs at 1:39 PM on April 12, 2003

...confused Saddam aide with sodomize

Well, sorta. I confused it with "sodomizing aid".
posted by MrBaliHai at 1:58 PM on April 12, 2003

SodomyFilter
posted by VulcanMike at 2:27 PM on April 12, 2003

Postroad sprach: Now we will know about WMD or the integrity and effectiveness of the give-inspections-a -chance folks.

We will?

Al-Saadi told ZDF that he had no information of what happened to Saddam and said Iraq was free of weapons of mass destruction.

I don't think we will, at least not directly from Al-Saadi. At best, if he knows anything, he'll quietly tell someone in the military or intelligence and they'll "discover" them. Either that, or he's telling the truth. It's all speculation right now... speculation that'd better be right, because even though it wasn't the real reason for invading, it was the ostensible reason.

wrench dice mas:I read this article that said we might find weapons.

But not the article Postroad linked.

and finally, clavdivs and carl:
Feverish search for paintings of Foxy Blondes On Black Velvet underway.
is this why Karl? I thought it was the oil.

"Oh, did we say oil? We meant oil paintings, and bad ones, too. Art atrocities, inflicted on his own people..."
posted by namespan at 2:50 PM on April 12, 2003

How clever you guys all are. I merely posted a piece that said they have a guy who knows if there is or is not any WMD...and you take that little piece and work your wit off...now, to play your game: excuse me while I take my metamucil. Seems I am in need of unloading lots of poopie. or, if your prefer: lots of shit.
posted by Postroad at 3:14 PM on April 12, 2003

Hey, wossamatta you? We got murals of buxom foxy blondes in a 60s swinger's pad--it's not like you and Saddam have nothing in common.
posted by y2karl at 3:22 PM on April 12, 2003

Now we will know about WMD or the integrity and effectiveness of the give-inspections-a -chance folks. Any bets to be placed?

I merely posted a piece that said they have a guy who knows if there is or is not any WMD...and you take that little piece and work your wit off...

No, you merely posted a FFP about a news development that, by the not-at-all-subtle wording of your post, you are hoping and praying will lead to revelations about the "integrity" of the "give-inspections-a-chance folks", that they are, in fact, not just ignorant or gullible, but in an evil, secret alliance with the Saddamites (or sodomites, as you noted when you were getting YOUR wit off) and therefore permanently discredited, freeing you from partaking in any future debate over whether military action is wise, moral, efficient, needed or more fun than the WWE.

And now, with the subsequent semi-quote from the surrendered Saddam Aide that he had no information of what happened to Saddam and said Iraq was free of weapons of mass destruction, it appears that, for the umpteenth time since this ugliness began, the "smoking gun" discovery has turned out to be a premature ejaculation.

You know, there are medical treatments for that now.
posted by wendell at 5:20 PM on April 12, 2003

And now, with the subsequent semi-quote from the surrendered Saddam Aide that he had no information of what happened to Saddam and said Iraq was free of weapons of mass destruction, it appears that, for the umpteenth time since this ugliness began, the "smoking gun" discovery has turned out to be a premature ejaculation.

What about all the discoveries that haven't? The growing number of stories about the full depth of the cruelties Saddam and his close followers perpetrated on his citizens? The large caches of weapons starting to be uncovered in schools and residential neighborhoods? The several locations full of gas masks and atropine (at least suggesting that there were plans to use nerve agents). Of course this guy's going to say, immediately upon surrendering, that there are no WMD. What he says after he's questioned for awhile will be a different story.

Inspections are now just starting. The little parlour game Saddam played with Blix (for months) and with the UN (for years) were not inspections. What will be really interesting is the documents that start coming to light ... this one is probably only the beginning:

"Top secret documents obtained by The Telegraph in Baghdad show that Russia provided Saddam Hussein's regime with wide-ranging assistance in the months leading up to the war, including intelligence on private conversations between Tony Blair and other Western leaders.

Moscow also provided Saddam with lists of assassins available for "hits" in the West and details of arms deals to neighbouring countries. The two countries also signed agreements to share intelligence, help each other to "obtain" visas for agents to go to other countries and to exchange information on the activities of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qa'eda leader."

Wouldn't it be bizzare if WMD, and links to other Islamic terrorist organizations (alQa'eda or not) are found, and it turns out France, and Russia, and a few others arguing to "give inspections time to work" turn out to have been in full collusion with Saddam Hussain, and were exerting the full weight of political argument (and their UN vetos) to prop up a brutal dictator ... solely for the sake of their oil interests.

Yes indeedy, I think the next few months may prove extremely interesting ...
posted by MidasMulligan at 6:17 PM on April 12, 2003

loserfilter
posted by websavvy at 6:20 PM on April 12, 2003

The several locations full of gas masks and atropine (at least suggesting that there were plans to use nerve agents)

Yeah. Those fuckin' Nazis. Stockpiling things like gas masks. I bet, soon, our good ol' boys will find caches of armour, decontaminates and potassium iodate, geiger counters. God knows what else.

Obviously, these products are only ever gathered by people who have, and hide with the intention of using, Weapons of Mass Destruction. For evil. Really frigging bad evil.

Not defense. Obviously.
posted by armoured-ant at 8:22 PM on April 12, 2003

Wouldn't it be bizzare if WMD, and links to other Islamic terrorist organizations (alQa'eda or not) are found, and it turns out France, and Russia, and a few others arguing to "give inspections time to work" turn out to have been in full collusion with Saddam Hussain, and were exerting the full weight of political argument (and their UN vetos) to prop up a brutal dictator ... solely for the sake of their oil interests.

Midas, it's good of you to come back into the thread and lay down some substantial argument, and the link to the documents was interesting.

However, especially for France, it seems really hard to believe the motivation was financial. I've argued before that even if 100% of Iraq's trade was with France, based an an estimate from their 1995 relative GDPs, it wouldn't amount to a significant portion of France's trade, certainly not enough to jeoprodize relationships with their biggest trading partners -- which, outside of Germany, includes many coalition members: UK, Spain, and of course the U.S. (don't know if you can count Japan!). The U.S. was prepared to lay down $4 Billion to get Turkey's cooperation. It could have done the same with France and likely offset any financial incentives they had to cooperate with Baghdad. Not to mention offering a piece of the reconstruction pie.

But France didn't play. That says to me that either the U.S. didn't make the offer, or France has motives other than financial ones.

Russia... well, they probably simply don't like any U.S. doctrine asserting the right to remake portions of the world in their hemisphere, but with a struggling economy and the oil factor, that might really have made a big difference.
posted by namespan at 10:01 PM on April 12, 2003

Revealed: Russia spied on Blair for Saddam
posted by homunculus at 11:22 PM on April 12, 2003

Why are you posting MidasMulligan's dubious link again, homunculus?
posted by y2karl at 12:18 AM on April 13, 2003

Oops. Never mind.
posted by homunculus at 12:44 AM on April 13, 2003

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SADDAM AIDE SURRENDERS April 12, 2003 10:21 AM Subscribe

SADDAM AIDE SURRENDERS
April 12, 2003 10:21 AM Subscribe