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OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOM
Saddam
'injured'
Witnesses reportedly saw Hussein
carried out on stretcher after strike
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: March 21, 2003
2:25 p.m. Eastern
? 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
U.S. intelligence officials believe Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was hurt ? if not killed ? during the first coalition airstrike in Baghdad.
Officials told ABC News that witnesses observed the dictator being carried out on a stretcher from the bombed residential complex with an oxygen mask over his face.
An official told Sky News Saddam was believed to be "at least injured because medical attention was urgently summoned on his behalf."
A U.S. official told The Washington Times last night that there is no doubt that Saddam was meeting with top Iraqi leaders, including military commanders and his two sons, Uday and Qusai, in the building that was struck by two bombs from an Air Force F-117 stealth fighter in the first "decapitation attack."
"The preponderance of the evidence is he was there when the building blew up," a senior member of the Bush administration told the Washington Post.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters at a press conference today the strike was "no doubt successful" but he didn't know whether Saddam Hussein remained in control of Iraq.
"I hear scraps of information," Rumsfeld responded when asked whether the leadership of Iraq had changed hands, "And you can be certain if I had sufficient number of scraps that it began to make a persuasive case, that I would opine on it."
There are intelligence reports that Saddam's elder son, Uday, was killed. The condition of his other son and the others in the compound is unknown.
State-run Iraqi television broadcast a taped message from Saddam hours after the bombing. The Iraqi leader wore reading glasses and read from a prepared text urging Iraqis to resist the invaders and draw their swords.
Saddam Hussein giving televised speech
"The criminal little Bush has committed a crime against humanity," Hussein said. "Let the arrogance be debased. Long live Iraq, long live jihad, long live Palestine."
The White House reported expert analysis of the tape concluded it was Saddam, but they suspect the tape may have been recorded prior to the attack.
"The CIA's assessment of the tape is that it does appear to be the voice of Saddam, but there is no conclusive evidence about whether that was taped before or after the operation began," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
There have been no further broadcasts of Saddam, and U.S. officials note there has been a significant lack of communication from the Iraqi leader to his government and military structure since the bombing.
In the first official Iraqi response to the invasion, Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said this morning that Saddam had survived the airstrikes against his home.
"They are safe," said Sahaf, who proceeded to call President George W. Bush the "leader of the international criminal gang of bastards."
A final determination on the Husseins' fate may not be forthcoming anytime soon. The New York Times quotes one U.S. officials as saying, "It may take days to sift through it all."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOM
Saddam
'injured'
Witnesses reportedly saw Hussein
carried out on stretcher after strike
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: March 21, 2003
2:25 p.m. Eastern
? 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
U.S. intelligence officials believe Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was hurt ? if not killed ? during the first coalition airstrike in Baghdad.
Officials told ABC News that witnesses observed the dictator being carried out on a stretcher from the bombed residential complex with an oxygen mask over his face.
An official told Sky News Saddam was believed to be "at least injured because medical attention was urgently summoned on his behalf."
A U.S. official told The Washington Times last night that there is no doubt that Saddam was meeting with top Iraqi leaders, including military commanders and his two sons, Uday and Qusai, in the building that was struck by two bombs from an Air Force F-117 stealth fighter in the first "decapitation attack."
"The preponderance of the evidence is he was there when the building blew up," a senior member of the Bush administration told the Washington Post.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters at a press conference today the strike was "no doubt successful" but he didn't know whether Saddam Hussein remained in control of Iraq.
"I hear scraps of information," Rumsfeld responded when asked whether the leadership of Iraq had changed hands, "And you can be certain if I had sufficient number of scraps that it began to make a persuasive case, that I would opine on it."
There are intelligence reports that Saddam's elder son, Uday, was killed. The condition of his other son and the others in the compound is unknown.
State-run Iraqi television broadcast a taped message from Saddam hours after the bombing. The Iraqi leader wore reading glasses and read from a prepared text urging Iraqis to resist the invaders and draw their swords.
Saddam Hussein giving televised speech
"The criminal little Bush has committed a crime against humanity," Hussein said. "Let the arrogance be debased. Long live Iraq, long live jihad, long live Palestine."
The White House reported expert analysis of the tape concluded it was Saddam, but they suspect the tape may have been recorded prior to the attack.
"The CIA's assessment of the tape is that it does appear to be the voice of Saddam, but there is no conclusive evidence about whether that was taped before or after the operation began," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
There have been no further broadcasts of Saddam, and U.S. officials note there has been a significant lack of communication from the Iraqi leader to his government and military structure since the bombing.
In the first official Iraqi response to the invasion, Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said this morning that Saddam had survived the airstrikes against his home.
"They are safe," said Sahaf, who proceeded to call President George W. Bush the "leader of the international criminal gang of bastards."
A final determination on the Husseins' fate may not be forthcoming anytime soon. The New York Times quotes one U.S. officials as saying, "It may take days to sift through it all."
