Saddam Hussein has been captured alive in his hometown of Tikrit, a member of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council said Sunday.
Council member Dara Noor al-Din told The Associated Press that the council was informed of the former dictator's capture in a telephone call from L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator for Iraq.
"Bremer has confirmed to the Governing Council that Saddam was captured in Tikrit," Noor al-Din said. "He spoke on the phone to several members, including Ahmad Chalabi."
Saddam Hussein has been captured alive in his hometown of Tikrit, a member of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council said Sunday.
Council member Dara Noor al-Din told The Associated Press that the council was informed of the former dictator's capture in a telephone call from L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator for Iraq.
"Bremer has confirmed to the Governing Council that Saddam was captured in Tikrit," Noor al-Din said. "He spoke on the phone to several members, including Ahmad Chalabi."
CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh with the 1st ID, which apparently conducted the raid on Tikrit, reported that following the last officer-only briefing, "the whiff of cigar smoke was clear and present in the area," and the reporter described that as highly unusual.
According to Jamie McIntyre, what happened is that a number of Saddam loyalists were captured in Tikrit. Nearly no resistance. He says that this is where the caution comes in, as the U.S. military is in the process of confirming that the suspect in captivity is Saddam Husssein, through DNA and as well as body scars Saddam was known to have.
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PDiddie
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 05:51 am
CNN showing Iraqis celebrating in the streets of Baghdad, for about for the past half-hour or so -- AKs fired in the air, etc.
Speculation already rampant about what this means to the resistance.
About the only thing I have heard that I can agree with is that southern Iraq will be calmer and happier about this news than the northern part of the country..
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Joe Nation
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 05:52 am
News conference MSNBC 7:00am EST USA
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PDiddie
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 06:28 am
I've seen bums on the bowery that looked better than Saddam, who was shown just now on CNN getting a doctor's exam.
Long, scraggly salt-n-pepper beard, wild hair....almost a double of Ted Kaszinski.
Beard's already been shaved.
A very unhappy-looking fellow.
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Butrflynet
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 06:36 am
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PDiddie
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 06:44 am
Great job, Butr.
Look at this one:
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Butrflynet
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 06:45 am
Just posted that one over on the US/Iraq thread.
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PDiddie
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 06:46 am
He looks like Bad Santa!
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farmerman
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 06:48 am
I am really glad that he was capturewd and alive. i also made the Ted Kazinski connection.
lets hope his capture represents a lay down of arms and getting on with the work of rebuilding..
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PDiddie
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 07:11 am
Perhaps Craven can put a red-and-white cap on him, so he more closely resembles hobitbob's avatar...
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Butrflynet
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 07:15 am
Personally, I'd rather treat it with the seriousness it deserves rather then trivialize what Saddam symbolizes.
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Phoenix32890
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 07:22 am
Butrflynet- Agree. I think that this is a turning point, both for the Iraqi people, and the coalition. I understand that December 14 has been named as Iraqi Independence Day!
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NeoGuin
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 07:23 am
NextWar Statement Due to A2K Rules on posting links to personal sites the following is posted in its entiriy
Quote:
Statement Regarding Capture of Hussein
At approximately 7:15AM, I receieved word of the capture of Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein. This should essentially mark the end of the war and, hopefully the occupation.
Of course, this poses questions on several fronts. The first is what is the future of this page? This page was designed under the idea that the Afghani attacks and the Iraq War and occupation were part of a greater "War On Terror" that I believe I and many others in the "Anti-War/Anti-Imperialist" movement saw an attempt to start a new "Cold War". I believe there is a good chance that Bush will try and take on another "Rogue State"; Syria may be the next target, so there may be life in this site yet. The expansion into a portal will continue as planned, with a launch date of January 19th 2004.
Other ideas are being considered though; a Howard Dean 'blog, a development blog for New Patriot an idea for a computer game set in a future American Revolution, or an idea for a kind of MoveOn.org for Pennsylvania.
I've had fun developing this page, and working on it has allowed me an opportunity to develop new skills; I now know the basics of CSS, and have had opportunities to learn PHP, and parlay my existing Oracle and SQL skills into MySql. I believe these skills will prove useful later on sometime.
Let me reiterate that I am pleased at the capture, but actually fear for the future of the US and perhaps the World.
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farmerman
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 07:27 am
I think all emotions are welcomed. weve just captured someone who has probably been responsible for directing the acts against our troops. It could have been years of stalemate if he continued as a 'spirit of his regime" Now hes just a another bum who will have to answer to hIS PEOPLE.
in the news briefing this AM, the Iraqi news services were questioning the provisional govt whether Saddam would be tried in IRAQ. I think we will have to do everything to make sure that this happens
AS far as the levity, we need it.
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PDiddie
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 07:36 am
Continuing reports out of Baghdad indicate that the missing WMDs were IN THE HOLE where coalition forces found Saddam, but the soldiers mistook them for a few empty whiskey bottles and a shopping cart... :wink:
By the time they returned to the hole, the WMDs had disappeared....again.
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ebrown p
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 07:48 am
Is anyone else surprised that Saddam was captured alive instead of killed. This trial is going to be an international mess.
I think that it is great news that Saddam was caught and will answer for his crimes against humanity.
But I don't think that it will help the US occupation. If the insurgency continues, and I believe it will, it will raise a whole range of new questions.
For one thing, with Saddam out of the way, it will become more and more clear that the insurgents are not fighting for Saddam. They are fighting against the occupation. The US vision for Iraq is very different from the desires of Iraqis. The US will be left with the difficult choice between letting the Iraqi's control their own destiny, or a long occupation to force Iraqi's to form a government that is acceptable to American power.
This may be a victory for the Iraqi people and for justice.
But for the occupation of Iraq, this is a very temporary victory indeed.
After a brief celebration they will wake up to the fact that there is yet more focused insurgency fighting a foreign occupation... now without the distraction of Saddam.
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edgarblythe
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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 07:52 am
Hopefully there will now be less killing there. I don't believe it will stifle the resistance, but it might.
I've seen bums on the bowery that looked better than Saddam, who was shown just now on CNN getting a doctor's exam.
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