Saddam's Hilarity Ensues

[Professor S]

I just read some excerpts from the Dan Rather interview of Saddam Hussein that airs tonight, and damned if it wasn't one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

1) When asked if Saddam will destroy the UN banned missiles found recently, Saddam said they had no missiles that defied UN regultaions.

Well lets see, Hans Blix found them, tested them, and they exceed the UN regulated limits, but of course thats just heresay to Saddam.

2) When asked if he would burn his oil fields and destroy his dams if the US attacked, he said, AND I QUOTE "Iraq does not burn its wealth or destroy its dams."

I seem to remember Iraq doing just the opposite during the Gulf war... but I'm sure anything over one month ago Saddam can't remember. After all, he gassed his own people in 1988, but also said he would never harm them either.

3) Saddam said he has respect for the American people and their opinion.

I guess all of those nationally sponsored papers calling our culture and people the Great Satan were all just good natured ribbing.

How anyone can believe a word that comes out of his mouth or any of his supporters mouth boggles the mind. He bold face lies at every turn. He has used the media and peace loving countries to his advantage and made this entire world political battle, just that... a POLITICAL BATTLE among the west. Iraq seems to be on the fringe of the situation now, when he should be the main worry. The world instead of worrying about 1,000 tons of missing WMD, banned artllery shells that carry the WMD, the missiles that exceed UN regulations, are worrying about how much power they feel the US has over them. It has become a game of one upmanship, instead of the serious business that is truly at issue here.

Saddam is laughing at all of us, and just waiting for everything to hopefully blow over. This is why I like G.W. There are a lot of politicians who would worry about opinion polls and protests by those who either don't know or don't care how dangerous Iraq is and could be to his region and beyond. he has stuck to his guns, and I admire him for that.

[DeathsHand]

While I'm no big expert on the subject, I've seen a couple programs on the gulf war recently and they said that Iraq burned KUWAIT'S oil fields... and they did it as they were retreating from the country, methinks... *shrugs*

But him saying he'd never harm his own people is weird :p

[Jason1]

And then we bush saying things like ''If we had the chance to assisinate suddam huessin, I would give it the okay'' or something like that. Thats not something the president of the United States says, wether he thinks it or not. Hes such an idiot.

[GameMaster]

I'm surprised he agreed to an interview.

(Maybe it came with a little incentive $$$)

[Joeiss]

Originally posted by DeathsHand
While I'm no big expert on the subject, I've seen a couple programs on the gulf war recently and they said that Iraq burned KUWAIT'S oil fields... and they did it as they were retreating from the country, methinks... *shrugs*



That's what i thought too.

[ZeroCool51]

Yeah he did burn Kuwaits oil fields, and in the Iraq election Saddam got a 100% of the votes that means every single person that voted cast their vote for him. I think Saddam is a psycho,and a liar so nuke him.

[Professor S]

Ok, maybe it was Kuwaits oil fields. I'm not positive about it, but if he's willing to do that, do you really put burning his own oil fields out of the possibility if he sees the end coming?

As for Bush saying he'd kill Saddam given the opportunity... GOOD. At least he's honest, unlike Saddam with his complete BS about respect the American people. If he doesn't respect his own people, why should we believe he respects us?

For those of you who believe that he seemed like a "reasonable" man during Dan Rathers softball fest of an interview, here's a brief history of Saddam:

- After a failed coupe as part of a revolutionary party (basically the hit man) he spent several years in jail studying Stalin, Hitler and other despots

- Late sixties - After Isreal made their premptive strike against several Arab nations gearing for war with them, Iraqi confidence in their leaders dwindled and Saddams party took over with his distant cousin as leader. Hussein was his right hand man and hatchet man for lack of a better term. During his tenyear as the muscleman he modernized the nation, turning shanty towns to bustling marketplaces and ramped up the Iraqi military creating a surge in National pride.* Also, during this time he staged public exocutions of "conspirators" every few months. These conspirators just happened to be mainly Iraqi Jews and Kurds. Big surpise.

He soon took power, and 5 days after he became "president" he staged a nationally televised conference with all of Iraq's most powerful leaders and opinion makers. On national television the called out the names of 250 "conspirators" who were removed from the building and never seen again.

Saddam takes a mistress. His oldest son protests and tries to kill himself. While recovering in the hospital Saddam beats his son, breaking his arm. Once his son is better, he imprisons him for 50 days and tortures him

Fast forward to the late 70's, Iraq looks to consolidate the Gulf Region and sees Iran as being the likely target to do so.* The invasion is on (yes, with the support of the US, but considering the Ayatollah had a US hostage fetish at the time thats understandable). The war did not go as planned and drug on for years.

1981 - Saddam tries to develop a Nuclear weapon to use against the Iranians. Isreal catches wind and bombs the reactor potentially saving a million lives. The war drags on. Iraq wants a cease fire, but the Ayatollah swears top destroy Iraq. One of Saddams aids recommends Saddam temprarily steps down to get the cease fire, and is immediately arrested. The aid's wife begs for her husband to be returned, and Hussein promises he will. Hussein keeps this promise. He returned her husband, chopped into small pieces in a black canvas bag.

1988 - A cease fire is finally called with the borders the same, but with each country having 500,000 less people. The Kurds who have been persecuted through much of this time choose this as a good time to rebel, and are gassed. 3,000 men women and children are killed.

With over 1,000,000 unemployed military personnel and empty coffers from a decade of war, Hussein looks to the oil rich neighbor Kuwait as a potential relief to their economic woes.

After losing the Gulf War, Iraq must agree to the terms and they do. They ignore these terms and are caught in 1998 and found guilty of developing weapons of mass destruction.

Resolution 1441, the last chance. By international law, Iraq must prove that they have destroyed their illegal weapons and are not producing them anymore. To date they have not done so and have managed to twist the burden of prooof to the UN and US, which is NOT what 1441 was written to accomplish.

*Reminiscent of Hitler

So, does he sound resonable now, or more like a hawkish Hitler wannabee with a God complexe and no respect for human life?

[TheGame]

Originally posted by Duffman
Yeah he did burn Kuwaits oil fields, and in the Iraq election Saddam got a 100% of the votes that means every single person that voted cast their vote for him. I think Saddam is a psycho,and a liar so nuke him.

lmao... that means one of two things:

1) Nobody ran aginst him

or

2) The guy who ran against him was so gutless tha he didn't even vote for himself.

[sdtPikachu]

Originally posted by Duffman
I think Saddam is a psycho,and a liar so nuke him.

You think this is a sensible argument, or are you being deliberately stupid?

The world is full of liars and psychos. IMO Blair and Bush seem to be becoming increasingly this way, but quelle suprise no-one seems to be saying that the UK and US should be nuked.

Korea admits to restarting it's "weapons of mass distraction" programme, but I don't see a huge glut of NATO crawling towards their borders.

Saddam isn't the first tinpot dictator with an ego the size of the Pacific and the possible potential to wreak havoc on other countries, and he won't be the last. The world is full of them. But for some hitherto inexplicable reason, the US (more specifically the US gov) seems to be taking an inordinate amount of attention to this particular dictator.

[Professor S]

The reason why most people are more worried about Iraq than Korea is because while Korea may be making weapons of mass destruction, Iraq is the one that has shown itself to be hawkish, militaristic and willing to use those weapons without batting an eye. Please read the brief history od Saddam Hussein I wrote above and maybe you'll have a better understanding.

I'm not defending Korea, but one ruthless dictator with WMDs at a time please:D

[gekko]

Originally posted by TheGame
lmao... that means one of two things:

1) Nobody ran aginst him

or

2) The guy who ran against him was so gutless tha he didn't even vote for himself.

No, it's dictated. No one was allowed to run against him, and anyone who did vote against him would be killed. Simple as that.

And did Iraq reach every single person to vote? No. People stuffed the ballot boxes with votes from the others in their family or tribes.

It's hardly called an election.

[Professor S]

Just saw a few pictures of anti-aircraft guns that Saddam placed on civilian buildings. Yep, he must really love his people using them as human sheilds like that. Good for him. We should let him run that country for as long as he likes.:rolleyes: