Posted on 02/15/2006 8:21:56 AM PST by edpc
Five years before Osama bin Laden attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Saddam Hussein predicted that Washington, D.C. would be struck by terrorists, according to audiotapes set for broadcast tonight on ABC's "Nightline."
In an ABC Radio report to promote the show, the network's lead investigative reporter, Brian Ross, revealed that the FBI translator who leaked the tapes said they contained "damning evidence that the world should know."
In one 10-year-old recording, the Iraqi dictator is said to boast that Washington would be an easy target for a nuclear or biological weapons attack. Saddam added, however, that if such an attack should come, his regime would not be directly responsible.
In fact, Saddam's 1996 warning of a terrorist attack on Washington was followed up in Iraq's state run press with even more prescient predictions.
On July 21, 2001, less than two months before 9/11, the state-controlled Iraqi newspaper Al-Nasiriya carried a column headlined "America, An Obsession Called Osama Bin Ladin." In the piece, Baath Party writer Naeem Abd Muhalhal predicted that bin Laden would attack the U.S. "with the seriousness of the Bedouin of the desert about the way he will try to bomb the Pentagon after he destroys the White House."
In 1992, Saddam's son Uday used an editorial in Babil, the newspaper he ran, to warn of Iraqi kamikaze attacks inside America, saying, "Does the United States realize the meaning of every Iraqi becoming a missile that can cross countries and cities?" In the late 1990s, according to UPI, "a cable to Saddam from the chief of Iraqi intelligence was transmitted by Baghdad Radio. The message read, 'We will chase [Americans] to every corner at all times. No high tower of steel will protect them against the fire of truth.'"
After the 9/11 attacks, Saddam became the only world leader to offer praise for bin Laden, even as other terrorist leaders such as Yasser Arafat went out of their way to make a show of sympathy to the U.S. by donating blood for 9/11 victims.
The day after the attacks, in quotes picked up by Agence France-Press, Saddam proclaimed that "America is reaping the thorns planted by its rulers in the world."
"There is hardly a place [in the world] that does not have a memorial symbolizing the criminal actions committed by America against its natives," AFP quoted the Iraqi dictator complaining, based on reports in the Iraqi News agency.
For his part, Uday flat-out praised the 9/11 attacks, saying, "These were courageous operations carried out by young Arabs and Muslims," according to quotes picked up by the Saudi daily Asharq al-Awsat. "Nightline's" broadcast tonight will be based on 12 hours of tapes obtained by ABC News. But that's likely only the tip of the iceberg.
In his April 2005 final report on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, chief U.S. weapons inspector Charles Duelfer said he had uncovered "a large collection" of recordings of Saddam chairing his Revolutionary Command Council
This is just one more instance of information being held by the US that would justify the Administration's concerns about Iraq.
Can anyone explain why these tapes and all the translated documents are being withheld under security classifications?
"Saddam added, however, that if such an attack should come, his regime would not be directly responsible. "
The media will misrepresent this as "Iraq posed no direct threat to America."
9-11, As always, Usama had the "delivery methods" and "structural" info down pat. Saddam is a "maker" of WMD. Together they are probably the most dangerous people in the world. Going into Iraq was the right thing to do.
I still believe that Saddam was the "maker" of the anthrax...either directly or indirectly.
That mural...Was it the same as the calendars?
It's a pure guess on my part, but I suppose there is a lot of detailed information about sources and networks that may need to be investigated further. If you open them to full public scrutiny, it may jeopardize ongoing operations, as the NYT exposure of NSA survelliance may have.
You and me both. I also think some of Saddam's high-level intelligence agents provided, at a minimum, logistical support to the 9/11 terrorists, and perhaps even direct training.
The original Gulf War in '91 never really ended in Saddam's mind, and he was actively seeking revenge against us for driving him out of Kuwait for all those years afterwards.
"Saddam added, however, that if such an attack should come, his regime COULD NOT BE SEEN as directly responsible."
There, fixed it.
Thanks.
I knew it was missing something!
No. It was a painting on a large wall of planes flying into the towers with a picture of Sadsam smoking a cigar and gloating.
ping
Here's a link with picture
http://www.nationalreview.com/images/mural3.jpg
BTTT!
Thank you so much for all your hard work! I believe folks will be using your well documented list in the very near future. BTTT
In other words...
The spin will be that the Bush administration should have known what was coming.
The first place I saw that painting was on a wall in one of Saddam's palaces when they went into Bagdad and took over the palace for a headquarters.
It was there when the Army was showing the insides of the palace. It also showed the bathrooms with solid gold fixtures.
The video did not make any special effort to show the painting. It was visible when they were walking through the palace.
The documents and tapes I'm talking about were among those swept up in the various ministries of Iraq after the invasion.
There's nothing secret about those opearations or methods, it was called shock and awe. Some investigative reporter has been trying to get them declassified for years.
I am more concerned with the why than the when in this instance. The detail, specifically where the buildings were hit, seems to point to a post-attack artist rendering. However, if Saddam had noting to do with it, why would he sanction a painting (everyone knows nothing like this happened in Iraq without his knowledge and consent) showing him associated with the 9/11 attack? I'd also be interested in knowing the translation of the Arabic writing under his image.
Uday is "DU" in pig Latin.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.