Initial Report of USMC Kill of General "Chemical Ali", Saddam's Cousin Near an-Nasireyeh

al-Jazeera Russian language page (unconfirmed) ^ | 31 March 2003 | al Jazeera Russina language page (unconfirmed)

[AmericanInTokyo]

10:35 a.m. Monday US Time

UNCONFIRMED but initial report:

According to the Russian language site of "al Jazeera" (www.aljazeera.ru), they claim just now that "Chemical Ali", the feared cousin of Saddam Hussein, was killed this morning in Ashtent (Shatra?) north of an-Nasiriyah. Here is the flash news dispatch, below.

We would need a Freeper with good Russian skills to go to the original Russian at www.aljazeera.ru to check it. Also, it could be disinformation, saying he is killed in order to create confusion. But the twitch in my left foot tells me that the US Marines got this key Iraqi commander this a.m., and other one in charge of the Southern Front, today. Let's see:

Babelfish Translation:

"31.03.2003/ Americans do attack An-nasirih; Cousin of Hussein. Today early in the morning US Marines attacked the village of ASh-tent, arranged/located to the north from An-Nasiriyah. As a result of the assault two members of the command of the armed forces of Iraq in the region were killed. General Ali Khasan al-Madjid - cousin of Saddam Hussein, heroically perished, and one of the commanders-in-chief by forces at the southern front. The officers OF THE USA, which led assault, stated that information about the presence in ASh-tent of Iraqi command they obtained from the representatives of oppositional To Saddam of motions. (Note: One assumes they mean US forces learned the whereabouts of Ali due to anti-Saddam forces' intelligence).

Attack was achieved with the support of bombers, helicopters, tanks and artillery. As Reuters correspondent, who accompanies the American armed forces, reported, the aircraft OF THE USA with the high accuracy accomplished the bombardment 4- X of targets/purposes in the ASh-tent. Only after this troops entered into the village. At the same time, the central command of coalition troops on the base ace -Se1li4 in catarrh declared today about the detection in An-nasirii adaptations for the protection from the chemical weaponry. British soldier found in the house, where Iraqi soldiers dwelt. In the official statement of general staff of coalition forces to be indicated that were discovered more than 300 special suits, which shield from the chemical weaponry, are more than 300 balloons with the poison gas, packings with the atropine and Alininom. In other building British marines revealed/detected, as it is asserted in the statement, 800 projectiles RPG and more than 15 thousand cartridges for the automatic weapons and another type of firearm, 300 mortar and hundreds of artillery shells.It follows from the same document that the Americans killed not less than 100 iraki, but 50 took into custody."

[End of Translation Russsian to English]

[AmericanInTokyo]

Comments? There were reports of the Marines hitting this town, but this is the first report of a 'kill', and if true, a significant 'kill' indeed.

This cat has nine lives, though. Need confirmation.

[denydenydeny]

It's both al-Jazeera and Russian. Two big red flags.

Hope to hell it's true, though.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Wow. One can only hope and pray this is true. Who knows? Surely our guys will report and we will learn from Centcom if true??? If false, if a fake, if a ruse - don't worry. We will GET this butcher.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Re: this unconfirmed report, you mean 'one red crescent and one red flag'.

At any rate, al Jazeera is slanted, but they are not 100% innaccurate. Interestingly, they mention a Reuters reporter. Perhaps this could be confirmed through Reuters soon, or there will be a Pentagon briefing?

[patton]

Hmmm...

[Richard Axtell]

The Fox report I last heard mentioned dozens of Iraqis captured, and many others killed. "Chemical Ali" was mentioned as the prime target of the raid.

[agenda_express]

Well, the Reuters reporter was embedded with them...

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_766088.html

[Gamecock]

FOX reported rumors of this on FOX and Friends this AM.

[kesg]

It's both al-Jazeera and Russian. Two big red flags.

Hope to hell it's true, though.

It may be true. This type of news is not something that they would publish if it wasn't true. On the other hand, they are so disconnected from reality that I would still require corroboration from a reliable source.

Nevertheless, the thought of Chemical Ali now sleeping with the camels, courtesy of the USMC, is way cool. It would be even better if we can capture him alive, show his a$$ on television, interrogate him, and then turn him over to the Kurds for further handling.

[MizSterious]

Hopeful ping--how was it that they killed Dracula? Maybe we'd better do the same--this guy keeps turning up alive...

[blastdad51]

I'll believe he's dead when I see his corpse being dragged behind a humvee!

[American in Israel]

...are more than 300 balloons with the poison gas,

The term 'baloons' is used for pressure tanks in the Middle East. Propane tanks are called baloons over here. If this is saying what I think it is saying the search for WMD has just succeded.

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Here's hoping that this "Ali" has once again become "Clay."

[AmericanInTokyo]

won't we all!?

[CodeJockey]

Excellent news if true.

If we have snuffed "Chemical Ali" we can move on to "Biological Omar" and "Nuclear Mohammed"

[Semper Paratus]

What a day, Chemical Ali, Whoraldo, and Benedict Arnett.

[twigs]

My take on Al Jazeera is that they don't air false news, just slanted news. They pick and choose what enables their cause. I can't think of why they would want to broadcast this if it wasn't true. They have been enjoying publishing the failures of coalition forces, not the successes. That would make me think that there could be something to this. Thanks for posting.

[Semper Paratus]

If we have snuffed "Chemical Ali" we can move on to "Biological Omar" and "Nuclear Mohammed"

Don't forget that hunny-bunny "Dr. Germ".

[Catspaw]

Boy, I hope we can confirm this asap. Getting him alive would've been better (for the intel), but dead would be just dandy.

If they found some of the bio/chem weapons, it finally proves that the Iraqis are damnable liars.

[rolling_stone]

What a day, Chemical Ali, Whoraldo, and Benedict Arnett.

Osama is feeling ignored these days....

[CFC__VRWC]

At any rate, al Jazeera is slanted, but they are not 100% innaccurate. Interestingly, they mention a Reuters reporter. Perhaps this could be confirmed through Reuters soon, or there will be a Pentagon briefing?

Russia, AlJazeera and Reuters - talk about the trifecta of zero credibility. My first thought was and remains that Chemical Ali was popped by Saddam for other reasons, and that this is misinformation. And that is assuming this report is even true as to his being dead - this would be the second time it has been reported that this guy is cavorting with his virgins (he was thought to have died in the opening missile attack on Saddam's bunker, IIRC).

Bottom line - I'll believe this one when I see it from a credible source.

[prairiebreeze]

Osama is feeling ignored these days....

It's been amazing to me that old "I really love to be in front of the camera" Osama has kept his head down and profile low.

Makes a person wonder about his state of health. heh

Prairie

[Dog Gone]

Reuters says this:

HUNTING "CHEMICAL ALI"

U.S. troops raced toward Baghdad early in the war, but left behind towns where Iraqi paramilitaries have tried to disrupt supply lines that stretch up to 235 miles from Kuwait.

Some U.S. units have now turned back south to try to quell the resistance, which has proved stronger than some commanders expected. Marines who had been heading north toward Kut and Baghdad retraced their steps on Monday and raided the town of Shatra north of the key city of Nassiriya.

Reuters correspondent Sean Maguire, traveling with the Marines, said they were targeting Iraqi officials commanding lightly armed forces which have attacked U.S. supply convoys.

Among those sought in Shatra was Ali Hassan al-Majid, or "Chemical Ali," who is commanding the southern sector.

Majid, a feared cousin of Saddam, earned his nickname for overseeing the use of poison gas against Kurds in 1988.

[Salvation]

For later confirmation.

[scouse]

Yesterday the British commandos reported they had captured about six high ranking Iraqi officers, one of whom was a General. A Brit' officer made the statement that the General was being "Very politely interrogated". Later the British government issued a statement saying that the story of the capture of General was a mistake. Gives one food for thought.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Any word when the Reuters guy filed his story?

This may not work, but here is the Russian: (if it doesn't work, need some help with HTML to post it so a Russian reader can clarify).

31.03.2003/ Àìåðèêàíöû àòàêóþò àí-Íàñèðèþ – ïîãèá äâîþðîäíûé áðàò Õóñåéíà Ñåãîäíÿ ðàíî óòðîì ìîðñêàÿ ïåõîòà ÑØÀ àòàêîâàëà äåðåâíþ àø-Øàòðà, ðàñïîëîæåííóþ ê ñåâåðó îò àí-Íàñèðèè.  ðåçóëüòàòå øòóðìà áûëè óáèòû äâîå ÷ëåíîâ êîìàíäîâàíèÿ âîîðóæåííûõ ñèë Èðàêà â ðåãèîíå. Ãåðîéñêè ïîãèá ãåíåðàë Àëè Õàñàí àëü-Ìàäæèä - äâîþðîäíûé áðàò Ñàääàìà Õóñåéíà è îäèí èç êîìàíäóþùèõ âîéñêàìè íà þæíîì ôðîíòå. Îôèöåðû ÂÑ ÑØÀ, ðóêîâîäèâøèå øòóðìîì, çàÿâèëè, ÷òî èíôîðìàöèþ î íàëè÷èè â àø-Øàòðå èðàêñêîãî êîìàíäîâàíèÿ îíè ïîëó÷èëè îò ïðåäñòàâèòåëåé îïïîçèöèîííûõ Ñàääàìó äâèæåíèé. Àòàêà îñóùåñòâëÿëàñü ïðè ïîääåðæêå áîìáàðäèðîâùèêîâ, âåðòîëåòîâ, òàíêîâ è àðòèëëåðèè. Êàê ñîîáùèë êîððåñïîíäåíò Ðåéòåð, ñîïðîâîæäàþùèé àìåðèêàíñêèå âîîðóæåííûå ñèëû, ñàìîëåòû ÑØÀ ñ âûñîêîé òî÷íîñòüþ îñóùåñòâèëè áîìáàðäèðîâêó 4-õ öåëåé â àø-Øàòðå. Òîëüêî ïîñëå ýòîãî âîéñêà âîøëè â äåðåâíþ. Íàðÿäó ñ ýòèì, öåíòðàëüíîå êîìàíäîâàíèå êîàëèöèîííûõ âîéñê íà áàçå àñ-Ñåéëèÿ â Êàòàðå îáúÿâèëî ñåãîäíÿ îá îáíàðóæåíèè â àí-Íàñèðèè ïðèñïîñîáëåíèé äëÿ çàùèòû îò õèìè÷åñêîãî îðóæèÿ. Èõ íàøåë ñîëäàò ÂÑ Âåëèêîáðèòàíèè â äîìå, ãäå îáèòàëè èðàêñêèå âîåííîñëóæàùèå.

[EggsAckley]

Not only Osama; Kim Jong mentallyIl seems to be MIA. Probably feeling ignored.

[EggsAckley]

YIKES!

[js1138]

I thought this happened during the first few days. Odd that he keeps getting killed over and over again. Maybe a wooden stake and some garlic.

[Just mythoughts]

Don't have a clue if there is any truth to it but the Russians would probably be the first to know, as it has been reported earlier that there were Russian advisors in Iraq.

We may even have a few of them as POW's and it has not been reported yet.

Time will tell if "Chemical Ali" was nailed.

[AmericanInTokyo]

'Yikes' as in 'wow if confirmed!' or 'yikes' as in 'headache from reading that terrible text font just posted' ?

[Dog Gone]

Well, the Reuters story is the latest at their website. It's dated Mon March 31, 2003 10:43 AM ET

[Mr_Magoo]

We would need a Freeper with good Russian skills to go to the original Russian at www.aljazeera.ru to check it.

*PING*

[RonF]

That privilege belongs to the survivors of his Kurdish victims.

[Coop]

My Russian is admittedly rusty, but it certainly seems they are unambiguously reporting Chemical Ali as killed as a result of a raid.

Whether I believe Al Jazeera or not is another story.

[GraniteStateConservative]

General Ali Khasan al-Madjid - cousin of Saddam Hussein, heroically perished

One of Satan's heroes, no doubt.

[js1138]

All your balloons are belong to U.S.

Seriously, how would the know immediately that the containers are poison gas? We've been led to dry holes a number of times recently.

[Spunky]

Chemical Ali looks to me like the guy who was on the video they tried to say was Saddam after the first bombings.

Any one have a picture of that supposed Saddam? If so post the two side by side?

Chemical Ali

[walden]

Bump for an answer!

[dinasour]

I may be wrong, but MadIvan might speak Russian. I think I recall him translating something previously.

Ping Ivan, Help request from the FR translation department.

FRegards Al.

[cookcounty]

He "heroically perished?" Does Aljazeera actually use language like that? I don't think I'll ever understand muslims. If you hate america, rape, torture and mass-murder are all fine. These folk are sick.

[GraniteStateConservative]

When it comes to targets, it's an embarrassment of riches. So many pieces of sh!t, so little time to dispose of them.

[Maringa]

Maybe the Al Jazeera bozo's are admitting that chemical Ali was killed, but rather than say he was killed in Saddam's bunker the first night of the war, it is more heroic that he dies in battle. So they drag out his mangled corpse from the bunker and drop him off at a battle scene with a pistol in his hand and a white bandana on his head - martyr looking! Same thing could happen to Saddam. They probably have his frozen body ready to be exploited at a battle scene, made to look like he was fighting to the end. I would keep my eye or mind open for this kind of stuff.

[AmericanInTokyo]

It's been done before.

An interesting angle. I am sure our people there have picked up eyewitness reports or perhaps even radio communication of the 'living' Ali, I believe, and zeroed in on him. Even if the aljazeera.ru report is not true, but if the guy is still in the area, I don't think he is going to get far, and he must feel real 'swell' that there are informers dealing with the infidels all around him.

[struwwelpeter]

31.03.2003/ Amerikantsy atakuyut an-Nasiriyu - pogib dvoyurodniy brat Khuseyna segodnya rano utrom morskaya perkhota SShA atakovala derevnyu ash-Shatra, raspolozhennuyu k severu ot an-Nasirii. V rezul'tate shturma byli ubity dvoe chlenov komandovaniya vooruzhennykh sil Iraka v regione. Geroyskiy pogib general ali Khasan al'-Madzhid - dvoyurodniy brat Saddama Khuseyna i odin iz komanduyushchikh voyskami na yuzhom fronte. Ofitery VS SShA rukovodivshie shturmom, zayavili, chto informatsiyu o nalichii v ash-Shatre iraksogo komandovaniya oni poluchili ot predstaviteley oppositsionnykh Saddamu dvizheniy. Ataka osushchestvlyalyas' pri podderzhke bombardirovshchikov, tankov i artillerii. Kak soobshchil korrespondent Reyter, soprovozhdayushchiy amerikanskie vooruzhennye sily, samolety SShA s vysokoy tochnost'yu osushchestvili bombardirovky 4-kh tseley v ah-Shatre. Tol'ko posle ehtogo voyska voshli v derevnyu. Naryadu s ehtym, tsentral'noe komandovanie koalitsionnykh voysk na base al-Seyliya v Katare ob'yavilo segodnya ob obnaruzhenii v an-Nasirii prisposobleniy dlya zashchity ot khimicheskogo oryzhiya. Ikh nashel soldat VS Velikobritanii v dome, gde obitali voennosluzhashchie.

31.03.2003/ Amerikans atack an-Nasiria - cousin of Hussein killed. Early this morning US marines atacked the village of ash-Shatra, located to the north of an-Nasiria. As a result of the storming two regional commanders of the Iraqi armed forces will killed. (This lead to) the heroic death of General ali Khasan al-Majid - the cousin of Saddam Hussein and one of the commanders of the southern front. Officers of the US armed forces who carried out the attack declared that information about the presence in ash-Shatra of the Iraqi commander was received from representatives of the anti-Saddam movement. The attack took place with suport of bombers, tanks, and artillery. As a correspondent from Reuters accompanying the US forces reported, aircraft carried out bombing with very high accuracy against four targets in ash-Shatra. Only after this did the forces enter the village. Side by side with this, the coaltion central command from the base al-Seiliya in Qatar made a statement today about the discovery in an-Nasiria of chemical defense equipement. These were found by a British soldier in a house occupied by (the Iraqi) military.

[struwwelpeter]

At your service ;-)

[Mr_Magoo]

Thank you FRiend.

:-)

[AmericanInTokyo]

Thank you. My Babelfish translator, had the town mentioned in the Russian al-Jizz article as "Ash-tent". Your's had it as "ash-Shatra". The MSNBC story had it as "Shatra".

If one in the same, then the town is 20 miles north of an-Nasiriyeh.

I have a map for that area. The town I see in that area, at the fork in the highway, 20 miles north, is: "Ash Shatrah".

Let's see what happens on this story.

[struwwelpeter]

more than 300 balloons with the poison gas

Your translation looks good, however, balon generally means a pressurized bottle or tank, whereas shar is more commonly used for a balloon.

But I got the drift ;-)

[AmericanInTokyo]

spasibo