GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 04/10/03-Baghdad, Battle/Freedom,Terrorphilic Lawyers

DOD, Arab TV, Yahoo, AP, Reuters, and the usual suspects | 4/10/03 | Pres. Bush and the valiant US military and the The Armies of Good against the Axis of Evil

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks again Dio for posting the reality not the BS of the left wing mediots.

[Uncle Jaque]

Re: " Saddam changed the flag after the 91 gulf war to enhance his "Islamic" ties."

According to FNC last night, Saddamn added the Arabic lettering for "Allah Achbar" or "God is Good", in an attempt to rally his support from the Islamic World - despite his alleged flagrant disregard for the laws or standards of mainstream Islam.

The plain 3-starred banner is the pre-'91 version which seems to have become symbolic of "Free Iraq".

We have observed another version of the Iraqi Flag on several news images; that with a central golden "sunburst" device and no green stars.
Would anyone familiar with this distinction care to comment and enlighten us?

We do not know, but rather suspect, that posession, much less display, of any of these pre-91 flags under the Saddamned Regime was a capital offense for any hapless subject caught with one.
Perhaps one of our Iraqi-in-Exile friends could comment on that.

That picture of the Iraqi Patriot on the boom of the M-88 shows a flag that seems to have been jammed tightly into some secret niche somewhere and hidden away at it's keeper's great peril for a long time while politicians wangled and blood money changed hands, awaiting hopefully for just such an occasion.

I hope that in some Museum in Baghdad for Centuries to come, that same flag might be prominently and proudly displayed.

[yonif]

BTTT

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

You just made my day. :o)

Please know that many Americans cry with joy for the liberation of the Iraqi people. We also get emotional when we see the pictures. They are indeed beautiful...

Our troops look so comfortable holding the little children. They know that those little ones will have a better future now. Our country rejoices with the Iraqi people. You can see the PURE JOY on our troops faces, and the faces of the coalition troops as they see the joy in the faces of the liberated Iraqi people.

Our troops and those of the coalition are so awesome.

We must never forget the great sacrifices they have given and are giving for freedom (as the French and Germans have). These are still dangerous times ahead..and hopefully the liberated people of Iraq will help our young men and women be safe.

Let us all pray that the Iraqi people will now help the US find the weapons of mass destruction. That they will start helping our troops "keep the peace" in all aspects (no more looting, etc).

I hope a good interim Government can be installed very soon,.. then the Iraqi's will see that we really did only come to liberate them, and to make sure Hussein did not spread his evil around the world and to our doorstep.

I'm sure your radio station is spreading the truth!! Thank you so much for your part in getting the word out.

As we say in America.. LET FREEDOM RING!!

Vets

[dalebert]

War on Terrorism Bump!

[ppaul]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2936603.stm

Twisted hulk is Saddam's testament

By Tom Newton Dunn
In Basra

Scorched and bomb-blasted, it is one of the last pathetic defiant symbols of Saddam Hussein's sunken regime.

The Iraqi tyrant's massive presidential yacht is still afloat, and drifting aimlessly with the tide on the Shatt-al-Arab waterway beside Basra's dockyards.

Local bystanders counted 16 different bombs, shells and missiles - dropped from the air and fired from the ground - plough into it during the two-week siege of Iraq's second city.

But no matter how hard the coalition tried, they still couldn't sink it.

Nonetheless, the invaders' psychological point was well made, and the great floating hulk of twisted metal is now of use to nobody.

We persuaded local fishermen in a small dhow to take us out to the ship yesterday to take a look around.

It looked more like a smart cross-Channel ferry than a private yacht

Just the yacht's name - still visible in blue paint on its stern - together with a singed Iraqi flag hanging from a bent mast, were all that was left to identify the liner's once proud owner.

Ironically, Saddam Hussein had christened it al-Mansur, which means in Arabic, The Victor.

When it was launched in 1982, it was one of the largest and most impressive private yachts in the world.

Built by a Finnish firm, the eight-deck-tall yacht was for a long time the largest vessel in the Iraqi Navy despite having no military use.

It was designed to Saddam's personal specifications and sumptuously decorated all over in marble, exotic woods, and with silver and gold fittings.

Measuring 350ft long, the boat weighed 7,359 tons and looked more like a smart cross-Channel ferry than a private yacht.

In the yacht's middle was a broad glass atrium, under which as many as 200 guests could be seated for dinner.

Enormous bomb

But it contained just five expansive state cabins for Saddam and his family's personal use, and a secret escape route that descended down from the tyrant's own room into an underwater submarine launch pod.

The entire central section has all but disappeared where an enormous bomb tore straight through it a week ago.

A series of subsequent fires has also left much of the lesser damaged parts of the ship covered in a thick layer of black soot.

Well-polished mahogany railings lined the ship's exterior and internal passages.

And the very few panes of glass still left in the yacht's windows were all bullet-proofed.

We found a bathroom, again coated in soot, along with a bidet and a large Jacuzzi bath and rows of beauty lights surrounding a large mirror, all decorated in the style of a plush Arab hotel.

Saddam ordered the yacht to be moved under a full naval guard to Basra's inner harbour

In another larger room was an untidy heap of velvet-lined dining chairs, with the remains of a table tennis table thrown on top of them.

And through the last door we could open along the lop-sided middle deck corridor was the remains of what looked to be Saddam's private operating theatre.

Modern-looking surgical equipment, electronic scanners, packets of medicines and plastic gloves were scattered around a black leather operating table.

While the rest of Iraq suffered from a chronic shortage of medical supplies since the Gulf War in 1991, Saddam's personal on-board supplies appeared to have been unused for years.

The boat was permanently staffed by 120 military crew pulled from the ranks of Saddam's personal bodyguard force, the Special Republican Guard, who worked 24-hour standby shifts in case the leader himself decided to pay a visit.

Saddam's love for al-Mansur was proved just five days before the war began.

Despite all the other urgent war preparations, he had ordered the yacht to be moved under a full naval guard from its normal berth in the far southern port of Umm Qasr to Basra's inner harbour in a vain attempt to offer it better protection.

But the plan didn't work and no-one will use it now.

By pool reporter Tom Newton Dunn of the Daily Mirror in Basra

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2936603.stm

[Uncle Jaque]

I could swear that I saw a thread in here this Morning about -

"BAGHDAD BLUTO"
The Hammer of Iraq

But after I wrote a poem in his honor (by the desecration of an 1888 Poem, "Casey At The Bat"), I can't find it.

Did I lose it, or was it pulled, or what?

Would it be OK if I posted it here?

[Incorrigible]

That's funny! Does Registered know about that?

[HairOfTheDog]

I worry about him without his helmet on.... but I bet I understand why he took it off.

[HairOfTheDog]

The baby's OK.... But someone forgot to burp this soldier!

2J... check out the pics of the dark black smoke cloud... Some intense shots! Thanks Diogenesis.

[Marysecretary]

It's worth it all to see the expressions on the Iraqi people as they become truly liberated for the first time in many of their lives. It's a blessing from God to them. I hope they come to know that soon.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Thank you!!! I had read about Registered's Dinar making it to Baghdad but the screen capture is first I have "seen" it! BEAUTIFUL!!!!

[Mister Baredog]

Would anyone familiar with this distinction care to comment and enlighten us?

I think you're refering to the flag they were waving in the North. This is the Kurds flag, maybe it's a little like state flags, hopefully.

[tiki]

You write beautiful poetry and catch the perfect essence of the picture and the situation.

[tiki]

I see why someone wanted to find this picture. It is priceless.

[Cindy]

[Uncle Jaque]

I hereby nominate EV for the eteemed title of
POET LAUREATE
of the Free Republic!

Do we hear a "Second" to that motion?

[Diogenesis]

UPDATE -

---

FReepers, this "lady" in the middle of these Saddamites
going to Syria and Russia appears to be no lady.
The real women wear flats, and look normal, and dont carry a weapon.

What do you think?

[Kryptonite]

Looks more like a middle linebacker to me!