We surrendered to the American demands before this started..we don't understand why the Americans are here
Posted on 10/30/2006 4:10:24 PM PST by Mr. Brightside
Saddam Accepted the American Ultimatum Before the US Invasion, According to Rights and Freedom International
Monday October 30, 4:35 pm ET
TORONTO, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- A former political adviser to Saddam Hussein's son said today that Saddam was willing to yield to all American demands before the U.S. invasion of Iraq -- but that the Bush administration refused his offers.
The disclosure was made by Hossam Shaltout, a Canadian aerospace engineer, former American pilot, and founder of the peace organization Rights and Freedom International (http://www.rightsandfreedom.com), who said that war could have been averted, but Bush aides blocked his efforts to announce Saddam's decision.
"Saddam was willing to yield to all American demands, announced and unannounced, to reach peaceful resolution," said Shaltout, "but the Bush administration, including Elizabeth Cheney, undersecretary of State, David Welch, the U.S. ambassador in Egypt, and Gene Cretz, his political attache, did not respond to his offers."
Shaltout said he was planning to fly from Amman to Baghdad to announce Saddam's decision, but the Royal Jordanian Airlines officials claimed that the US ordered the flight to leave five hours earlier causing him to miss the flight, preventing him from announcing on CNN that Saddam would bow to the Bush ultimatum. Shaltout said he traveled by road to Baghdad, delaying him almost one day, but raced to get the communique approved from Saddam to broadcast over international TV stations broadcasting from Baghdad.
Couple of hours before the expiration of the Bush ultimatum, Saddam ordered Colonel Amer, his strongman, to facilitate Shaltout's broadcast of the communique. Colonel Amer ordered Allaa Mecky, the head of the Iraqi Channel 2 television, to accompany Shaltout and help him broadcast the communique."
It was very late at night and CNN in Baghdad was closed. So they went to al-Jazeera, and Shaltout told al-Jazeera Washington correspondent Hafez Almirazy on the air that he had the Iraqi government's official reply to the Bush ultimatum. Moments after Mirazy asked him for a brief, the plug was pulled on the transmission. Shaltout has a copy of that interrupted broadcast.
Shaltout said that when the Americans arrived in Baghdad, he offered his assistance to U.S. military officials. Instead he was arrested by Marines who went to his hotel suite taking his documents. Shaltout has the videotape of his arrest, and several supporting documents.
And Saddam's sons are in no position to refute these stories.
Most definitely. It didn't get a lot of traction for the simple reason that if you're going to do this sort of thing you do so loudly and publicly, not privately to the first foreigner to give you an ear. It isn't the sort of thing that Bush or anyone else could "block."
Saddam could have avoided going to the MSM to get his important message through by calling on the phone, or sending a FAX or sending an email or sending a courier to the US Army front lines. He could have done almost anything and that would have been smarter than using Al Jazeera. He could even have flown--with his two sons--out of Iraq; he could have driven out of Iraq in a Jeep. Any of that.
May 5, 2004
U.S. Resident Claims Torture by Troops
Washington Post
By DeNeen L. Brown
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, May 5, 2004; Page A21
TORONTO, May 4 -- A U.S. resident has alleged in a legal claim that he was tortured by U.S. troops in Iraq in April 2003 while held as a prisoner at Camp Bucca, a U.S. detention center in Umm Qasr.
... Mr. Shaltout was then interrogated and tortured on a daily basis," says the pleading. "For example, he was required to wait under the fierce southern Iraqi sun for his turn at being interrogated, and when the interrogation began, he was falsely accused of having Iraqi documents in his possession, all with a view toward extracting a confession...
The Marines refused to allow him to return to his hotel room, where he said he had hidden more than $100,000 in cash, according to the complaint, which seeks at least $350,000 in compensation."
http://www.globalissues.net/news/article1355.htm
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>>>he was required to wait under the fierce southern Iraqi sun for his turn at being interrogated<<<
That's the best he can do? Made to wait in line in the sun?
Some people need to find out what real torture is.
(yawn)
1. The UN resolutions were not negotiable.
2. Who would be stupid enough to believe Saddam would uphold his end of any deal even if they were stupid enough to accept a deal with Saddam in the first place?
My first thought also.
I just noticed on their web site that this media whore bought another famous media whore, US Newswire.
IF saddam did this he waited just a wee bit too long.
Almondjoy better take heed , He might make the same mistake.
By the way, thanks for noting the entire lie of a headline.
That's all?
He haven't heard about couple million low suit with hot coffee against McDonald's?
Dumb Bass!
This story came out just after the initial invasion and has been a monnbat talking point since. They just want to rehash to instill doubt in the voters for this election. Just anothe r DNC/MSM tactic.
IIRC, Bush's final ultimatum was that Saddam and his sons LEAVE Iraq, he didn't need Bush's approval, he just needed to leave. We killed his sons IN IRAQ. We captured him IN IRAQ. He didn't accept the ultimatum, end of discussion.
We surrendered to the American demands before this started..we don't understand why the Americans are here
Is Saddam a closet Democrat or what? So he is rewriting history to claim that he accepted the American utlimatum before the invasion. What kind of track record does he or any other dictator have in keeping their word? Did he have good intentions (a Democrat characteristic), or was he biding his time or trying to? After the fact many scenarios seem to come out of the woodwork.
This has to be a Karl Rove trick ...
This Egyption born Canadian American pilot peacenick went to Elizabeth Cheney and she turned him away ?
Now there's an unimpeachable source.
Particularly on the eve of an election.
/ sarc
Oh yeah, I would take this left wing moonbat's word over Bush's any day, riiiiiiiiight. If I were a sporting man I would wager that he doesn't know any more about what Saddam was prepared to accept than I do.
Odd coincidence how this Canadian "peace" activist just happened to choose the week before our congressional elections to go public with his 3 year old Iraqi "news" isn't it?
It's hard to tell the difference from a leftist press release and an aritcle written by the Associate Press.
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