Free Republic

A number-crunching Iranian sports official claimed Iran did in fact beat its arch-enemy the United States at the Athens Olympics, even if the Americans won 103 medals compared to the Islamic republic's six. AFP/File Photo "Iran won one medal for every 6.2 athletes sent to Athens, while the United States won one medal for 13.8 athletes," the head of Iran's Physical Education Organisation Mohsen Mehralizadeh told the Etemad newspaper. According to his calculations, Turkey won one medal per 12.8 athletes, Britain got a medal for 11.8 athletes and Japan got one for 12.2 athletes. "Therefore," the official asserted, "of the...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Iraq's former information minister said Wednesday that ousted President Saddam Hussein made tactical errors in his fight against U.S.-led forces. Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who drew international attention during the war for making obviously absurd claims of Iraqi military victories, criticized Saddam's decision to divide Iraq into four military zones five days before the war. ''It (the decision) was a direct mistake of the president and the leadership,'' al-Sahhaf said on Abu Dhabi Television. That ''led to fatal mistakes.'' He complained that the zones were placed under the control of civilians, including Saddam's younger son...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iraq's former information minister, who gained notoriety during the war for wildly implausible claims of victory, surfaced yesterday and said he was given bad information by his sources. Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf had denied that U.S. tanks were in Baghdad even as television pictures showed them in the capital. "There is no presence of American infidels in the city of Baghdad," al-Sahhaf asserted outside the Palestine Hotel on April 7. Baghdad fell April 9. Al-Sahhaf, who dropped from sight after the war, surfaced with interviews with the Al-Arabiya satellite network and Abu Dhabi television. He did...

Paper to Switch to All-Whopper Format In a move seemingly designed to rock the journalism world, former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf was named executive editor of The New York Times today after the surprisingly brief seven-hour tenure of interim editor Joseph Lelyveld. Mr. al-Sahaf, who had been serving as the spokesman for media giant AOL-Time Warner, said he welcomed the challenges ahead in his new post at the Times. “Much as I loved working at AOL-Time Warner, I was bored,” Mr. al-Sahaf said. “That company is such a well-oiled machine, there just wasn’t much for me to do.”...

http://www.theinformationminister.com/ Check this site out it let you make your own Iraqi Information Minister Press Conference!

The All Time Greats -- (From Iraq Info Minister) "There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!" "My feelings - as usual - we will slaughter them all" "Our initial assessment is that they will all die" "I blame Al-Jazeera - they are marketing for the Americans!" "God will roast their stomachs in hell at the hands of Iraqis." "We have destroyed 2 tanks, fighter planes, 2 helicopters and their shovels - We have driven them back." "They're coming to surrender or be burned in their tanks." "No I am not scared and neither should you be!" "We are not...

THE BEST OF 'COMICAL ALI' Dubbed Chemical Ali by some British newspapers, the Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf has become a cult figure for his colourful language and wild claims. With a grinning face and wild gesticulations, he is the man charged with giving the Iraqi side of the story. Here are a selection of some of his quotes: "We will push those crooks, those mercenaries back into the swamp" - Al-Sahhaf makes his debut as the Coalition launches its first bombing raids. On an air attack on Najaf: "What they say about a breakthrough [in Najaf] is completely...

WASHINGTON, April 8 — When they hand out all the medals for the Iraq war, I hope they save one for the best press secretary. I’ve got someone special in mind. Torie Clarke? Nope. Ari Fleischer? Try again. NO, THE BEST P.R. flak, the guy who gave the best quotes, who used the most illustrious picture words and the snappiest action words, who encapsulated the day’s action and message into simple pithy sentences was ... drum roll, please … Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf. He’s the mother of all press secretaries. From “Today, the tide has turned, we are...

Would Journalists have “embedded” Themselves in Hitler’s Bunker in 1945? It is very obvious that the regime of Iraq will use journalists as human shields, and use the occupancy or housing of journalists in the same way they use mosques, schools and hospitals, in the same manner the regime uses their own citizens. Would this be a surprise to these journalists? They did not, do not, expect that? Obviously, they must not be covering the war at all if this is a surprise to them. And so, what are they doing there, in a building with the Iraqi Information Minister?...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 7 — In the deepest penetration yet into the Iraqi capital, U.S. forces seized one of Saddam Hussein’s presidential palaces in a show of force designed to prove the coalition could enter Baghdad with impunity. But at least eight U.S. troops were reported killed, while Baghdad’s hospitals were inundated with dead and injured Iraqis, underscoring the heightened danger of urban warfare. Meantime, Iraq’s information minister insisted the coalition advance it was an illusion. “There is no presence of American infidels in the city of Baghdad at all,” Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf said, standing on a Baghdad rooftop as...

On the Batchelor and Alexander Radio Program on 77-WABC New York over the weekend, (before the final assualt on Baghdad begun) a guest with intelligence connections said the Ministry of Information Broadcasts are being conducted in a basement under the Baghdad Palestine hotel.I repeat this only because this is not the first time I have heard this.And it makes perfect sense.One wonders if Hanz Bliz and the United Nations Weapon Inspectors checked the Palestine Hotel.

<p>BAGHDAD, April 3 -- At 8 p.m., as a weary capital settled in for another night of explosions, electricity was cut to many of the 5 million residents, enveloping Baghdad in darkness for the first time since the concussions of U.S. bombing began two weeks ago.</p> <p>The cause of the blackout was not clear. U.S. military officials in Qatar said American planes and missiles had not targeted Baghdad's electrical grid. Neither Iraqi radio nor Iraqi television mentioned the outage, continuing almost blanket programming of patriotic music, nationalist speeches and odes to President Saddam Hussein.</p>

Fox is showing live coverage of bomgings.