Saddam says victory at hand against U.S. occupation

[Barrett808]

Saddam says victory at hand against U.S. occupation
By Suleiman al Khalidi

AMMAN (Reuters) - In an open letter, Saddam Hussein told Iraqis "victory was at hand" and urged insurgents to show magnanimity to opponents, saying he himself forgave Iraqis who aided the killers of his two sons.

In the letter dictated to his chief lawyer Khalil Dulaimi during a four-hour meeting on Saturday in his prison, the former Iraqi leader also said Iraqis should put aside differences and set only one goal - to drive U.S. troops out of Iraq.

"Victory is at hand but don't forget that your near-term goal is confined to liberating your country from the forces of occupation," Saddam said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Sunday.

Dulaimi said the letter was written days before the court trying Saddam over the killing of 148 Shi'ite men from the town of Dujail in the 1980s is due to meet on Monday to review witness testimony.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061015/ts_nm/iraq_saddam_letter_dc

[yourout]

1. No matter what......... Saddam can NEVER be free again.

He needs to go quietly into the night like Noriega.

[Veronica.Franco]

2. Send him back to Iraq with Rumsfeld ... they'd make a great team ...

Let the Iraqis sort it out there ... !!

[daleo]

3. Perhaps Bush, Rummy and Saddam could all share a cell. n/t

[rodeodance]

4. This will make BushCO bunker down ever more!

[ECH1969]

5. I wonder how long till the insurgents find a way to break him out?

[junior college]

6. my guess is any day now n/t

[DavidDvorkin]

8. Or he dies suddenly

Of natural causes, of course.

Or as a side effect of a coup by a strongman of his own type.

[slaveplanet]

7. Wow, Isn't this a bit like

Hitler making similar statements 3 1/2 years into ww2?

Only difference is, Hitler wasn't in custody for much of that time, unlike Saddam...That and the fact that Saddams words may have a hint of truth to them, unlike Hitler's.

[mc jazz]

9. he's trying to help

he's saying stop fighting each other
he has a plan for iraq so could have a political role to play
has it reached a point where even the Shites and Kurds would listen to him?
he is a man brought low and in captivity, awaiting death I do not know how that would make me feel if I had been oppressed by him
he could lend the government some legitimacy

[ovidsen]

10. Let Saudia Arabia have him. Good enough for Idi Amin

I've given this a little thought

Saddam's as crazy as they come. Crazy like a fox sometimes, but crazy. He could be acting out some megalomaniac whim, or he might be rallying his remaining Baathists just to annoy the US. He's an asshat and probably a psycho, and a lot of people want him dead, but I don't.

It's not just that I dislike capital punishment. It's that if Saddam's executed, he'll be made into some kind of martyr. Not that a lot of Muslims would swear vengeance, but enough might to make life difficult for saner people in Iraq and here.

So find him guilty, and exile him to Saudia Arabia. Move him into the McMansion in Jeddah that Idi Amin vacated when he died 2 years ago. President for life of Uganda Amin was the rather violent ruler who fled his country 27 years back for Libya when he saw that he was toast. The Ugandan government wanted him returned so it could put him to death. But the Saudis decided they wanted him, and their argument prevailed. They promised to keep this Muslim-born fugitive comfortably under wraps and out of sight forever. This way he could never be used as a martyr, or a scapegoat or (worst of all) to shame Islam. And that's what happened. His dying wish was to go home. Nope.

So send Saddam there. After his trial, of course. Considering that the old boy was reportedly quite the party animal and worse, I'd feel that justice would be served if he lived for the next 25 years or so under the constant gaze of vigilant Wahhabi baby sitters who will stone him if he watches the wrong TV show, reads the wrong book or even thinks about booze and virgins. Heh heh.