Update: I was obviously wrong here.

I have no real evidence to back this claim. What is known, however, is that someone in Iraq's top circles must have sold out Saddam Hussein in our "decapitation attack". al-Sahaf is the Iraqi Information Minister and I happened to be watching some late night war coverage last night when I caught part of a 20 minute press conference that he led.

First, I must say, I was quite astonished that MSNBC would give an open microphone to the dissident remnants of our enemy. While it was strange to see a full-out press conference, complete with 20 news microphones, given by an Iraqi official, it was stranger given his rather temperate rhetoric. Sure, he called Bush a murderer and a criminal and denied our success stories as propoganda, but at times he seemed almost comical, mocking our technological prowess. He made no claims that Americans had killed any Iraqi civilians and, when asked, flatly stated that Iraqis had been unable to capture any American POWs. While he made repeated claims that we had wounded 207 Iraqi civilians, it never went any further than that. Where was the great Satan propoganda?

I'm not sure of the rules of war, but it also struck me as odd that this high ranking official had the courage to even hold a press conference. Did Joseph Goebbels entertain the press as the allies overtook Germany? Would he not have feared his own assasination? Especially given the disarray evident in Iraqi regime, al-Sahaf could very well be the top surviving official and here he is out in the open talking to journalists. Does this not seem surprising?

Compound this with the lack of any credible evidence that Saddam Hussein is still alive, and one becomes compelled to start drawing some conclusions. Only a very select few would have known the wherabouts of the top Iraqis last Thursday and al Sahaf is one of them. In fact, this Washington Post story relays that Iraqi State television claims that top Iraqi officials, including Sahaf, met today to discuss the war progress. Those supposedly in attendance included Saddam and his son Qusay, Yassin Ramadan, Tareq Aziz, al-Sahaf and defense minister Hashim Ahmed. Both Saddam and Qusay are known to have been targeted last Thursday and, given their absense, I assume to be dead. Nothing has been heard from Tareq Aziz and this story claims that Ramadan is dead. This leaves only al-Sahaf and Ahmed, who was televised yesterday answering questions as large blasts were heard in the background. Perhaps, being the only two confirmed alive, they have conspired together. It must have been some meeting of top officials when we've only heard from and know for sure that two are actually alive.

Only time will tell how Gulf II will be resolved. Certainly it does seem that we have made great progress and have seen little Iraqi self-destruction. Only a few oil wells have been set ablaze and we have captured wholly undamaged refinery factories. We are in the process of capturing the country intact (minus the palaces) and it just does not add up to me. If Saddam were truly in power, I would assume much different actions on their part. Instead, very little and radio silence from Saddam.

At the moment, Mohammed Saeed Al Sahaf is the face of Iraq. How is it that he and Ahmed survived the initial attack and who was the one that leaked their location to the Americans? Some might argue that if he truly aided us, then Iraq should have surrendered by now. I discount this. Instead I think a necessary amount of time would be needed to continue the ruse that Saddam is in power so that the coup leader could determine the truly loyal to Saddam and have them removed. Sahaf is one of only a select few that could pull this off. Maybe it was even his idea that Saddam tape a recording of himself the day before our attack in the event of a catastrophe.

I may be wrong, but it would be a hopeful scenario if I am right. Only someone with the title "information minister" knows the answer.

By Gary at 05:23 PM in World | Comments (0)