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March 09, 2005
More bullshit arab propaganda
This time from our friends the saudis. Drudge is linking to a UPI story of a "Marine" who is claiming that the US fabricated the capture of Saddam, that Saddam Hussein tried to fight his way out, and that he was not captured in a spider hole.
"I was among the 20-man unit, including eight of Arab descent, who searched for Saddam for three days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced," Abou Rabeh said.
He said Saddam himself fired at them with a gun from the window of a room on the second floor. Then they shouted at him in Arabic: "You have to surrender. ... There is no point in resisting."
"Later on, a military production team fabricated the film of Saddam's capture in a hole, which was in fact a deserted well," Abou Rabeh said.
Sounds like bullshit right from the start, a lebanese "Marine" quoted in a saudi paper. A brave saddam fighting back. The evil Americans tell a lie.
So. The United Press International pastes it on the front page. And, as is becoming the norm, a blogger gets the facts.
The Neoconservative notes that:
His story is a load of bull. Saddam was captured by Task Force 121, which is composed mainly of Delta Force (more information available here). No marines participated in the capture of Saddam Hussein. He's just another person looking to make a quick buck.
Neoconservative also shares a link to this post made on a popular online forum which completely debunks the whole thing:
First of all, there were no major Marine units in Iraq at the time that Saddam was captured. The last Marines to leave Iraq left at the end of September '03 (I was in the last Marine convoy to leave Iraq, trust me on this one). Marines did not re-enter Iraq en masse until January of '04.
Second, I tried searching the Marine Locator on Marine Online, this guy has no account (something that's been required for a few years now).
Third, I tried searching the Marine Corps Uniform Board tool for looking up who has been approved for a Combat Action Ribbon (something he would have received had he, you know, ever been shot at or shot at someone), his name does not show up (tool located here: https://lnweb1.manpower.usmc.mil/ma...tion.nsf/search).
Fourth, I looked up who was killed around that time here: http://icasualties.org/oif/BY_DOD.aspx and couldn't find either anyone of Sudanese descent, nor any Marines (goes back to my first point) killed around that time.
This guy is making it up.
Yes, and who could forget this (hat tip to Thumbelina at MightyRighty.com):
Samir worked with the military as an interpreter. He was at the remote farm on December 13th when U.S. forces discovered a secret hiding place. The next few minutes would feel like a lifetime for Samir.
"We saw the hole for the bunker, but it hard to believe someone live in that hole. It was really small," Samir remembers. "They shot in there and he started yelling, "Don't shoot, don't shoot, don't kill me.'" So I had to talk to him. I was the translator. I said, 'Just come out.' He kept saying, 'Don't shoot. Don't kill me.'"
I am not so sure that the motive is to make a buck, I think the motive is to denigrate the United States of America and our Military, while glorifying Saddam after his humilating capture. A motive obviously shared by our media, who ran with this story without bothering to check the facts. Shame on the UPI and 13WHAM-TV.
UPDATE: "It's not true, period," Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin.
Posted by LindaSoG at March 9, 2005 08:21 PM