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Iraq
How Sammy beat the Mansour bombing...
2003-11-09
The former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein survived, according to former Iraqi officials, an American bombardment that had targeted a house he was to be meeting in with four of his associates on April 7th when he had realized that one of them leaked information about the place of the meeting just a quarter of an hour from the moment of the bombardment. A high ranking Iraqi official who fled from Iraq said that Saddam summoned "the four men" as well as his two sons Ode and Qusai, with whom he was still meeting after the beginning of the US military operations against Iraq. These officials were the second ranking official in the regime, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, defense minister Sultan Hashem Ahmad and the chairman of the intelligence department Taher Jalil al-Habbouish al-Takriti.
And which one sold him out?
The meeting was presumed to be in a Villa in al-Mansour quarters, a residential area in Baghdad, Saddam used to use for "holding meetings of such kind and to take his food meals" as it is only just few meters from al-Sa'a (clock) restaurant which is owned by the Iraqi intelligence department. Invitation was extended for the meeting to "Saddam's nephews who used to assign them, since several months, to communicate messages to his deputies in person." The Iraqi official said that "Saddam arrived on Monday afternoon in a yellow rent car and was followed by Taha Yassin Ramadan who arrived in a white rental car. Earlier, Izzat Ibrahim and Sultan Hashem arrived in the house and when the chairman of the intelligence was late in reaching the place, Saddam asked his nephew (Dr. Sabawi) if he "notified Taher about the meeting." The latter confirmed that he had actually extended the invitation to the chairman of the intelligence and then Saddam felt that he was trapped and "he left the house directly on foot and walked in the narrow routes for hundreds of meters before he took the rental car which had also Taha Yassin Ramadan."
"Hokay. See y'all later. Lemme know if Habboush shows up before the JDAMs do..."
The official said that "Saddam ever doubts Taher al-Habboush since the beginning of the bombardment operations on March 19 and therefore he considered his absence as a definite evidence on his treason." He stressed that the American forces smuggled al-Habboush together with other officials who collaborated with these forces from Baghdad immediately after they broke into it.
Posted by:Fred Pruitt

#1  Damn. Everyone was wondering if the Intel was good on that bombing, because of the damage and location. From a tactical stand-point, he just dodged a bullet.

I also wonder how much this effected him. He must have seen the crater on TV, so Sammy must be realizing that could be him in that hole. He has to be paranoid and relying on others to move him around. I doubt he's in the right state of mind anymore. Well, more than usual, anyway.
Posted by: Charles   2003-11-9 8:12:32 PM  

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