April 25, 2003

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More About the "Secret Deal" for the Fall of Baghdad

I've posted several items in the last week about allegations that a secret arrangement between the US and elements of Saddam's government led to the rapid fall of Baghdad, and now the world press is taking up the story in growing numbers. Here's a sampling of the accounts that are popping up.

Express India says the Russians are speculating about it.

There's a lengthy analysis of the matter in Asia Times, whose correspondent claims that Saddam and his sons were out of the loop.

Gulf News of Dubai, conversely, claims that the deal struck by the US included safe passage for Saddam and family to a third country. I have a hard time buying the notion that Saddam would conspire in his own downfall; you?

Jalal Ghazi of Pacific News Service elaborates on the circumstantial evidence of a deal.

Elise Ackerman of the San Jose Mercury News writes that in Cairo, they think Saddam is still alive and well:

In a corner, Mustafa el-Meleyya, a 58-year-old taxi driver, snorted. ``Saddam is in Russia,'' he said. ``There was a deal between Russia and America.''

Newspapers and television stations, in particular the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera, have been feeding that speculation with unsubstantiated stories that detail the mother of all betrayals: a Russian-brokered agreement between Saddam, or perhaps a member of his inner circle, and U.S. generals, or possibly the CIA.

Al Bawaba offers a provocative backgrounder on the deal theory, which quotes a Le Monde story that names the alleged Iraqi mastermind, Republican Guard commander Maher Sufyan.

"Nobody believes he's dead": The AP on Arab-Americans' views of what happened to Saddam.

Posted by Steve Perry at April 25, 2003 05:23 PM

 

Nobody Loves Tailgunner Joe

Joe Lieberman's candidacy for the Democratic nomination is dead in the water, and the Jewish paper The Forward says it's because American Jews don't want him.

Posted by Steve Perry at April 25, 2003 04:47 PM

 

BBC Chief: The US Media Have Been Wretched

BBC director general Greg Dyke has harsh and fitting words about the American media's behavior in the war:

"We must ensure that we don't become Americanised," he said.... In his first public comments since the war, Mr Dyke said America had "no news operation strong enough or brave enough to stand up against" the White House and Pentagon. He said: "Personally, I was shocked while in the United States by how unquestioning the broadcast news media was during this war."

Mr Dyke said that since the 11 September terrorist attacks, many American networks had "wrapped themselves in the American flag and swapped impartiality for patriotism".

He said: "I think compared to the United States we see impartiality as giving a range of views, including those critical of our own Government's position. I think in the United States, particularly since 11 September, that would be seen as unpatriotic." Mr Dyke said that on a recent visit to America he was "amazed by how many people just came up to me and said they were following the war on the BBC because they no longer trusted the American electronic news media".

Read the rest.

Posted by Steve Perry at April 25, 2003 10:47 AM

 

Ha'aretz: Reading Sharon

Aluf Benn has an essay about the many faces of Ariel Sharon:

"Sharonologists" can be divided into four schools. There are those, like Shimon Peres, Amnon Mitzna and their pals who long for government, who believe "he wants to, but can't" reach an agreement with the Palestinians. Some, particularly on the left, where they are hoping for American pressure, think he "can, but doesn't want to." Then there are those, in Europe and the Arab world, who say "he doesn't want to and can't." And finally, there are those, like Sharon himself, who say he "wants to and can" - which is exactly what the right fears.

Posted by Steve Perry at April 25, 2003 10:26 AM

 

Further Shocking News About Saddam Photo

Stop it, man--you're blowin' my mind!

A reader named Dave Powers has sent this troubling note, which professes to find a fourth horseman in the Saddam/Elvis photograph we have studied at such length:

Forget the face in the flag behind elvis' butt, doesn't anyone see the face in the star in the flag behind Sadaam's backside??????

Is that GW Bush?

Well, is it?

If you click on the picture, and then click on Previous Picture, you'll see a larger version. And he's right. Oh my. Question of the Day: What does it all mean? Email me your answer: sperry@citypages.com

Posted by Steve Perry at April 25, 2003 10:08 AM

 

Scott Ritter: Galloway's a Crook--How Convenient

Scott Ritter, the outspoken former UN weapons inspector who faced a personal scandal of his own some months back, has an essay about the Galloway affair at the Guardian.

I posted about Galloway last night; for more links, scroll down to yesterday's entries.

Posted by Steve Perry at April 25, 2003 10:07 AM

 

Al-Ahram Sums It All Up for You

Once again Al-Ahram Weekly of Cairo has put together a marvelous package of stories about the status of Iraq and the region.

Indefinitely at War, or why the US is not declaring victory

Reckoning with the Shias: Ya Hussein

A Brief Window of Triumphalism: The mood round Westminster has darkened considerably since the shooting stopped

The rape of Baghdad: 'Cultural Catastrophe' Hits Iraq

Why the US Needs Syria

Arab leaders huddle to discuss the US's new foothold in the Middle East: Closing Ranks

And finally, Edward Said: What is Happening to the United States?

Posted by Steve Perry at April 25, 2003 09:01 AM

 

Where the Anti-Wars Were Wrong

A lot of us, myself included, thought that the public here at home was more stubborn in its resistance to the idea of war than it really was. The poll numbers in the weeks before the invasion showed an almost even split. But the right-wingers have been vindicated in their judgment: The main part of the shooting war was over with quickly, and everybody loves a winner.

But that goes both ways. A confused and waffling people are likely to be fickle in all their "opinions" about warmaking, and an unforeseen calamity in Iraq or elsewhere could test their dubious convictions on Bush's behalf all over again. The point is that a vast number of people are essentially fence-sitters in the whole matter, and they will tilt with the breeze. Hardly a mandate for Bush, and hardly an assurance that things will still look so sunny for him a year from now.

But in the meantime, a new poll affirms that the president is a mighty, mighty man.  

Posted by Steve Perry at April 25, 2003 08:55 AM

 

Ace: Because They Said So

Alex Cockburn on New York Times reporter Judith Miller and American journalism's finest hour.

Posted by Steve Perry at April 25, 2003 08:54 AM

 

A Flash of Bush

Reader Will Doolittle comes through on my plea for fresh Bush satire. Check out "Idiot Son" and "Dr. Bushlove" at Eric Blumrich's Bush Flash.

Posted by Steve Perry at April 25, 2003 08:54 AM

 

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