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Sammy: Iraq Threw Only Third Of Forces Into Battle
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said a third of Iraq's armed forces have engaged in battle with the U.S.-led invasion forces so far. Brilliant! The other two thirds are sneaking up behind us, via Ecuador... Iraq will be victorious against the U.S. and British invaders, Saddam vowed in a message read out in his name on Iraqi satellite TV on Wednesday, April 2, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). Still hasn't come out, huh? Is it the weather? Wonder if he's troubled by rheumatizz these days? Or rigor mortis? In his new message to the Iraqi people, his second in days, Saddam ordered his people to "fight" the enemy. He pledged that "victory, thank God, is (near). We have only deployed a third of our army, or even less than a third." "Maybe only a sixth. Or a ninth..." "Fight them ... God will make you victorious. They are criminals, aggressors," Saddam said. "The opportunity is there today to defend religion, honor and principles in the face of the invaders," he said in his message, dated April 1 and read out by a presenter in military uniform. "They're ugly, and we don't like them. Do we?" The speech was greeted by a series of explosions shaking Baghdad during the morning as the southern, western and northwestern outskirts came under new waves of bombing. "Hey! Couldja keep it down? We're givin' a victory speech here, dammit!" On Tuesday, April 1, Saddam called for Jihad and again promised victory, in a speech delivered on Iraqi television by Information Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf. The latest call, the presenter said, was issued to salute the Iraqi armed resistance, especially near Nasiriyah, which lies on the road to Baghdad in southern Iraq. "Our family in Iraq and our courageous armed forces have been confronting the aggressions for the past 12 years," Saddam said. "You are fighting them and have held your ground all this time, inflicting, especially the 11th army, losses on the outskirts of Nasiriyah," he added. Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-04-02 |
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