Michael Bluth
03-20-2003, 12:18 PM
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A subdued Saddam Hussein appeared on state-run television Thursday after the U.S. air strike on Baghdad, accusing the United States of a "shameful crime" and urging his people to "draw your sword" against the invaders.
"We will resist the invaders, and God willing, we will force them to reach the limits where they will lose their patience and thus lose the illusions they have entertained," the Iraqi president, in full military uniform, said in an address peppered with citations from the Quran.
"They will face a bitter defeat, God willing," he said. "You will be able to achieve glory and your despicable infidel enemies will be defeated."
The address was broadcast after the United States barraged Baghdad with cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs aimed at Saddam himself and other Iraqi leaders. It was not immediately clear exactly what targets were hit.
A senior Information Ministry official, Odai al-Ta'ai, said several people were injured in the al-Doura district in south Baghdad
There was no immediate way to determine whether Saddam's remarks were taped before the attack.
The Iraqi leader appeared tired, his face puffy. He wore reading glasses — something he has avoided doing in public. As he shuffled through several sheets of paper, he referred to the American president as "little, evil Bush" and condemned the United States and Britain for "shameful crimes against Iraq and humanity."
"Draw your sword and be not afraid," Saddam urged the Iraqi people. He added: "Long live jihad and long live Palestine!"
The attack came less than two hours after President Bush's deadline of 4 a.m. Baghdad time for Saddam to leave the country.
Bush emphasized that the war was not against the Iraqi people but their leadership. American messages broadcast on Iraqi airwaves to the population declared, "This is the day you have been waiting for," according to Al-Jazeera TV.
At about 5:30 a.m., air sirens blared in the Iraqi capital and yellow and white anti-aircraft tracers streaked through the sky. A number of strong explosions could be heard. Most seemed to be at locations outside the city, but one was followed by a ball of fire toward the southern part of the capital.
In Baghdad, the initial firing stopped after about 30 minutes and the capital fell still. A mosque's muezzin issued the call for dawn Islamic prayers.
Soon after, anti-aircraft fire and distant explosions broke the silence, setting off car alarms.
Allied warplanes hit targets in western Iraq, bombing at least one mobile Scud missile site.
Frequent sonic booms and the sounds of aircraft could also be heard in northern Iraq above the city of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdish autonomous enclave.
After the attack, Iraqi state radio said: "The criminals, the enemies of God, homeland and humanity, launched the aggression against our homeland and people. May God humiliate them."
Hundreds of armed members of Saddam's Baath party and security forces took up positions in Baghdad after the sirens went off. The streets were mostly empty of civilians — and of regular army troops or armor.
Many people had streamed out of the capital on Wednesday for the relative safety of the countryside. Nearly every store was shut, and many people taped their windows.
"We cry for Baghdad," said civil servant and Baghdad historian Abdel-Jabar al-Tamimi. "Tonight, we shall be awake waiting for the bombs to fall, but we will also remember that God is stronger than oppression. Wars come and go, but Baghdad will remain."
On Wednesday, Al-Shabab, which is the most-watched TV station in Iraq and is owned by Saddam's son Odai, broadcast hours of patriotic songs and extensive archive footage of Saddam greeting crowds and firing a rifle.
In the minutes after the 4 a.m. deadline expired, Iraqi TV replayed footage of a pro-Saddam march earlier in the week, with people brandishing rifles, chanting slogans and carrying pictures of the Iraqi leader.
Bahrain, a small Persian Gulf state allied with the United States, offered Saddam a haven Wednesday, the first such offer publicly extended. There was no immediate Iraqi comment on the offer.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=540&e=3&u=/ap/20030320/ap_on_re_mi_ea/war_iraq
"We will resist the invaders, and God willing, we will force them to reach the limits where they will lose their patience and thus lose the illusions they have entertained," the Iraqi president, in full military uniform, said in an address peppered with citations from the Quran.
"They will face a bitter defeat, God willing," he said. "You will be able to achieve glory and your despicable infidel enemies will be defeated."
The address was broadcast after the United States barraged Baghdad with cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs aimed at Saddam himself and other Iraqi leaders. It was not immediately clear exactly what targets were hit.
A senior Information Ministry official, Odai al-Ta'ai, said several people were injured in the al-Doura district in south Baghdad
There was no immediate way to determine whether Saddam's remarks were taped before the attack.
The Iraqi leader appeared tired, his face puffy. He wore reading glasses — something he has avoided doing in public. As he shuffled through several sheets of paper, he referred to the American president as "little, evil Bush" and condemned the United States and Britain for "shameful crimes against Iraq and humanity."
"Draw your sword and be not afraid," Saddam urged the Iraqi people. He added: "Long live jihad and long live Palestine!"
The attack came less than two hours after President Bush's deadline of 4 a.m. Baghdad time for Saddam to leave the country.
Bush emphasized that the war was not against the Iraqi people but their leadership. American messages broadcast on Iraqi airwaves to the population declared, "This is the day you have been waiting for," according to Al-Jazeera TV.
At about 5:30 a.m., air sirens blared in the Iraqi capital and yellow and white anti-aircraft tracers streaked through the sky. A number of strong explosions could be heard. Most seemed to be at locations outside the city, but one was followed by a ball of fire toward the southern part of the capital.
In Baghdad, the initial firing stopped after about 30 minutes and the capital fell still. A mosque's muezzin issued the call for dawn Islamic prayers.
Soon after, anti-aircraft fire and distant explosions broke the silence, setting off car alarms.
Allied warplanes hit targets in western Iraq, bombing at least one mobile Scud missile site.
Frequent sonic booms and the sounds of aircraft could also be heard in northern Iraq above the city of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdish autonomous enclave.
After the attack, Iraqi state radio said: "The criminals, the enemies of God, homeland and humanity, launched the aggression against our homeland and people. May God humiliate them."
Hundreds of armed members of Saddam's Baath party and security forces took up positions in Baghdad after the sirens went off. The streets were mostly empty of civilians — and of regular army troops or armor.
Many people had streamed out of the capital on Wednesday for the relative safety of the countryside. Nearly every store was shut, and many people taped their windows.
"We cry for Baghdad," said civil servant and Baghdad historian Abdel-Jabar al-Tamimi. "Tonight, we shall be awake waiting for the bombs to fall, but we will also remember that God is stronger than oppression. Wars come and go, but Baghdad will remain."
On Wednesday, Al-Shabab, which is the most-watched TV station in Iraq and is owned by Saddam's son Odai, broadcast hours of patriotic songs and extensive archive footage of Saddam greeting crowds and firing a rifle.
In the minutes after the 4 a.m. deadline expired, Iraqi TV replayed footage of a pro-Saddam march earlier in the week, with people brandishing rifles, chanting slogans and carrying pictures of the Iraqi leader.
Bahrain, a small Persian Gulf state allied with the United States, offered Saddam a haven Wednesday, the first such offer publicly extended. There was no immediate Iraqi comment on the offer.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=540&e=3&u=/ap/20030320/ap_on_re_mi_ea/war_iraq