Saddam Hussein: His Last Hours. Part 5 (final)
The article continues with a question.
Was Saddam hanged or murdered ?
Dulaimi says : The President professed the (Muslim) testimony of Faith, once...and while he was professing it the second time, his pure body dropped through that cursed hole/opening...the rope was deliberately extended, lengthened so the President falls/drops to the ground ALIVE, in order to be murdered (while making it look like death by hanging) and this is what they did. While the President was on the floor/ground, he raised his head and smiled, this is when they started first kicking him (his head)and hitting him brutally...
(my note : I am assuming this is also when they jabbed his throat with the knife as shown in the video...maybe not severing the head totally but enough...I must also mention here that Saddam Hussein's brother's head - Barzan's was totally severed from his body according to forensic reports.
And I also need to add here two things that this article does not mention :
1) I saw the uncensored video both on youtube and it was passed once only on al Jazeera. It was seen by other members of my family and friends as well. We all saw and heard the following.
While the President was proclaiming the second testimony of faith, voices erupted shouting Muqtada, Muqtada. I heard so did others...and we were not together when this happened...so it could have not been a collective hallucination. The President said with a faint smile " Heya hadhee al Marjala ya Muqtada" - is this what manhood is all about ? At this point a voice said - silence please the man is about to die.
2) the second point I wanted to make and this was not covered in the article, is that a Kuwaiti businessman offered millions of dollars to buy that rope.)
I continue...
When asked about the location/place/building where the execution/murder took place, Dulaimi says : The location chosen for the killing of the President and his aides in the "State Security/Intelligence" building had a strong symbolic meaning. Adding that this (the choice of the building) was an Iranian request made in coordination with their followers (referring to the sectarian militia's leaders and current puppet government). The killing acts took place in the 'building of the 5th unit', belonging to the FORMER Military Intelligence directorate. Dulaimi adds that this is another proof of the 'Safavid' (referring to the Iranian's regime) spirit of spiteful vengeance towards Iraq and its leadership. This '5th unit' was formerly in charge of providing the Iraqi armed forces, information about the Iranian enemy during the Iraq-Iran war. Dulaimi says that this is where the spirit of Iranian revenge was most felt - in the choice of the location, because Iraq was able to thwart, under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, the Khomeinist wave that sought to conquer Iraq and thereafter the rest of the Arab Gulf...
The author (Dulaimi) adds that the fears (of the occupiers) grew substantially after the martyrdom of President Saddam Hussein, as the people, in most parts of Iraq rose against the occupiers...even though this was blacked out in the media...and the people rose against the occupier despite the curfews and stringent security measures imposed upon them...
Al-Dulaimi concludes : At that point, the American occupier issued orders that the body of the President not be taken outside of Iraq, (as per the initial desire of the sectarian leaders). It was thus that, very late that following day, at 3.30 am in the morning, the body of President Saddam Hussein was retrieved to be buried in the place where he was born - Al Awja. (Tikrit - IRAQ).
I will stop here for the translations.
The rest of the article which consists partly of interview and extracts from the book deals with military matters, the invasion, the resistance and whether President Saddam Hussein really had a double, i.e a look alike impersonator. The answer is NO, just in case you're wondering.
I had read the following day of the President's murder, several American websites and bloggers claiming that it was not even President Saddam Hussein at the gallows but very likely his double...Americans are shameless for sure. Well, there never was a double/look alike to Saddam Hussein. Nor will there be one...
I must admit this has been one of the most difficult translations I have ever undertaken. It has totally exhausted me, emotionally. It was shocking, gruesome and painful...in short traumatic, as if I was relieving the whole episode in slow motion, all over again...I think it will take me days to recover...
Having said that, I need to draw the reader's attention to some discrepancies in the 2009 Dulaimi's version of facts that bother me enough to mention in the following lines.
It was brought to my attention that Dulaimi's testimonies or relaying of facts have changed over the years. This particularly relates to the events surrounding the arrest of President Saddam Hussein.
In a 2004 interview, Dulaimi says on behalf of President Saddam Hussein, regarding his arrest, quoting the President.
" When it is a question of making lies, they are very strong. I was sure that they were going to do everything to humiliate me in front of my people. What they showed is not other than a film of cow servant boy and bad invoice in addition. Reality it is that I was with a friend in the locality of Saleheddine. It was at the end of the day and I was reading Coran. When I rose to make the prayer, I suddenly was surprised by Americans who besieged me. I was without weapon, and could not defend myself. I was then imprisoned and I was wildly tortured during the first and the second day. But, for all to say to you, I do not know if it is my friend who betrayed me, or, if it were the subject of pressures."
In his later 2009 version, Dulaimi quotes President Saddam as saying...I am commander/leader and those (U.S) soldiers were below me. Had I fought them, they would have killed me in return and I would have forsaken leadership and people...and then he mentions about running to the shelter - the famous 'hole' of the American propaganda - only to be discovered soon after by the US occupying forces.
You will agree that this is markedly different from the 2004 version where President Saddam is quoted as saying to the effect -- had I had any weapons on me...and there was no mention at all of a shelter/bunker.
Furthermore, and as rightly pointed out to me, if Saddam Hussein's sons and grandson battled the US forces for hours, alone...and were martyred in the process, surely Saddam Hussein, their father, would have done the same if not more...
As for the betrayal. It could very well be that it was Qais Al-Namaq who betrayed him, but we will never know for sure...
The Question remains though insofar as Dulaimi is concerned, is why did he change the story from 2004 or more aptly why did he buy into the American propaganda version with the shelter/bunker/hole twist ?
But before I give my final verdict on the lawyer's performance, I have to read the book and not just the newspaper excerpts because these too can be misleading...and see for myself...
If anyone who reads this and knows Al-Dulaimi personally, please ask him -- Why ?
Was Saddam hanged or murdered ?
Dulaimi says : The President professed the (Muslim) testimony of Faith, once...and while he was professing it the second time, his pure body dropped through that cursed hole/opening...the rope was deliberately extended, lengthened so the President falls/drops to the ground ALIVE, in order to be murdered (while making it look like death by hanging) and this is what they did. While the President was on the floor/ground, he raised his head and smiled, this is when they started first kicking him (his head)and hitting him brutally...
(my note : I am assuming this is also when they jabbed his throat with the knife as shown in the video...maybe not severing the head totally but enough...I must also mention here that Saddam Hussein's brother's head - Barzan's was totally severed from his body according to forensic reports.
And I also need to add here two things that this article does not mention :
1) I saw the uncensored video both on youtube and it was passed once only on al Jazeera. It was seen by other members of my family and friends as well. We all saw and heard the following.
While the President was proclaiming the second testimony of faith, voices erupted shouting Muqtada, Muqtada. I heard so did others...and we were not together when this happened...so it could have not been a collective hallucination. The President said with a faint smile " Heya hadhee al Marjala ya Muqtada" - is this what manhood is all about ? At this point a voice said - silence please the man is about to die.
2) the second point I wanted to make and this was not covered in the article, is that a Kuwaiti businessman offered millions of dollars to buy that rope.)
I continue...
When asked about the location/place/building where the execution/murder took place, Dulaimi says : The location chosen for the killing of the President and his aides in the "State Security/Intelligence" building had a strong symbolic meaning. Adding that this (the choice of the building) was an Iranian request made in coordination with their followers (referring to the sectarian militia's leaders and current puppet government). The killing acts took place in the 'building of the 5th unit', belonging to the FORMER Military Intelligence directorate. Dulaimi adds that this is another proof of the 'Safavid' (referring to the Iranian's regime) spirit of spiteful vengeance towards Iraq and its leadership. This '5th unit' was formerly in charge of providing the Iraqi armed forces, information about the Iranian enemy during the Iraq-Iran war. Dulaimi says that this is where the spirit of Iranian revenge was most felt - in the choice of the location, because Iraq was able to thwart, under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, the Khomeinist wave that sought to conquer Iraq and thereafter the rest of the Arab Gulf...
The author (Dulaimi) adds that the fears (of the occupiers) grew substantially after the martyrdom of President Saddam Hussein, as the people, in most parts of Iraq rose against the occupiers...even though this was blacked out in the media...and the people rose against the occupier despite the curfews and stringent security measures imposed upon them...
Al-Dulaimi concludes : At that point, the American occupier issued orders that the body of the President not be taken outside of Iraq, (as per the initial desire of the sectarian leaders). It was thus that, very late that following day, at 3.30 am in the morning, the body of President Saddam Hussein was retrieved to be buried in the place where he was born - Al Awja. (Tikrit - IRAQ).
I will stop here for the translations.
The rest of the article which consists partly of interview and extracts from the book deals with military matters, the invasion, the resistance and whether President Saddam Hussein really had a double, i.e a look alike impersonator. The answer is NO, just in case you're wondering.
I had read the following day of the President's murder, several American websites and bloggers claiming that it was not even President Saddam Hussein at the gallows but very likely his double...Americans are shameless for sure. Well, there never was a double/look alike to Saddam Hussein. Nor will there be one...
I must admit this has been one of the most difficult translations I have ever undertaken. It has totally exhausted me, emotionally. It was shocking, gruesome and painful...in short traumatic, as if I was relieving the whole episode in slow motion, all over again...I think it will take me days to recover...
Having said that, I need to draw the reader's attention to some discrepancies in the 2009 Dulaimi's version of facts that bother me enough to mention in the following lines.
It was brought to my attention that Dulaimi's testimonies or relaying of facts have changed over the years. This particularly relates to the events surrounding the arrest of President Saddam Hussein.
In a 2004 interview, Dulaimi says on behalf of President Saddam Hussein, regarding his arrest, quoting the President.
" When it is a question of making lies, they are very strong. I was sure that they were going to do everything to humiliate me in front of my people. What they showed is not other than a film of cow servant boy and bad invoice in addition. Reality it is that I was with a friend in the locality of Saleheddine. It was at the end of the day and I was reading Coran. When I rose to make the prayer, I suddenly was surprised by Americans who besieged me. I was without weapon, and could not defend myself. I was then imprisoned and I was wildly tortured during the first and the second day. But, for all to say to you, I do not know if it is my friend who betrayed me, or, if it were the subject of pressures."
In his later 2009 version, Dulaimi quotes President Saddam as saying...I am commander/leader and those (U.S) soldiers were below me. Had I fought them, they would have killed me in return and I would have forsaken leadership and people...and then he mentions about running to the shelter - the famous 'hole' of the American propaganda - only to be discovered soon after by the US occupying forces.
You will agree that this is markedly different from the 2004 version where President Saddam is quoted as saying to the effect -- had I had any weapons on me...and there was no mention at all of a shelter/bunker.
Furthermore, and as rightly pointed out to me, if Saddam Hussein's sons and grandson battled the US forces for hours, alone...and were martyred in the process, surely Saddam Hussein, their father, would have done the same if not more...
As for the betrayal. It could very well be that it was Qais Al-Namaq who betrayed him, but we will never know for sure...
The Question remains though insofar as Dulaimi is concerned, is why did he change the story from 2004 or more aptly why did he buy into the American propaganda version with the shelter/bunker/hole twist ?
But before I give my final verdict on the lawyer's performance, I have to read the book and not just the newspaper excerpts because these too can be misleading...and see for myself...
If anyone who reads this and knows Al-Dulaimi personally, please ask him -- Why ?
