Al Douri, a voice from Saddam regime, supposedly surfaces

[Barrett808]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

Al Douri, a voice from Saddam regime, supposedly surfaces
By Nancy A. Youssef and Sahar Issa | McClatchy Newspapers

BAGHDAD — Izzat Ibrahim al Douri, Iraq's former military commander and vice president who has eluded capture since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, released a purported audio message for the first time since the fall of the regime, telling President Bush this would be a "decisive year "and vowing to continue fighting American forces.

Al Douri, who became the leader of the Baath Party after Saddam's execution in December 2006, told Bush that "the Iraqi people will fight you until doomsday." He also told the president to withdrawal troops from Iraq and to reveal the true U.S. troop death toll, suggesting the U.S. military was withholding information.

He also criticized firebrand cleric Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army and al Qaida, and said the Americans should not ignore "the resistance."

Since 2003, there have been several unconfirmed reports about his death and capture, leading some Iraqis to believe he is dead. But he has reportedly given several interviews, most recently to an Egyptian newspaper last month. There is a $10 million bounty for his capture.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/44299.html

[Doctor_J]

1. Better put him on trial - McSame's poll numbers need help

:eyes:

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. They won't catch him

More and more it seems that al-Douri was Saddam's real enforcer, and perhaps the real force that kept Saddam in power.

This guy is baaaaad ass.

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. People might laugh about Ibrahim al-Douri

But this guy basically orchestrated the Sunni insurgency in Iraq beginning in 2003. He developed a guerilla movement that stymied the greatest military power on Earth for the better part of four years, which is shocking from both a military and organizational perspective. The notion that most of the insurgency was "al-Qaeda in Iraq" run by whatever laundry list of "leaders" that organization managed to promote is a joke, and everybody knows it. The Sunni insurgency was tribal/Baathist in its essence, and it was largely coordinated by Ibrahim al-Douri. He's speaking now because his power is on the wane, where the tribal chiefs saw bigger payouts coming from the Americans through the so-called Awakening Councils. The Awakening Councils are the Sunni insurgency repackaged for extortion; al-Douri is seeing all his good organizational work being turned against its purpose, so he's speaking up now. But he's likely broke, so the Sahwa groups will stick with the cash cow until that's no longer viable.

[Doctor_J]

4. I thought Sunnis were AlQaeda - i. e. ANTI-Saddam

No? :shrug:

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. Huh?

No. Saddam Hussein was a Sunni. He ran the state as a Sunni apartheid state, oppressing the Shiites.

The supposed "al-Qaeda in Iraq" is also Sunni, but they were the least important Sunni insurgency group in the country, is the point. The real Sunni insurgency was a coalition between Sunni tribes and elements of the old Baathist party structure, which was itself Sunni, of course.

If Saddam didn't like al-Qaeda, it's because he viewed any religious extremist groups as a threat to his power, and because his putative political philosophy was basically secular/socialist, despite the appeals to Islamic doctrine that are necessary for any Middle eastern government. al Qaeda scared the shit out of Saddam, but they were all Sunni.

[Xithras]

8. There are four types of groups in Iraq today.

1. The Shiite militias of al Sadr. They're unrelated to AQ, Saddam, or anybody else for that matter. They exist, primarily, to ensure that the Shiites don't end up subservient again.

2. Al Queda in Iraq. Sunni, but allied primarily to the Saudi schools. AQ in Iraq tends to pull off the occasional spectacular car bombing or blow up a bridge, but they don't do much else over there. AQ exists in Iraq primarily as a PR thing for their organization, so they can exploit donations and supplies from Muslims elsewhere in the world. They do incredible damage when they strike, but they don't do so often. When you hear about those huge bombings that kill 50+ people, those are AQ. The thing is, AQ isn't interested in governing Iraq or in making it free for the Iraqi's. AQ just wants to strike at the Americans and to replace moderate Islam with their extreme version...they want Iraq to be a Saudi client state.

3. Various Sunni insurgency organizations. They operate under many names, but these are the guys who are actually sniping our troops, setting car bombs, and planting mines. Their organizational structures vary, but they all share one common goal: They want the Americans out, and they want the Sunni tribes returned to their previous dominant positions in the governments leadership. Ibrahim al-Douri ran the largest, and one of the most effective, groups of this type, but he didn't run them all. Some of these groups are small with only a few members, and others have thousands of fighters.

4. Criminal organizations. They don't get discussed much outside of Iraq, but a sustained war zone like this is a natural breeding ground for violent criminal organizations. Weapons are readily available, and the war gives their body count cover. Many of the bodies dumped in the rivers in Baghdad are dumped there by criminal organizations disposing of "kidnap for ransom" victims or people being killed off for some other illegal purpose. When the rule of law vanishes, the lawless gain much power. Many of the smaller store and market bombings in the larger cities have also been traced to these groups as retribution for owners refusing to pay protection money.

You also have the Kurds, the Iraqi Army, and the Americans, of course, but we're talking about resistance as it exists right now.

[alfredo]

6. Remember this face?

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/04/24/Izzat_Ibrahim_al_Duri_narrowweb__300x420,0.jpg

[Xithras]

7. Yeah, it's hard to believe that he hasn't been caught.

Red headed Iraqi's can't be THAT common!

[alfredo]

10. He's probably in some Sunni country, hiding out.

[underpants]

9. Of course they haven't captured him yet hell they haven't even KILLED HIM yet

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3019897

Some Evidence Suggests Saddam Dead: Bush
Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 25, 2003
http://english.people.com.cn/200304/25/eng20030425_1157...
US President Bush said in a television interview Thursday that there is some evidence suggesting Saddam Hussein is either dead or "at the very minimum was severely wounded." Bush also said US troops would remain in Iraq "as long as necessary."

DNA tests after missiles strike 'Saddam convoy'
Sunday June 22, 2003
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,98271...
American specialists were carrying out DNA tests last night on human remains believed by US military sources to be those of Saddam Hussein and one of his sons, The Observer can reveal.

Officials suspect Saddam was killed in bombing
Posted 4/10/2003
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-04-10-sadd...
WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence has no clear information on Saddam Hussein's whereabouts, but the betting in the Pentagon's executive offices is that the Iraqi dictator lies dead under a pile of rubble in Baghdad, according to defense and intelligence officials.

But the theory given most credence is that Saddam died in Monday's bomber attack on a home near a Baghdad restaurant.
"The official take from the Pentagon is that Saddam is 'unfound,' " a senior defense intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. "Most along the E-Ring (the Pentagon's outermost hallway and executive suite) think he's under the rubble."
A Defense Department intelligence official said an abrupt end to an electronic intelligence intercept of Iraqi leadership conversations indicated that Saddam and his sons were at the site at the time of the bombing.
"The signal died when the bombs hit," the official said.

Saddam Captured 'Like a Rat' in Raid
Sunday, December 14, 2003
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,105706,00.html

Saddam Hussein arrested in Iraq
Sunday, 14 December, 2003, 17:04 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3317429.st...
______________________________________________________________
Pentagon: 'Chemical Ali' Killed in Attack
Tuesday, April 8, 2003
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/4/7/20493...

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon believes "Chemical Ali," Saddam Hussein's cousin who ordered a chemical attack on Kurds in northern Iraq in 1988, is dead, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld confirmed Monday.

'Chemical Ali' reported dead
Monday, 7 April, 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2925375.stm


Officials: Body of 'Chemical Ali' Found in Basra
Monday, April 07, 2003
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,83383,00.html


'Chemical Ali' Captured in Iraq
Thursday, August 21, 2003
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,95314,00.html


'Chemical Ali' in U.S. custody
Thursday, August 21, 2003
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/08/21/sprj.irq.... /
DOHA, Qatar (CNN) -- Ali Hassan al-Majid, the Iraqi general known as "Chemical Ali," is in U.S. custody, military officials tell CNN.