speaking of being in or out of Iraq, these crazy Imans keep to keep their sonsabitchin mouths shut or we can check the whole crappola to them and let the country fall to Iran in a New York minute.
Iraqis Rally to Demand Swift U.S. Pullout
Apr 18, 2:03 PM (ET)
By DAVID ESPO
Less than 10 days after the fall of Saddam Hussein, thousands of Iraqis marched in downtown Baghdad on Friday to demand a rapid U.S. troop withdrawal and a prominent opposition leader said he expects Americans to relinquish most government functions within weeks.
The pressure surfaced as American forces destroyed a hidden ammunitions cache north of Baghdad, and troops captured a leader of the old regime for the second time in as many days.
The debate over Saddam's fate was rekindled with the appearance of a videotape said to show him and an audio tape said to contain his recorded message. At the same time, an Iraqi ambassador said he believes the man who ruled Iraq for nearly a quarter century is dead.
"I know his character," said Sami Sadoun, a longtime regime official who most recently has been envoy to Serbia-Montenegro. "He must have been killed, or everything would not have collapsed so quickly," he said in an interview with The Associated Press
The aftermath of war and the looting that followed were evident on Baghdad's streets.
Marines with machine guns guarded an estimated $1 billion in gold in the city's banking district, securing nine massive vaults that withstood rocket-propelled grenade hits by thieves.
In another part of the city, men lined the streets waiting a turn to use hand-held satellite telephones to contact relatives outside Iraq. The price was $8 in American money, payable in cash - but such telephones were banned under Saddam's rule.
"Everything is calming down. We haven't had enemy contact in four days," said a Marine spokesman in the capital, Staff Sgt. John Jamison. Yet the Ministry of Information Building was on fire at midday, apparently set ablaze by looters.
American forces also struggled to restore power to the city of roughly 5 million that has been without electricity for two weeks. "Without power, there is no peace," said Haifa Aziz, manager of a power substation. "For hospitals, for schools, for the people, they need electricity."
Thousands marched through the city's downtown, urged on by an imam at Holy Day prayers.
"No to America, no to Saddam," they shouted, and called for unity among Iraq's Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims and Kurds. Some carried banners in Arabic and English. "Leave our country. We want peace," read one.
Inside the mosque, Sheik Ahmed al-Kubeisy addressed his remarks to Americans. "You are masters today. But I warn you against thinking of staying. Get out before we force you out," he said.
Opposition leader Ahmed Chalabi and followers of his Iraqi National Congress established makeshift headquarters in two social clubs in the city's affluent Mansour district. Armored U.S. vehicles and elements of the new Free Iraqi forces provided security.
After years of exile, Chalabi was flown into Iraq recently by American forces, and some in-country opposition figures have complained he was getting preferential treatment from the Pentagon.
In his first public appearance in Baghdad, Chalabi said anew that he is not a candidate to become Iraq's new leader, and did not indicate a preference for a successor to the old regime.
He said he expects an Iraqi interim authority to take over most government functions from the U.S. military in "a matter of weeks rather than months."
He said he envisions "first reconstruction of basic services" under the control of Jay Garner, the retired American lieutenant general poised to run a military administration. Once that is done, Chalabi said the U.S. military will search for weapons of mass destruction, dismantle the old regime's "apparatus of terror" and disarm its army.
Garner's office had no immediate comment.
The new videotape and audiotape added to the mystery surrounding Saddam's fate. Abu Dhabi television said both were made on April 9, the day Baghdad fell and the regime collapsed countrywide. But there was no evidence of that. Nor was there proof that the Iraqi leader - who was known to use doubles as a security precaution - was involved in either production.
The videotape showed a man purported to be Saddam in the streets of Baghdad, greeted by a wildly cheering crowd. The audiotape carried a speech that appeared to acknowledge the American military triumph.
"Conquered people are the ones who eventually triumph over invaders. ...Your leadership is unshaken," it said.
American officials said they could not immediately say whether either tape was authentic.
April 9 was also two days after American bombs destroyed a building in Baghdad where Saddam and his two sons were believed to be meeting. "I did not get any instructions, not even a single fax" after the bombing, said Sadoun, the Iraqi ambassador.
Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks told reporters at the U.S. Central Command headquarters that experts had made "initial surveys" of the bomb site but did not know whether Saddam or his sons had been killed.
Brooks also announced that forces had captured Samir Abd al-Aziz al-Najim, the Baath Party Regional Command Chairman for east Baghdad and the four of clubs on the Pentagon's 55-card deck of most-wanted Iraqis. He was handed over by Kurds near the northern city of Mosul overnight, Brooks said. On Thursday, U.S. forces captured one of Saddam's half brothers in Baghdad.
The Army's 4th Infantry Division attacked an airfield north of Baghdad after images from an unmanned surveillance plane indicated the presence of paramilitary forces.
Col. Don Campbell said hundreds of AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades were found, and five anti-aircraft guns destroyed. Five Iraqis were taken prisoner.
At the same time, the Pentagon reported the release of 927 Iraqi prisoners taken earlier in the war. They were determined to be noncombatants, said Maj. Ted Wadsworth, a Pentagon spokesman.
American and British forces continue to hold 6,850 prisoners, he said.
In a postscript to the fighting, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in an interview published in London that he had been prepared to resign if a majority of Labor lawmakers opposed his decision to back the war. He told civil servants and also his children of his intentions, according to the interview published in The Sun.
Despite a revolt in the ranks, a comfortable majority of Labor lawmakers backed Blair and supported the war in key votes. |
