Saddam calls U.S. attack 'shameful crime'
Advertiser News Services
BAGHDAD, Iraq — President Saddam Hussein accused the United States of committing a "shameful crime" by attacking Iraq, urging his people in a nationally televised address today to "go draw your sword" against the enemy.
Associated Press
Saddam appeared on television, wearing a military uniform, vowing that "Iraq will be victorious," about two hours after U.S. cruise missiles hit targets in and around Baghdad. U.S. officials said the strike targeted Saddam himself.
Iraqi soldiers took rooftop positions overlooking Sadoun Street in downtown Baghdad yesterday, a few hours before the ultimatum given by President Bush to Iraq President Saddam Hussein to leave the country was set to expire.
The Iraqi leader appeared subdued, and his puffy face showed signs of strain. He wore reading glasses — something he has avoided in public.
"We promise you that Iraq, its leadership and its people will stand up to the evil invaders, and we will take them to such limits that they will lose their patience in achieving their plans, which are pushed by criminal Zionism," he said.
"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."
"This is added to the series of their shameful crime against Iraq and humanity," Saddam said, describing the U.S. president as "little, evil Bush."
"Draw your sword and be not afraid," he urged the Iraqi people, before ending the speech by chanting, "Allahu akbar" or God is great, and saying, "Long live jihad (holy war) and long live Palestine."
After the U.S. strike, Iraqi broadcasters announced that Saddam would appear. Baghdad radio carried a message from his son, Odai, calling on the people to be steadfast and promising them victory.
When the U.S. missiles struck at 5:34 a.m. today the explosions thundered over a city still sleeping. A minute passed before air raid sirens began to wail, and more time still before a burst of anti-aircraft fire answered the attack. For the next hour, as dawn revealed a gray morning, long pauses were interrupted by tracer bullets racing through the sky and more anti-aircraft rounds.
The U.S. attack was aimed at targets on the southern and eastern outskirts of the city. No destruction was visible from the heart of the capital, which was almost deserted.
The capital's transformation into a ghost town had begun the day before. Yesterday, the eve of the attack, armed militiamen of Saddam's ruling Baath Party fanned out across Baghdad, manning sandbagged positions and keeping watch.
Some Iraqis made last-minute purchases of vegetables and gasoline, but most stayed home or plotted their escape to the relative safety of the countryside. Rumors swirled of high-level defections, even as Iraqi officials maintained that U.S. forces faced "certain death."
"In this conflict, no matter what technology the American armed forces have, the will of the Iraqi people and the determination of the armed forces will prevail, God willing," Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said at a news conference arranged to dispel rumors that he had fled the city.
Aziz promised that he and all other Iraqi officials would remain in Baghdad during a war. Death, he said, would come by martyrdom if necessary, and he again dismissed the prospect of exile for Saddam and his two sons as demanded by President Bush. "How could a courageous leader like President Saddam Hussein, a historic leader, leave his country in such circumstances?" Azziz said.
Aziz said this conflict would differ from the 1991 Persian Gulf War. In that war, he said, Iraq was driven from Kuwait. In this war, Iraqis would be defending their own land.
"When an invading army comes to an independent country and that independent nation fights within its own territory, within its own national soil, the determination of the fighters, the will of the fighters is going to prevail," he said.
