So, what does everyone think?

Did we kill him this time?

The only problem may be if there is nothing left in the dust to provide DNA analysis--and it would be better if we had conclusive proof of his demise.

I hope that we got him, but he is a very clever rat who has shown remarkable ability to avoid the trap.
If they cannot identify the body (which is very probable) they can use DNA evidence from one of Saddam's relatives or just take a shortcut and take the DNA from Sean Penn's lips.

I still think they got him on the first day.

Wouldn't it be a great thing if they could make it official. I'm sure it would more than halve the resistance if the Iraqi's knew he was no longer a threat to their local existance.

I am inclined to think that he was certainly incapacitated that first day and that they have been doubles who have appeared, when they have not been recordings.

That information guy is the highlight of my war viewing each day, his cheerful assurances that the Iraqis are pounding the allies and the allies are retreating having been thoroughly zapped - very amusing. I am not sure if the man is very loyal or just a complete imbecile, there have even been American tanks in the background flattening everything in sight and he still says there is nothing to worry about, the Iraqis are winning.

Don't worry Sue, in a few weeks time we're probably going to see him sitting in a prison cell in the Hague, shouting "the Americans are nowhere near Baghdad, we crushed them, we pounded them, we are winning"!
When he announced that they had taken back the airport I couldn't help wondering whether he was lying to us or maybe the Republican Guard were lying to him, which is also a distinct possibility...

According to news reports here this morning, no we didn't.

News article here

As for Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, I suspect he'll have a long and prosperous career in the west as a spin doctor if he wants one!

Hope he was killed but either way that building was certainly turned into a nice looking crater.I think it will be much cheaper to kill him than to capture him.

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As for Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, I suspect he'll have a long and prosperous career in the west as a spin doctor if he wants one!

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If not he can at least still give the occasional interview for the BBC. After all they still interview Hanan Asrawi now and then, and she's been caught in outright lies plenty of times!

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Hope he was killed but either way that building was certainly turned into a nice looking crater.

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Not to mention a few innocent civilians maimed and killed. Not much to crow over.

I doubt very much that "we" got him. He is either dead or dying already as Sue says, or fled the country immediately.

Doesn't anybody think it was suspicious that the intelligence said he was in a bunker in a civilian area where there was bound to be damage done to innocent people?

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Doesn't anybody think it was suspicious that the intelligence said he was in a bunker in a civilian area where there was bound to be damage done to innocent people?

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Of course not. That is how he operates . . .operated. During the first Gulf war he took refuge in civilain houses often showing up on people's doorsteps and announcing that he would spend the night. He was transported around the city in taxi cabs. He has his bunkers built under hospitals and schools.

His ability to flee the country is severly limited. There are not that many places to run especially since there is a price on his head.

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Doesn't anybody think it was suspicious that the intelligence said he was in a bunker in a civilian area where there was bound to be damage done to innocent people?

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Not really, if what I have heard about Saddam is true, it's likely that he'd hide in a place like that, knowing that the coalition forces would want to avoid bombing civillian areas.

Personally, I won't be satisfied until I get some concrete proof that Saddam is dead.
What is it with being able to nail these kind of guys? Hitler killed himself, Bin Laden is who knows where, and Saddam is presumably in tiny little pieces under a pile of rubble and sand. Positive ID on any of them: None.
And it's just so funny to think that Dan Rather was sitting not four feet from they guy only a month or so ago. We could have got him then, without all this fuss.

Worse....

He might be in some remote corner of the world, drinking tea with Osama bhai and watching Baywatch (or CNN)

Oh no . . .

Baywatch . . .

We love the iraqi information minister

I sincerely hope that he hasn't committed suicide, he was the one bright spot each day during the conflict - he brought comedy to an otherwise grim situation.

The sad part is he's not alone: Saeb Erekat is just as ridiculous, and people would be laughing at him just as much if they weren't so eager to believe him.

Well, we may not have Saddam yet, but we have just captured another one of his half-brothers:

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April 17, 2003
U.S. Forces Nab Saddam's Half - Brother
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Filed at 7:33 a.m. ET

CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar (AP) -- U.S. Special Forces on Thursday captured Barzan Ibrahim Hasan, a half-brother of Saddam Hussein, the U.S. Central Command reported.

Hasan was a presidential adviser to Saddam and had ``extensive knowledge of the regime's workings,'' said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks.

Hasan is one of three half-brothers of Saddam and the second to be captured.

On Sunday, coalition forces announced the capture of Watban Ibrahim Hasan, who once served as Iraq's interior minister. Watban Hasan was the five of spades in the deck of playing cards the U.S. military issued to troops with pictures of wanted Iraqi officials. Barzan was the five of clubs.

Barzan Hasan was captured alone in Baghdad and information from residents of the capital led to his arrest, Brooks said.

``We are currently asking a number of questions... finding out whatever we can from this capture,'' Brooks said.

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http://nytimes.com

That 'Information' Minister! I have no idea whether he's an imbecile or loyal or both, but on the BBC he came across as a very effective comedian.