© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

A trading company led by the cousin of Syria's dictator, Bashar Assad, smuggled millions of dollars worth of sophisticated arms and equipment to Saddam Hussein for three years prior to the Iraqi leader's overthrow, reports the Los Angeles Times.

At least one shipment of arms was completed with the help of the Syrian government in violation of a U.N. arms embargo.

Just prior to the U.S.-led effort to oust Hussein, SES International Corp. signed at least 50 contracts to supply weapons and gear to Iraq, the paper reports, saying the arms transfers included 1,000 heavy machine guns and up to 20 million bullets for assault rifles.

Among the Times' findings:

A Polish company shipped up to 380 surface-to-air missile engines to Baghdad through Syria;

A South Korean firm shipped $8 million in telecommunications equipment for "air defense";

A Slovenian firm shipped 20 battle tank barrels to the Syrian firm early in 2002;

Two North Korean officials went to Damascus to discuss an Iraqi payment of $10 million for components for ballistic missiles.
In March, the Bush administration accused Syria of supplying Iraq with night-vision goggles, but the Times reports the White House was unaware of how extensive the smuggling was.

The reports says another company, Al Bashair Trading Co., a Baghdad firm, also was involved in the smuggling, with executives of the firm meeting with North Korean firms before the war began.

The Los Angeles daily's three-month investigation included the translation of 800 signed contracts found in the Al Bashair Trading Co. office shortly before U.S. troops entered Baghdad.

Not all the weapons were delivered, but some may still be in use by terrorists battling the U.S. occupation forces, the newspaper said.

SES International Corp. denied any wrongdoing, while Syria's foreign ministry refused to comment to the Times.

As WorldNetDaily reported, a Russian company, Moscow-based Aviaconversiya Ltd., supplied a portable GPS-jamming device to Iraq prior to the war and helped personnel there operate the technology, according to U.S. intelligence reports.

The owner of the firm denied any wrongdoing but suggested a third party – such as Syria – could have passed along the equipment to Iraq.

60 bombers ready to strike: Taliban
From correspondents in Kabul
29dec03

WHAT?

SIX people were killed when a suspected suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body after being arrested by intelligence agents near Kabul international airport, Afghan officials said today.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the blast, which he said was aimed at International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) peacekeeping troops based at the airport.

He warned that dozens more suicide bombers were in the capital.

Kabul police chief Baba Jan told reporters at the blast scene: "Chairman (Abdul) Jalal along with four bodyguards were killed while trying to arrest a terrorist who had explosive devices with him."

Jalal was the head of the 21st intelligence directorate, a department of the Afghan intelligence service.

"In total six people, including the terrorist, were killed."

The police chief said the suspect was carrying an explosive device which was taken from him, but he then detonated other explosives strapped to his body.

The intelligence officers' white Toyota Surf jeep was left a mangled wreck by the explosion.

"A terrorist carrying explosives in a pressure cooker was chased and arrested," one security source, who would not be named, said.

"After he was arrested he was put in the car and then the bomb exploded."

Police chief Jan said the bomber was a foreigner, but gave no other details on his identity.

The Taliban spokesman said the attack had been carried out by a man named Abdullah, a 35-year-old from Chechnya.

"We claim the responsibility for the suicide attack today in Kabul," the spokesman, who called himself Abdul Samad, told news agency AFP by satellite phone.

"He was walking toward the ISAF base in Kabul airport to carry out a suicide attack. The second option was if he could not reach the base he would target ISAF patrols or other coalition vehicles driving on that road, but he was arrested by Afghan security and he carried out the suicide attack and killed himself and five others."

The Taliban spokesman said other suicide bombers would attack ISAF troops, coalition forces and people working for the United Nations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

"A group of 60 suicide bombers have entered Kabul city. Their target will be ISAF, the coalition, UN, and other NGOs or people working for foreigners.

"We are more organised now; we will focus our attacks on cities now rather than the borders," he said, referring to a wave of violence along the eastern border blamed on Taliban militants.

Hundreds of ISAF peacekeeping troops are based at the airport, their main supply route.

The bombing is the worst to hit the Afghan capital since a suicide car bomber on June 7 killed himself and four German ISAF soldiers in an attack blamed on Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network.

The latest blast in northern Kabul did not interfere with a historic convention meeting several kilometres to the west where delegates were preparing to vote on Afghanistan's new constitution.

At least seven rockets have hit Kabul since the loya jirga or grand assembly opened on December 14, causing some damage but no casualties.

A bomb blast on Thursday destroyed the wall of a United Nations guesthouse but no-one was injured.

Afghan and ISAF troops on Friday arrested seven men suspected of carrying out the rocket attacks, Kabul garrison commander General Muhammad Ayoob said.

The men were arrested during a search in Deh Sabz 30km northeast of Kabul. They were not armed but posters of bin Laden and other documents were found which linked them to "terrorist" organisations, he said.

Two years after the fall of the Taliban regime, militants continue to launch regular attacks on troops and aid workers.

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.

Steinbeck, John


1902–68, American writer, b. Salinas, Calif., studied at Stanford. He is probably best remembered for his strong sociological novel The Grapes of Wrath, considered one of the great American novels of the 20th cent. Steinbeck’s early novels—Cup of Gold (1929), The Pastures of Heaven (1932), and To a God Unknown (1933)—attracted little critical attention, but Tortilla Flat (1935), an affectionate yet realistic novel about the lovable, exotic, Spanish-speaking poor of Monterey, was enthusiastically received. A compassionate understanding of the world’s disinherited was to be Steinbeck’s hallmark. The novel In Dubious Battle (1936) defends striking migrant agricultural workers in the California fields. In the novella Of Mice and Men (1937; later made into a play), Steinbeck again presents migrant workers, but this time in terms of human worth and integrity—a theme he also used in The Moon Is Down (1942; later made into a play), about Norwegian resistance to the Nazis. The Grapes of Wrath (1939; Pulitzer Prize), while treating the plight of dispossessed Dust Bowl farmers during the 1930s, presents a universal picture of victims of disaster. Steinbeck’s depiction of the westward migration of the Joad family, and their subsequent struggles in the exploitative agricultural industry of California, is realistic and moving, and he endows his humble characters with nobility. Steinbeck’s other works are diverse, ranging from the literal account of a voyage, The Sea of Cortez (1941; written with the marine biologist E. F. Ricketts); to a parable, The Pearl (1948); to a playful French folk piece, The Short Reign of Pippin IV (1957). Love of his native land shines through the exquisitely nostalgic story “The Red Pony” in The Long Valley (1938). The somewhat sentimental attitude of Tortilla Flat appears again in Cannery Row (1945), The Wayward Bus (1947), and Sweet Thursday (1954). More ambitious are the novels East of Eden (1952), a family chronicle with the Cain and Abel theme, and Winter of Our Discontent (1961), about a suburbanite’s moral conflict. Steinbeck also wrote notable nonfiction, particularly The Log from the Sea of Cortez (1951) and A Russian Journal (1948), and the screenplays for the motion pictures The Forgotten Village (1941) and Viva Zapata! (1952). Travels with Charley in Search of America appeared in 1962 and America and Americans in 1966. Steinbeck was awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature. 1
See his letters, ed. by E. Steinbeck and R. Wallsten (1975); biographies by J. Benson (1984) and J. Parini (1995); study by J. H. Timmerman (1986).,

3 lbs Mixed Beans
Small Red
Kidney
Black
Pinto
Navy

Meat
2 lbs. Ground Sirloin Browned
2 1/2 lbs Ground Sausage Browned

Onions
1 Lg. Red (cut in to eight pieces)
1 Lg. White (cut in to eight pieces)
1 Lg. Yellow (cut in to eight pieces)

Tomatoes & Salsa
3 (29oz) Cans Tomato Sauce
2 (28oz) Cans Crushed Tomatoes
2 (28oz) Cans Whole Tomatoes
2 (10oz) Cans Rotel
1 Sm. Jar Med. Salsa Red
1 Sm. Jar Mild Salsa Green

Alcohol
1 cup Red Wine
2 Shots Tequila (Agave)

Peppers Dried
3 Chipotle
3 Chile De Arbol
3 Chili Ancho
3 Chili New Mexico
7 Pequin Chili Pods

Peppers Fresh
3 Poblano (Seeded & Chopped)
2 Banana (Seeded & Chopped)
1 Orange Bell (Seeded & Chopped)
12 Seranos (Whole)
8 Japaleno (Whole)
2 Habanero (Seeded, Devained & Chopped)
6 Red Chili (Seeded & Chopped)
1 Lg. Anahiem (Seeded & Chopped)
12 Small Yellow Chili (Seeded & Chopped)

Peppers Canned
2 (10oz ) cans Whole Green Chilies

Herbs & Spices
⅔ tsp. Achiote
⅔ tsp. Chili Arbol Molido
⅔ tsp. Menudo Mix
⅔ tsp. Chile Para Narania
⅔ tsp. Chile Pequin Molido
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
4 Tbsp. Garlic

Soak beans over-night, drain, rinse, cover with water and bring to a roaring boil. Cover, remove from heat and set aside.
In large pot add Salsa, Tomato Sauce, Rotel, Whole Green Chilies, Whole Tomatoes, Onions, Red Wine, Peppers.
Brown Ground Sirloin & Sausage drain and add to the pot.
Drain and add Beans
Add Herbs & Spices
And 2 shots of Tequila
Bring to Boil, reduce heat and cook for 4 to 6 hours, stirring frequently.

Serve with Guacamole, Fritos, & Cheese

1. America is the greatest force for good on the planet. America, with the support of Britain and some other countries, and against the rest of “world opinion,” liberated Iraq from evil. If it were up to the U.N. or the EU, or the editorial boards of most major American newspapers, Saddam would still be happily making palaces for himself and torture dungeons for his people.

2. The positive effect on humanity of good vanquishing evil cannot be overstated. When evil people get away with what they have done, it has a dispiriting effect. Even those of us who believe that a just God dispenses justice after this life ache to see justice done here and now. In this regard, it is not only good that Saddam was captured; it is good that he lived in holes, and aware that his sadistic sons had been killed. It is nice to know that he has been suffering.

3. No Muslim or Arab country lifted a finger to help the Iraqi people. This is because the Muslim and Arab worlds do not divide the world between good and evil, but between Muslim and non-Muslim and Arab and non-Arab. Since Saddam was a fellow Muslim and Arab, the fact that he tortured and murdered so many was as irrelevant to the Muslim and Arab worlds as the Islamic regime’s genocide in Sudan and the subjugation of women in Taliban Afghanistan.

4. Not everyone is happy about Saddam’s capture. Palestinians, for example, are weeping. Saddam was their hero. Iraqis were forced to march with his posters, but Palestinians did so voluntarily. Many on the Left are also not particularly happy. Saddam’s capture is a victory for American force and for George W. Bush, and the Left hates both more than it hates Saddam.

5. The Left seeks power, but is incapable of leading because leadership and wanting to be loved are mutually exclusive. Leftists, including liberal politicians, want to be loved and want America to be loved. That was President Clinton’s great desire, and that is why, with all his abundant talents, he could never lead. Much of the Left’s criticism of Mr. Bush revolves around this issue: “Look at how popular we were right after 9/11 and how unpopular we are now.”

6. Most of the Left does not hate evil; hatred of evil is primarily found on the Right. With exceptions such as Tony Blair and Joseph Lieberman, virtually the entire Left finds evil far less disturbing than global warming, smoking, economic inequality, and drug prices. And with the exceptions of “paleoconservatives” such as Pat Buchanan, most of the Right regards the use of American power to vanquish evil as the greatest good the U.S. can engage in.

7. In the Arab world, power is venerated. For years leading up to 9/11, Islamists were respected for their increasing power and America was losing respect as it suffered blows at the hands of Islamic terror. Now America is seen as the powerful one, and is earning the respect once accorded Saddam and Osama. The importance of this cannot be overstated.

8. There are many who respect goodness above all else. But humanity as a whole has far more respect for power, and takes powerful societies more seriously than good ones. That is why China is respected despite its being a dictatorship and its brutal crushing of Tibet. China is powerful. The stronger America is, the more people will take it and its values seriously. As an unprecedented combination of power and goodness, America could reshape the world.

9. The Marxist belief that forces, not individuals, shape history is wrong. George W. Bush is living proof.

10. The reason the president is shaping history is that he has as strong a set of beliefs – in America’s moral mission and in Judeo-Christian religious values – as those he is fighting. Those who hold bad beliefs can only be defeated by those have equally strong good beliefs.

Mr. Prager, a radio talk show host, is author of “Why the Jews?” (Touchstone, 2003).

EAST ORANGE, NJ-December 17, 2003 — The FBI has arrested a city political figure in New Jersey on charges she sold crack cocaine for a street gang.

A cooperating federal witness bought 169 vials of crack from Sophia Merritt two weeks after she was elected to the Democratic committee in June 2002, according to a court document filed by the FBI. She was 18 at the time.

Several weeks later, Merritt was seen in a car with more than a pound of cocaine, the filing said.

"She was a full-time narcotics dealer," Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Agnifilo told The Star-Ledger of Newark.

Merritt sold drugs for the Double ii Bloods, authorities said.

She and her running mate, DeWayne Ellison, are among over 100 unsalaried Essex County or local party committee members. Two represent each of the 55 districts in East Orange.

They were on a slate with Rep. Donald Payne of Newark and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo.

DiVincenzo's campaign committee paid for Merritt's election literature. He told the newspaper, "I do not even know this woman. No comment." Payne also said he had never met Merritt.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

By LAURIE COPANS - Associated Press

SHOHAM FIRING RANGE, Israel (AP) -- Veterans of Israeli anti-terror units on Monday demonstrated a new gun that can fire at a target from around the corner, making it particularly effective in urban combat.

Israel plans to start using the weapon next week, U.S. forces have already begun training with it and U.S. SWAT and police teams have expressed interest in purchasing it, Amos Golan, the device's developer, said at a demonstration Monday at a firing range near Tel Aviv.

"The Americans are very interested in this," Golan said. "I believe from what I have seen and heard that it can be a big success in Iraq because the Americans are dealing with an urban area there."

The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv had no immediate comment.

Golan thought of the idea for the weapon after years of pondering a failed Israeli army operation in the West Bank during the first Palestinian uprising in the late 1980s. Several Israeli soldiers were wounded when they stormed a house through the door and were hit by automatic fire shot from inside, Golan said.

An Israeli-American company, Coral Gables, Fla.-based Corner Shot Holdings, showed how it can be fired through an exploded doorway around the corner into a house, or from a hall into a room. A soldier sees the target on a small TV screen mounted on the barrel of the gun.

Armies from 15 countries are testing the system, said Golan, a former deputy commander of Israel's anti-terror unit.

The system is the only weapon that allows the user to stay safe around a corner and away from a target, Golan said.

The device swivels at the middle, 63 degrees to the left or right, with the stock, trigger and the small screen at the hand-held end. The entire firing mechanism, fitted with a pistol that sits over a mini-camera with a zoom lens, is located at the front end.

A lever positioned under the stock allows the user to quickly move the firing end to another position to better focus on the target.

The development of the idea took three years, and sales began three months ago. The weapon system costs between $3,000 and $5,000, depending on the components.

The device can be fitted with different kinds of pistols, including the Baretta 92, which is used by the American army, the Glock and the Colt. It can also be adapted to fit an M-16 rifle or tear gas launcher.

The camera can view between 200 and 400 yards, depending on the model. Accessories include an infrared laser illuminator, rubber bullet launcher, various lenses and a silencer. A video-out socket allows the shooter to film action in a room around the corner and transmit the images to commanders far away.

The mechanism has been patented in the United States and will be sold only to official government agencies, Golan said.

Saddam: Speicher, Drugs & Questions
John LeBoutillier
Monday, Dec. 15, 2003
Yes, it is a great, great day. The capture of Saddam is a Big Day for us all.
Now, before Saddam is turned over to Iraqi control, here is what U.S. forces need to do:

1) Saddam needs to be interrogated – thoroughly – preferably under the use of the best 'truth-inducing' drugs we now have. (This is being done on other captured combatants – Iraqis, al-Qaeda and Taliban.)

No one needs to know – including Saddam himself – that these drugs were administered to him. The last thing we need from the Left is a 'human rights' debate over the human rights of this murderous bastard.

Let's get on with it. The truth is more important than a legal debate in the World Court or The Hague.

2) Key Questions: First, we must get to the bottom of the Scott Speicher mystery – now! Presumably, we have thoroughly interrogated all other captured Iraqis about our only missing POW from the first Gulf War.

Maybe it is true that Speicher was held under the personal control of Saddam and his oldest son, Uday. If so, when Uday went to meet Allah and receive his 72 black-eyed virgins, he took invaluable knowledge with him. We need to get Saddam to answer each and every unanswered question about Speicher – now!

Speicher is our first priority. Our government has bragged that "we never leave anyone behind." OK, then let's recover Scott Speicher – hopefully alive, or at least his remains so that his family can rest in peace.

3) Next, of course, is everything to do with WMD – the justification for our pre-emptive invasion of Iraq. Included in this line of questioning should be everything to do with the acquisition of nuclear material: What did he buy, from which country, and where is it?

4) Next is Iraqi connections – if any – to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Let us find out once and for all if this link truly existed. Was there an Iraqi role in 9/11 and the 1993 WTC bombing?

5) Also, what role did the Russians – especially their military – play in re-arming Iraq in the 12 years since the first Gulf War? Did Moscow help in WMD acquisition?

6) Let's also put to rest once and for all the role behind the scenes of the French government. Were they 'on the take' from Saddam? Was that the reason they were opposed to the war?

What may happen next in Iraq

With Saddam in captivity, American media talking-head pundits are speculating that this will improve the situation 'on the ground' in Iraq. Prediction: It won't. Here is why:

1) With Saddam under Iraqi control, the Resistance's anger will focus ever more at the Provisional Government Authority. The bad guys will furiously try to free their hero or to kill new Iraqi leaders. (In fact, this has already been going on for several weeks.) Look for it to increase now.

3) The Shiite community – the majority of the Iraqi people – are now going to say, "America, thank you for freeing us from Saddam and for capturing him. Now that he is in captivity, please leave Iraq and let us run our own country."

The Shiites have suffrered decades of brutal oppression under Saddam. Thus, they have tempered their religious fanaticism during the months since the fall of Baghdad last April. But they have been chafing at the bit and increasingly desirous of the U.S. leaving Iraq.

Saddam's capture will now precipitate even more anxiety among the Shiites that the American 'occupation' must end before elections are held that would again favor the minority Sunni Muslims.

The Shiites have always been the wild card in the postwar Iraq political equation. The nightmare scenario is that they will take to the streets in an Iran-style religious uprising. If they do, all bets are off for peace and democracy in Iraq.

Like Yugoslavia under Tito, Iraq's three distinct peoples were held together by their common fear of the jackbooted dictator. With him now out of the equation, Iraq may go the route of Yugoslavia: civil wars, lawlessness, paybacks, ethnic cleansings and a totally unmanageable situation – all leading to the formation of independent new nations.

Yes, it is a great, great day. Saddam's capture is a victory for our wonderful troops. But it may be the beginning of an ever worse situation on the ground in Iraq.

Via Fox News

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidates sought new grounds for criticism of White House foreign policies Monday as President Bush basked in the capture of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

And who suspected anything else?

Anti-war candidates Howard Dean and Wesley Clark prepared broad foreign affairs addresses while Sen. John Edwards, who supported the Iraq war resolution, zeroed in on what he said is a greater threat than any posed by Saddam Hussein: The spread of weapons of mass destruction.

The threat is one and the same, IDIOT.

"It was great news for the Iraqi people, the world, and the United States that Saddam Hussein was captured. But that alone is no substitute for a comprehensive strategy to deal with the world's most dangerous weapons, no matter how welcome the news," Edwards said in a text of his address in Iowa, site of the Jan. 19 caucuses.

Bullshit, and he knows it. He doesn't have a chance, and he knows it. Why is he still wasting our time? Does he want run in the Dopefull ribbon cutter slot? The last time we had a ribbon cutter, it was Gore.

Titled "Strategy of prevention, not pre-emption," the address urges Bush to reverse plans to try Saddam through the U.S.-selected Iraqi Governing Council. "Yes, Iraqis should take the lead in coming to terms with their own past. But they should do so with the assistance and the involvement of the international community, including the United Nations," the North Carolina senator said. He also urged Bush to reverse an order denying lucrative reconstruction contracts to nations that did not back the war.

He's a traitor, period.

On nuclear proliferation, Edwards said he would convene a world summit to create a Global Nuclear Compact that reinforces the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Nations that opt out of the pact or violate its anti-proliferation rules would be subject to strong, immediate penalties aimed at their military capabilities.

(immediate penalties aimed at their military capabilities) Just how are we going enforce that without an army?

"To win the global war on terror, America does not need a new doctrine of pre-emption; we need a new strategy of prevention," he said, criticizing Bush's approach to the proliferation crisis.

This guy HAS NO CLUE.

Edwards promised to triple the amount of U.S. money spent to secure Russia's nuclear arsenal, and said he would appoint a proliferation czar to oversee the issue.

Yeah, right.

"This Administration's approach to protecting America from weapons of mass destruction can be summed up simply: wait until our enemies gather strength, and then use force to stop them," he said. "We should be exercising every option we have to stop the spread of deadly weapons before war becomes our only option."

What in the hell do you think we're doing? What are those options?

In addition to Edwards, Clark and Dean, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., was giving a foreign policy address Monday.

I feel better now, Hillary is getting involved.

Democrats have been hammering Bush for failing to capture Saddam and Usama bin Laden, despite months of manhunt. The arrest of Saddam took away one symbol of Bush's failings, but several of the Democrats argued the goal could have been met in less time if a different president were in office.

Al Gore? Thank our lucky stars we didn't have to test that statement.

"I congratulate our troops on capturing Saddam Hussein," Dean, front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, said Sunday night. "He's a bad person and we're all better off with him in captivity, but you should know that my views on Iraq have not changed one bit."

What else can you say? Damn, I'm done now. Hehe. Why not the usual backpedaling?

Saddam's capture Saturday also underscored a wedge issue dividing several fellow candidates from Dean, who has based much of his campaign on opposition to the war in Iraq.

Good!

"The fact is that if Howard Dean had his way, Saddam Hussein would still be in power today, not in prison," said Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, a leading Democratic backer of the war.

I agree, and we would have also suffered more major attacks.

Saddam's capture was the second major event in a week that has shaken up the Democratic race. On Tuesday, former Vice President Al Gore endorsed Dean, citing his opposition to the Iraq war. Dean's rivals sought to use news of the former Iraqi leader's arrest to deflate his case.

Al Gore should move to France.

Those Democrats who supported the congressional resolution authorizing the war basked in Saddam's capture. Their vote has not been popular with some peace activists in their party, who occasionally booed them for supporting the war and cheered on Dean, the former governor of Vermont.

Great, maybe they'll defect.

"I supported this effort in Iraq without regard for the political consequences because it was the right thing to do," Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt said in a statement. Clark also said he hasn't changed his view that going to war in Iraq was unnecessary.

Dick, you weren't named that for nothing. Wesley, didn't know you made it to Deep Space Nine. You are out there.

"It seems to me that all of the concerns that I have voiced about Iraq remain. I stand by every concern," Clark said in a conference call from The Hague, where he was preparing to testify in the U.N. war crimes trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

The last photo I saw of you two together, ya'll were wearing each others hats.

The Democrats are giving credit for the capture to American troops, not the president. Most of the Democrats say the United States still needs a new leader who would unite the world in the aftermath of victory.

Well, it if wasn't for the President there would be no troops. Hypocrites

Via DEBKAfile

1. The length and state of his hair indicated he had not seen a barber or even had a shampoo for several weeks.

2. The wild state of his beard indicated he had not shaved for the same period

3. The hole dug in the floor of a cellar in a farm compound near Tikrit was primitive indeed – 6ft across and 8ft across with minimal sanitary arrangements - a far cry from his opulent palaces.

4. Saddam looked beaten and hungry.

5. Detained trying to escape were two unidentified men. Left with him were two AK-47 assault guns and a pistol, none of which were used.

6. The hole had only one opening. It was not only camouflaged with mud and bricks – it was blocked. He could not have climbed out without someone on the outside removing the covering.

7. And most important, $750,000 in 100-dollar notes were found with him (a pittance for his captors who expected a $25m reward)– but no communications equipment of any kind, whether cell phone or even a carrier pigeon for contacting the outside world.

According to DEBKAfile analysts, these seven anomalies point to one conclusion: Saddam Hussein was not in hiding; he was a prisoner.

After his last audiotaped message was delivered and aired over al Arabiya TV on Sunday November 16, on the occasion of Ramadan, Saddam was seized, possibly with the connivance of his own men, and held in that hole in Adwar for three weeks or more, which would have accounted for his appearance and condition. Meanwhile, his captors bargained for the $25 m prize the Americans promised for information leading to his capture alive or dead. The negotiations were mediated by Jalal Talabani’s Kurdish PUK militia.

These circumstances would explain the ex-ruler’s docility – described by Lt.Gen. Ricardo Sanchez as “resignation” – in the face of his capture by US forces. He must have regarded them as his rescuers and would have greeted them with relief.

From Gen. Sanchez’s evasive answers to questions on the $25m bounty, it may be inferred that the Americans and Kurds took advantage of the negotiations with Saddam’s abductors to move in close and capture him on their own account, for three reasons:

A. His capture had become a matter of national pride for the Americans. No kudos would have been attached to his handover by a local gang of bounty-seekers or criminals. The country would have been swept anew with rumors that the big hero Saddam was again betrayed by the people he trusted, just as in the war.

B. It was vital to catch his kidnappers unawares so as to make sure Saddam was taken alive. They might well have killed him and demanded the prize for his body. But they made sure he had no means of taking his own life and may have kept him sedated.

C. During the weeks he is presumed to have been in captivity, guerrilla activity declined markedly – especially in the Sunni Triangle towns of Falluja, Ramadi and Balad - while surging outside this flashpoint region – in Mosul in the north and Najef, Nasseriya and Hilla in the south. It was important for the coalition to lay hands on him before the epicenter of the violence turned back towards Baghdad and the center of the Sunni Triangle.

The next thing to watch now is not just where and when Saddam is brought to justice for countless crimes against his people and humanity - Sanchez said his interrogation will take “as long as it takes – but what happens to the insurgency. Will it escalate or gradually die down?

An answer to this, according to DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources, was received in Washington nine days before Saddam reached US custody.

It came in the form of a disturbing piece of intelligence that the notorious Lebanese terrorist and hostage-taker Imad Mughniyeh, who figures on the most wanted list of 22 men published by the FBI after 9/11, had arrived in southern Iraq and was organizing a new anti-US terror campaign to be launched in March-April 2004, marking the first year of the American invasion.

For the past 21 years, Mughniyeh has waged a war of terror against Americans, whether on behalf of the Hizballah, the Iranian Shiite fundamentalists, al Qaeda or for himself. The Lebanese arch-terrorist represents for the anti-American forces in Iraq an ultimate weapon.

Saddam’s capture will not turn this offensive aside; it may even bring it forward.

For Israel, there are three lessons to be drawn from the dramatic turn of events in Iraq:

First, An enemy must be pursued to the end and if necessary taken captive. The Sharon government’s conduct of an uncertain, wavering war against the Palestinian terror chief Yasser Arafat stands in stark contrast to the way the Americans have fought Saddam and his cohorts in Iraq and which has brought them impressive gains.

Second, Israel must join the US in bracing for the decisive round of violence under preparation by Mughniyeh, an old common enemy from the days of Beirut in the 1980s. Only three weeks ago, DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal, the terrorist mastermind himself was seen in south Lebanon in surveillance of northern Israel in the company of Iranian military officers. With this peril still to be fought, it is meaningless for Israelis to dicker over the Geneva Accord, unilateral steps around the Middle East road map, or even the defensive barrier.

Third, Certain Israeli pundits and even politicians, influenced by opinion in Europe, declared frequently in recent weeks that the Americans had no hope of capturing Saddam Hussein and were therefore bogged down irretrievably in Iraq. The inference was that the Americans erred in embarking on an unwinnable war in Iraq.

This was wide of the mark even before Saddam was brought in. The Americans are in firm control - even though they face a tough new adversary – and the whole purpose of the defeatist argument heard in Israel was to persuade the Sharon government that its position in relation to the Palestinians and Yasser Arafat is as hopeless as that of the Americans in Iraq. Israel’s only choice, according to this argument, is to knuckle under to Palestinian demands and give them what they want. Now that the Iraqi ruler is in American custody, they will have to think again.

I can't believe this. I'm crying here. I feel that we now don't have a chance in this election.

Posted by Carrie B at December 14, 2003 10:03 AM

GG - Lieberman's an idiot. Saddam had been contained for a decade and al Qaeda didn't have a strong foothold in Iraq until Bush launched this war.

Posted by Demetrius at December 14, 2003 10:05 AM

I am feeling pretty upset as well. I think our chances are dropping fast.

Posted by gg at December 14, 2003 10:06 AM

I never doubted the strength and quality of our military. I do, however, doubt the morality and diplomatic tact of our President.

Posted by Jake at December 14, 2003 10:08 AM

I'm glad Saddam has been captured.

However, this does not in any way mitigate the heinousness of the lies that Bush and his henchmen used to get us to go to war. Nor does it suddenly "sanctify" an illegal and immoral war.

We should make this VERY CLEAR.

Also, Dean should call for Saddam's trial before a truly international war crimes tribunal, perhaps in some place like the Hague.

This way, perhaps Saddam's embarrasing revelations about the Bush mafia clowns with whom he did business during the 1980s will come out.

Posted by Phillip G. at December 14, 2003 10:10 AM

Of course we're glad Saddam is captured, and I hope it brings an end to violence. But we can't forget that their reasons for going in were because of WMD's and its clear he didn't have them.

Don't lose hope Carrie B.

Posted by lazyeyemurphy at December 14, 2003 10:13 AM

This is still a classic bait and switch--Hussein did not attack us on 9-11, Bin Laden is still at large, the Taliban is regrouping in Afghanistan, and there are terrorists in Iraq when they weren't there before. How does this make us any safer? I can't wait to hear the spin that will be coming out of the White House.

Posted by Joby in MD at December 14, 2003 10:18 AM

The capture of Saddam Hussein, in and of itself, is insignificant in the bungled war against terrorism. Let us not forget that the first mission of the GOP Senate, when it resumes in January, is to CUT FUNDING to homeland security via the Omnibus bill. We cannot beat around the Bush on the central topic anymore - that this administration is responsible, through inaction or complicitness, for the actions of 9/11. Every action that they have taken since this date proves this to be true - withholding information, coddling the Saudis, and numerous actions/inactions related to that awful day. WE CANNOT LET THEM TAKE THIS AS A VICTORY AGAINST TERRORISM, SINCE THIS IS ONLY A VICTORY FOR BUSH'S FASCIST FOREIGN POLICY.

Posted by Todd Mattson at December 14, 2003 10:19 AM

Go here if you want more.