Arab voices: Saddam says U.S. 'dead are in hell'
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Saddam Hussein, or one of his doubles, appeared on Iraqi TV Friday.
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(CNN) -- The following is a sampling of media reports and interviews expressing views of Operation Iraqi Freedom from newsmakers, officials and journalists in the Middle East.
Iraqi TV
Friday morning Saddam Hussein, or a man who looked like him, appeared on air and read a statement. It mentioned an incident that occurred after the United States' March 19 decapitation attempt to kill Saddam and his regime leaders.
Oh dear, the enemy is trying very desperately to confuse your steadfastness and your bravery and confrontation. ... Most of the time the airdrop, or the movements, will be on roads with small numbers, with vehicles, with troops. Therefore they can be resisted and destroyed by you with what you have of weapons, and maybe you remember the villager, the Iraqi villager, how he downed an American Apache with the old weapon. So hit them hard; hit them with the force of belief whenever they approach you and resist them, you the people of the brave glorious Baghdad. Whenever they approach you and try to attack you, depend on God and hold close to your principles. ...
You are now, dear people of Baghdad and Iraq, you are the symbol of dignity and with God's help you will be victorious and they will be, God willing, defeated, overcome and cursed. God is great, dignity belongs to God and victory belongs to Iraq. God is great. Long live our nation. Long live Iraq. Long live Iraq. Long live Palestine. Come to jihad. Their dead are in hell and their living will be living in humiliation. Our dead will be in paradise and those living will have dignity and honor. You have dignity, oh you Iraqis of Baghdad and Iraq. God is great and let the criminals lose.
ArabicNews.com
This Arabic Web site used Moroccan news reports to convey how that country is covering the war in Iraq. The excerpt below came from an article with a headline that read: "Moroccan press slams carnage of Iraqi civilians."
The Moroccan press denounced on Wednesday the "massacre" of Iraqi civilians by U.S. and British bombs. ... Le Matin du Sahara et du Maghreb (pro-government) wrote ... there is now a spectacle of amputated civilian victims, wrecked houses and bunches of men and women with bundles on the head.
The U.S.-British coalition opted for the intensification of civilian massacres to discourage Iraqis because they are exasperated at the big failure of their invasion strategy, their growing political isolation and the American [military's] criticism of their defense secretary, commented Assahra Al Maghribiya, another pro-government paper.
Al Alam daily of the Istiqlal Party ... opines that the United States and Great Britain apply the scorched land policy on infrastructures, habitations, telecommunication centers and neighborhoods that are destroyed "in the sole objective to subdue the Iraqi people, occupy the country and control oil wealth."
The Daily Star
The following is an excerpt from a columnist's op-ed piece in the Lebanese newspaper.
Early on in the campaign to build support for the current war in Iraq, the Americans and the British managed at least to recognize that their only hope of retaining a shred of respectability in the Middle East was to pledge that despite the current conflagration, they would press for a fair and comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. There was a condition, of course. ... When this was accomplished, however, a new demand was issued. ... Having run out, at least for now, of new hoops through which the Palestinians are made to jump, the new "timetable" now says that talks will begin "when the time is right," i.e. whenever Israel wants. This is called "changing the goalposts." It is also called "lying."
Yemen Times
This newspaper's Web site posted a news story about a protest. Below is an excerpt from the article.
Hundreds of Yemeni women protested in Sanaa ... the U.S.-led war against Iraq. ... Around 20 women declared they would go to Iraq to carry out suicidal attacks against U.S. and U.K. troops. ... They carried posters denouncing the war, demanding the Arab leaders to wake up and do something to stop the massacres the U.S.-U.K. troops are carrying out against innocent people in Iraq. ... Some 20 women came with white coffins marked with blood. "I am prepared to go and perform martyrdom and defend my brothers in Iraq. I am prepared for death", one of these women told the Yemen Times. It was announced during the ceremony that many of these demonstrators donated their jewels and properties for Iraqi people.
