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Indications Saddam Was Not in Hiding But a Captive
by Michael Kalus 21 Dec '03

21 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 http://www.debka.com/article_print.php?aid=743 Indications Saddam Was Not in Hiding But a Captive DEBKAfile Special Report December 14, 2003, 6:55 PM (GMT+02:00) A number of questions are raised by the incredibly bedraggled, tired and crushed condition of this once savage, dapper and pampered ruler who was discovered in a hole in the ground on Saturday, December 13: 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 b 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 b 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)b 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 Talabanibs Kurdish PUK militia. These circumstances would explain the ex-rulerbs docility b described by Lt.Gen. Ricardo Sanchez as b resignationb b 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. Sanchezbs evasive answers to questions on the $25m bounty, it may be inferred that the Americans and Kurds took advantage of the negotiations with Saddambs 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 b especially in the Sunni Triangle towns of Falluja, Ramadi and Balad - while surging outside this flashpoint region b 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 b as long as it takes b but what happens to the insurgency. Will it escalate or gradually die down? An answer to this, according to DEBKAfilebs 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. Saddambs 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 governmentbs 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, DEBKAfilebs 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 b 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. Israelbs 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. b14 December Commander of US ground forces in Iraq, Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, said at the dramatic news conference in Baghdad (Bremer: We Got him!), that Saddam Hussein was discovered in a b spider holeb 6-8ft deep behind a mud hut in a walled farm compound in Adwar, a town 15 km from Tikrit, eight months after his regime was toppled. His capture was achieved without a shot fired and no injuries. He was emaciated, tired and unkempt and had grown a gray beard. The initial medical examination was videotaped and aired. He was then shaved for identification. Found with him were two AK-47 assault rifles and $750,000. Two associates were detained with him. A ventilator enabled them to stay underground. The hole in which Saddam was hiding was camouflaged with bricks and dirt. Operation b Red Dawnb was carried by 4th Infantry Division and coalition special forces b 600 men. It was made possible by a great deal of human intelligence and the interrogation of captives. Gen. Sanchez reported the deposed Iraqi ruler, discovered Saturday, December 13, at 8.30 pm local time, showed no resistance and appeared resigned to his fate. He was b talkative and cooperativeb while being taken to a secure place. The interrogation will b take as long as it takes.b US administrator Paul Bremer called on the Iraqi people to turn to reconciliation and Saddambs followers to lay down their arms. US troops poured into Baghdad and blocked the road-bridges into the capital as soon as word spread, in anticipation of violence from Saddam fedayeen or foreign terrorists fighting the US-led coalition presence. Baghdadis fired guns in the air to celebrate the capture of the man who ruled the country with an iron fist for 23 years. Kurdish and Shiite towns filled with dancing and jubilation. Iraq officials demand Saddam be handed over to the new Iraqi war crimes tribunal to be judged for the murder of 300,000 Iraqis. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP 8.0.3 iQA/AwUBP+ZImGlCnxcrW2uuEQJeCQCfT2ADo3h8UQBJTwaP8F0OkX3OJ0YAnjHn AaAM+czY70SpxOgvVfauZvuD =SId2 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: I am anti war. Yawn.
by Major Variola (ret) 21 Dec '03

21 Dec '03

At 05:41 PM 12/20/03 -0800, James A. Donald wrote: > >Anyone who wants to argue that the guys in the two towers had >it coming, "Collateral damage". The workers at say a WWII refinery did not directly do evil to anyone. Still, they were killed, because of where they were. Bummer, eh? Sleep with dogs.. Better put some ice on that, bub.

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Mitnick wants war stories
by Tim Meehan 21 Dec '03

21 Dec '03

This sounds like a very interesting project! -Tim http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39118685,00.htm Mitnick calls for hackers' war stories Patrick Gray ZDNet Australia December 19, 2003, 10:40 GMT Notorious hacker Kevin Mitnick is collating tales of hackers' 'art' into a book Famed hacker and master social engineer Kevin Mitnick has been commissioned to write a new book following the success of his first text The Art of Deception. The new book, tentatively titled The Art of Intrusion will tell the stories of real hacks, with the names of attackers obscured to protect them from the authorities and their victims. Mitnick has called on retired hackers to come forward with their stories, offering a $500 (#283) prize for the best story that makes it into the book, and a $200 payment for all stories that make the final draft. "I'm going to tell the true stories of some of the untold most salacious hacks in cyberspace. The sexy, the ingenious, the innovative and the clever," he told ZDNet Australia by phone from the US "The stories are not going to be the same attack vector or the same class of vulnerability. I'm looking for stories that will include a variety of attack methods exploiting physical, operational, network host, and personnel security vulnerabilities." Fame found Kevin Mitnick when the US government made an example of him, incarcerating him for five years for computer based offences. Four of his years inside were served before he was even tried, and he was forced to endure eight months in solitary confinement because "the government said I could start a nuclear war if I had access to a telephone," Mitnick says. In trouble with the law for technological mischief since 1982, Mitnick became a fugitive in January 1993 when he skipped town after authorities sought to question him about a possible parole violation. During that time he used various aliases, including Eric Weiss -- Harry Houdini's real name -- and worked several jobs, including a stint as a systems administrator at a law firm. He was captured in 1995 by the FBI after two years on the run. The hunt for Mitnick and his subsequent capture were dramatised in the novel Takedown, which was subsequently turned into a movie of the same name. The book was written by Mitnick's rival and security professional Tsutomu Shimomura, and co-authored by New York Times journalist John Markoff. Shimomura assisted the FBI in tracking Mitnick, who launched a scathing attack on the Takedown account of events in a chapter of his last book that was never published. Mitnick was released from custody into supervised release in early 2000. The conditions of his release meant he was not allowed to use a computer. When it came time to write his book, however, the government was flexible. "The government had given me permission to obtain a computer prior to my supervised release expiring. I wasn't permitted to use the Internet but I did use a computer to do the last book. It was more difficult... I had to actually send a floppy disk to my co-author, that's how we traded material -- by physical postal mail," Mitnick explained. "But now these restrictions have been lifted I think it's really going to increase our productivity now we can use this marvellous thing called email." The terms of Mitnick's supervised release were lifted in January this year. As well as being able to use the Internet again, Mitnick has been able to leave the US -- a luxury not afforded to him while under the conditions of his release agreement. "Lately I've been travelling all around the world, I've been to Brazil -- I just got back from Portugal. I've been in the Czech Republic, Poland, Spain, Helsinki [in] Finland -- which is kind of funny because Nokia mobile phones, one of our prior victims, actually sponsored my talk which is great. They've been forgiving," he said. Conceding his notoriety is at least in part responsible for his "reversal of fortune" -- he claimed he was worried that the initial conditions of his release would make it difficult for him to find a job -- Mitnick says his well-known name is useful in getting his foot in the door. "My demand in the speaking arena -- my name value or my branding -- is really a product of the sensationalism that was attached to the 'Kevin Mitnick' case... if that never happened I might be a fantastic author, a fantastic consultant, and a world renowned security professional, but by name I might not be known," Mitnick argued. "I do attribute the trials and tribulations that I experienced in the past to why my name is so well known, and... this notoriety -- it does drive some business." Mitnick plans to hand the finished manuscript to his publisher in September next year. Have you got a story for Mitnick's new book? Email him at hacks(a)defensivethinking.com.

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Re: Sunny Guantanamo (Re: Speaking of the Geneva convention)
by Freematt357＠aol.com 21 Dec '03

21 Dec '03

In a message dated 12/19/2003 8:33:48 AM Eastern Standard Time, jdd(a)dixons.org writes: > On Thu, 18 Dec 2003, J.A. Terranson wrote: > > >>Why does the US military have > >>to treat them as though they had US constitutional rights? They are not > >>citizens or physically present in the United States. > > > >In a nutshell, our Constitution *recognizes* universal human rights. It > does > >not *establish* these rights. If we are going to be faithful to this > >premise, physical location is a non-sequitor. > > This is a valid and probably commendable political position. I do not > believe, however, that it reflects current practice in the USA or > elsewhere. > > I say "probably" because it seems likely that adopting this as a practice > would have very high costs. You deserve a Tim response, but that ain't my style- Of course the USA doesn't currently practice upholding the universal rights that our constitution recognizes, this is why Tim suggests that people need to be shot, or be fucked till dead. And why would you think that American judicial morality and justice should be dependent on cost? After all it would be cheaper for the cops on a traffic stop to administratively just shoot you in the head for an offense then go through the costs and rigors of a trial. Regards, Matt-

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Re: "the Kuwait issue is not associated with America"
by Freematt357＠aol.com 20 Dec '03

20 Dec '03

I'm not sure what your motivation is for wanting to rewrite history, but that isn't what Glaspie said. There's a video interview I saw about all of this on 60 minutes (I think) where it was made clear that Glaspie did in fact say to Saddam that "We have no opinion on your Arab - Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait." Regards, Matt-

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Streisand loses to Adleman over California Coastline pics
by Bill Stewart 20 Dec '03

20 Dec '03

http://www.californiacoastline.org/streisand/pressrelease-decision.html Ken Adleman and his wife photographed the entire California coastline from their helicopter and put it on line free to the public. Barbara Streisand, ostensible environmentalist, sued because it might let gawking fans figure out how to get near her Malibu estate. The suit was against Adleman and his ISPs. The court agreed that free speech wins and that this was a SLAPP suit, and dinged her for legal fees.

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Re: Sunny Guantanamo (Re: Speaking of the Geneva convention)
by James A. Donald 20 Dec '03

20 Dec '03

-- On 19 Dec 2003 at 21:37, Freematt357(a)aol.com wrote: > That's bullshit. Saddam was told by our Chick ambassador (I > can't remember her name) that the US had no interest in his > dispute with Kuwait, in effect giving Saddam a green light. Commie lie http://www.chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/glaspie.html What Glaspie said was: : : The instruction we had during this period was that : : we should express no opinion on this issue and that : : the issue is not associated with America. James : : Baker has directed our official spokesmen to : : emphasize this instruction. We hope you can solve : : this problem using any suitable methods via Klibi or : : via President Mubarak. All that we hope is that : : these issues are solved quickly. With regard to all : : of this, can I ask you to see how the issue appears : : to us? : : : : My assessment after 25 years' service in this area : : is that your objective must have strong backing from : : your Arab brothers. I now speak of oil But you, Mr. : : President, have fought through a horrific and : : painful war. Frankly, we can see only that you have : : deployed massive troops in the south. Normally that : : would not be any of our business. But when this : : happens in the context of what you said on your : : national day, then when we read the details in the : : two letters of the Foreign Minister, then when we : : see the Iraqi point of view that the measures taken : : by the U.A.E. and Kuwait is, in the final analysis, : : parallel to military aggression against Iraq, then : : it would be reasonable for me to be concerned. And : : for this reason, I received an instruction to ask : : you, in the spirit of friendship -- not in the : : spirit of confrontation -- regarding your : : intentions. Which is diplomat talk for threats and menaces, not a green light. When she asks him to see 'how the issue appears to us" this is diplomat code for "I cannot state plainly how the issue appears to us because that would constitute making threats." And when she says "I ask not in the spirit of confrontation" that means "If the answer is unacceptable, there may well be a confrontation' --digsig James A. Donald 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG lzBXFdOUF+tOl6rQBvd0AC1waiR3dN1345QzG0hr 4avCGxaFFDmv2sq/x5Ltz8sQgA0tgllba+DAdFQq7

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RE: The killer app for encryption
by Major Variola (ret) 20 Dec '03

20 Dec '03

At 08:18 PM 12/19/03 -0500, Tyler Durden wrote: [on onion routing POTS] >"trace" that call, or payment for that matter. So if bin Laden were feelin' >lonely one day and signed onto the network, you could give him a call, >without him worrying about the missles falling within a few minutes. > >-TD If you ran voice analysis over every POTS call and then directed your missile at the customer demarc you'd get your man. A good reason to decrypt to analog the voice at the endpoint, eh?

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"the Kuwait issue is not associated with America"
by Nomen Nescio 20 Dec '03

20 Dec '03

Thanks Steve, I don't think I have heard this before. I googled on the text you quoted and found this url http://wais.stanford.edu/Iraq/iraq_andambassaprilglaspie22303.html and a few more http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/ARTICLE5/april.html http://www.chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/glaspie.html I don't know what to say. This makes me sick to my stomach. I guess one way of lookin at this is that U.S. played dirty and deceiving. U.S. is more or less the reason Iraq invaded Kuwait. I guess this is not told on Fox news.

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Re: Sunny Guantanamo (Re: Speaking of the Geneva convention)
by Freematt357＠aol.com 20 Dec '03

20 Dec '03

In a message dated 12/19/2003 3:38:36 PM Eastern Standard Time, jamesd(a)echeque.com writes: > Saddam was warned that if he took Kuwait, terrible consequences > might well follow. > > That's bullshit. Saddam was told by our Chick ambassador (I can't remember her name) that the US had no interest in his dispute with Kuwait, in effect giving Saddam a green light. Regards, Matt-

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