Did the First Day Air Strike took out Saddam ?

Atobe SG

The first air strike into Baghdad was clarified as a Strike on a Target of Opportunity, based on intelligence information that there was a gathering of Iraqi Leadership in a Leadership Compound.

Three hours later, Saddam appeared on Iraqi State TV, to make a speech but wearing thick horn-rimmed glasses.

The Saddam that appeared on TV was tired, and not as suave as the usual alert, aloof, and confident Saddam receiving guests.

Was that the real Saddam that appeared on TV, or is it one of his known two other look alike replacement ?

Did this First Day Air Strike of Operation Iraqi Freedom - (with over forty cruise missiles and two bunker buster bombs delivered by a Stealth F-117) - took out Saddam Hussein ?

Will Saddam Hussein take this opportunity of having one his two "look-alike" killed, and himself fading away quietly into internal or external exile ?

Is that the look alike on the following site:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/887961.asp?cp1=1

Master -_- SG

looks fake initially

superspitfire SG

Reports have varied as to exactly how many doubles Saddam has, some say 3, some say 2. heck, even 1 report said 'up to 8 body doubles' of Saddam...

duotiga83 SG

i doubt so..... Confused ..though us official confirm that him is in the compound...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=540&e=3&u=/ap/20030321/ap_on_re_mi_ea/war_saddam

Intelligence: Saddam in Attacked Compound
2 hours, 17 minutes ago

By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence believes Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) was inside a compound bombarded by American forces and were examining a request for medical attention that could indicate injuries to senior Iraqi leaders, government officials said.

CIA (news - web sites) and military analysts were vigorously reviewing clues about the fate of Saddam, his inner circle and his two powerful sons who were targeted in the attacks. Senior officials cautioned late Thursday night that there was no conclusion.

Among the evidence being examined were reports suggesting military field commanders might be cut off from Saddam's leadership, that soldiers were considering mass defections and two videos purporting to show Saddam alive after the attack.

With voice and video frame analysis, U.S. officials looked for signs whether those tapes were contemporaneous or prerecorded as a ruse, officials said.

U.S. officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said intelligence believed Saddam was still in the compound when U.S. bombs and missiles rained down late Wednesday night Washington time, about six hours after U.S. intelligence first detected Saddam and his leadership might be there.

"We have reason to believe he was still in there," one senior U.S. official said.

The officials said they also believed medical attention was urgently summoned to the compound in the aftermath of the attack. One senior military official said the manner in which the help was summoned raised the possibility Saddam himself or someone of high-level importance in the Iraqi leadership was injured.

But other officials cautioned there was nothing definitive. "It is not clear exactly on whose behalf the medical attention was summoned," one U.S. official said.

The attack, which involved ship-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles and bombs dropped from stealth fighters, was aimed at a residential complex where U.S. intelligence believed Saddam, and possibly his sons, were sleeping.

Naval missile strikes in Baghdad also were aimed at the headquarters of the Special Republican Guard, a paramilitary force that was expected to defend Baghdad from any U.S. assault, and other security organizations.

After the attack, intelligence reports indicated Iraq (news - web sites)'s leaders were not organizing any coordinated response across their country, suggesting the leadership might be in chaos or cut off from communicating with field commanders.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said military planners had good reason to believe top Iraqi leaders may be losing control of their forces.

"We are in communication with still more people who are officials of the military at various levels the regular army, the Republican Guard, the Special Republican Guard who are increasingly aware that it's going to happen, he's going to be gone," Rumsfeld said.

U.S. intelligence suspected Saddam's sons, Qusai and Odai, might have been with him during the strike. Both hold high-level security positions. Qusai, the younger son, was believed to be Saddam's likely successor.

A defiant Saddam appeared on Iraqi television a few hours after the strike. However, officials said the taped message did not prove he was alive.

It appeared to be him and not a look-alike, officials said after initial analysis. A voice analysis was under way.

There was nothing in the tape that made specific reference to the attack, or other events, that would confirm it was made in the hours after the strike. Saddam's reading of the date could have been recorded earlier, officials said.

However, the fact that Saddam read the speech from a steno pad indicated a fairly impromptu production, suggesting it came after the strike, the officials said.

At a closed-door briefing in the Capitol, lawmakers asked top Pentagon (news - web sites) officials if Saddam had been wounded.

"They frankly said, at this point in time, we have no definitive facts," said Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (news - web sites).

If Saddam survived, U.S. officials hoped the surprise attack at least would leave him distrustful of his inner circle and suspecting betrayal by one of his advisers, leaving him less able to command.

duotiga83 SG

intersting to note:

N.Korea predicts disaster for Iraq war; S.Korea denies raising defensive

North Korea on Friday commented for the first time on the US-led invasion of Iraq, saying the conflict would have "disastrous consequences".

The state-run newspaper Minju Joson is reported to have run an editorial analysing the possible consequences. There were no further details.

According to reports, Pyongyang also told its southern neighbour on Friday that Seoul was playing with fire by heightening security measures to thwart possible North Korean provocations.

North Korea said in a message to the South that the security measures could have irreversible consequences for ties between the two countries.

However, South Korean Defense Minister Cho Young-Kil denied Friday that the military had heightened its alert status towards North Korea.

"Despite the outbreak of the war on Iraq, we have maintained the normal state of alert, without raising the level of Watchcon or Defcon," Mr Cho told a parliamentary hearing.

He noted that he did not rule out North Korean provocation during the Iraq war but added, "The likelihood of any full-scale armed conflict is slim."

"We are keen to avoid any unintended armed clash with the army sticking to the rules for engagement and shunning any acts that could provoke North Korean troops."

South Korea is said to have maintained its surveillance alert status at Watchon 3, in place since 1999, and its defensive posture at Defcon 4, which signals normal readiness.

South Korean media reports had wrongly indicated Thursday that Seoul had heightened its military alert.

Atobe SG

Following news taken from FOX News -

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,81847,00.html

U.S. Officials: Saddam Seen on Stretcher After March 19 Strike

Saturday, March 22, 2003
By Bret Baier

WASHINGTON Saddam Hussein is seen being placed on a stretcher and into an ambulance in photographs in the possession of the U.S. government showing what is described as "panicked digging" at the bunker/command-and-control facility that was struck in the first strike of the war March 19, U.S. officials told Fox News late Friday.

Bodies are seen as they are removed, and these officials are confident that Saddam was seen being placed upon a stretcher.

Additionally, these same officials told Fox News that top security and military personnel have been leaving Baghdad, and more are preparing to leave. "The erosion from Baghdad has begun," one official said.

U.S. intelligence officials said Friday it was almost certainly Saddam, not a look-alike, who appeared in a video recording on Iraqi television a few hours after he was targeted by the American air strike.

It is unclear whether the message was recorded before or after the strike, however. Officials said some reports indicate Saddam pre-recorded several speeches to air during fighting.

The video showed Saddam, in military uniform, reading from a steno pad and exhorting Iraqis to fight American invaders. Intelligence officials said that an analysis of the speaker's voice, inflections and facial movements led them to believe it was Saddam.

While Saddam read the date -- March 20 -- during his speech, that could have been pre-recorded. He did not speak specifically of the attack on him or other events that would positively confirm the message was recorded after the attacks.

CIA and military analysts were vigorously reviewing this and other clues about the fate of Saddam, his inner circle and his two powerful sons who were also targeted in the attacks. Senior officials cautioned Friday that they do not know whether Saddam or his sons are alive or dead.

U.S. intelligence believes they were inside a residential compound bombarded by American forces. Government officials were examining a request for medical attention that could indicate injuries to the senior Iraqi leaders.

"We have reason to believe he was still in there," one senior U.S. official said.

The officials said they believed medical attention was urgently summoned to the compound in the aftermath of the attack. One senior military official said the manner in which the help was summoned raised the possibility Saddam himself or someone of high-level importance in the Iraqi leadership was injured.

But other officials cautioned there was nothing definitive. "It is not clear exactly on whose behalf the medical attention was summoned," one U.S. official said.

U.S. officials said intelligence indicated Saddam was still in the compound when U.S. bombs and missiles rained down late Wednesday night Washington time, about six hours after U.S. intelligence first detected that Saddam and his leadership might be there.

The attack, which involved ship-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles and bombs dropped from stealth fighters, was aimed at a residential complex where U.S. intelligence believed Saddam, and possibly his sons, were sleeping.

Naval missile strikes in Baghdad also were aimed at the headquarters of the Special Republican Guard, a paramilitary force that was expected to defend Baghdad from any U.S. assault, and other security organizations.

After the attack, intelligence reports indicated Iraq's leaders were not organizing any coordinated response across their country, suggesting the leadership might be in chaos or cut off from communicating with field commanders.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said military planners had good reason to believe top Iraqi leaders may be losing control of their forces.

"We are in communication with still more people who are officials of the military at various levels -- the regular army, the Republican Guard, the Special Republican Guard -- who are increasingly aware that it's going to happen, he's going to be gone," Rumsfeld said.

U.S. intelligence suspected Saddam's sons, Qusai and Odai, might have been with him during the strike. Both hold high-level security positions. Qusai, the younger son, was believed to be Saddam's likely successor.

A second tape of Saddam may have aired later Thursday. Officials had no information on that recording.

If Saddam survived, U.S. officials hoped the surprise attack at least would leave him distrustful of his inner circle and suspecting betrayal by one of his advisers, leaving him less able to command.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.