The Scum at the Top
Commentary on the Rats in Washington
Saddam Accepted the American Ultimatum Before
the US Invasion, According to Rights and
Freedom International
PRNewswire
© October 30, 2006
A former political adviser to Saddam Hussein's
son said today that Saddam was willing to yield
to all American demands before the U.S. invasion
of Iraq -- but that the Bush administration
refused his offers.
The disclosure was made by Hossam Shaltout,
a Canadian aerospace engineer, former
American pilot, and founder of the peace
organization Rights and Freedom International
(http://www.rightsandfreedom.com), who said
that war could have been averted, but Bush
aides blocked his efforts to announce Saddam's
decision.
"Saddam was willing to yield to all American
demands, announced and unannounced, to reach
peaceful resolution," said Shaltout, "but the
Bush administration, including Elizabeth
Cheney, undersecretary of State, David Welch,
the U.S. ambassador in Egypt, and Gene Cretz,
his political attache, did not respond to his
offers."
Shaltout said he was planning to fly from
Amman to Baghdad to announce Saddam's decision,
but the Royal Jordanian Airlines officials
claimed that the US ordered the flight to
leave five hours earlier causing him to miss
the flight, preventing him from announcing
on CNN that Saddam would bow to the Bush
ultimatum. Shaltout said he traveled by road
to Baghdad, delaying him almost one day,
but raced to get the communique approved
from Saddam to broadcast over international
TV stations broadcasting from Baghdad.
Couple of hours before the expiration of the
Bush ultimatum, Saddam ordered Colonel Amer,
his strongman, to facilitate Shaltout's
broadcast of the communique. Colonel Amer
ordered Allaa Mecky, the head of the Iraqi
Channel 2 television, to accompany Shaltout
and help him broadcast the communique."
It was very late at night and CNN in Baghdad
was closed. So they went to al-Jazeera, and
Shaltout told al-Jazeera Washington correspondent
Hafez Almirazy on the air that he had the
Iraqi government's official reply to the
Bush ultimatum. Moments after Mirazy asked
him for a brief, the plug was pulled on the
transmission. Shaltout has a copy of that
interrupted broadcast.
Shaltout said that when the Americans arrived
in Baghdad, he offered his assistance to U.S.
military officials. Instead he was arrested
by Marines who went to his hotel suite
taking his documents. Shaltout has the
videotape of his arrest, and several
supporting documents.
Source: Rights and Freedom International
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January 15, 2007