PEOPLE OF IOWA...

Saddam Tape Calls for Jihad Against U.S. Forces (Samia Nakhoul, 7/17/03, Reuters)

Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, not seen since he was toppled in April, appeared to call on Iraqis to mount a jihad, or holy struggle, to oust occupying U.S. troops in an audiotape aired Thursday. [...]

The speaker described as "baseless" U.S. and British allegations that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the main justification for the war which overthrew Saddam. No such weapons have been found.

He accused President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair of fabricating lies.

"What will the two liars Bush and Blair say to their people and to humanity? What will they tell the world? What they said was wrong and baseless. The lies were known to the president of the United States and to the prime minister of Britain when they decided to wage war on Iraq," the tape added.

The speaker also attacked Iraq's new U.S.-backed Governing Council, saying it was a puppet of Washington and could not serve the Iraqi people. [...]

The speaker on the tape vowed that resistance against U.S. occupation would intensify.

"The foreign occupier occupied Iraq to weaken it and destroy its resources, that is why the only solution...is to resist the occupation to make the enemy fail."

"I am confident that our people who rejected the occupation will resist them," the voice said.

The analysis has just come back and the CIA says it's actually Howard Dean at a fundraiser in Des Moines. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 18, 2003 12:45 AM