Tuesday, Mar 25, 2003
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By Sridhar Krishnaswami
The determination has been made that the speech was taped, the only question being whether it was hours, days or weeks before the broadcast. Intelligence and military officials are saying that the Iraqi leader referred to certain military units as having been involved in the fighting when apparently this has not been the case. There has also been the argument that Mr. Hussein could have easily made specific references to recent events to show he is alive but he did not. There is also speculation on whether or not it was the `real' Mr. Hussein, but the caution is that the Iraqi leader would not be too casual on this score for fear of being easily detected. It is one thing for Mr. Hussein to use `doubles' in motorcades, but it is something totally different when it came to making a public speech. At the United Nations, the Iraqi Ambassador, Mohammad al Douri, brushed aside speculations on the "real time pictures'' of Mr. Hussein even while being less than emphatic on whether or not the Iraqi leader was alive. "I can't answer that question. I think he's alive," he remarked. "I cannot believe these kind of speculations...this is a part of the war propaganda," he maintained. There has been considerable speculation on the whereabouts of the Iraqi leader, one suggestion being that he may have been wounded to the extent of requiring immediate hospital attention and transfusion on the opening night of attacks on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Pentagon and other administration officials are cautioning against rushing into any quick judgment on the role of captured plant captured at Najaf. The suggestion from top officials is that it could be a chemical plant but for civilian use. The U.S. Central Command is saying that while troops are examining several sites "of interest'', it was premature to call the plant as a chemical weapons production centre. Further, American forces are questioning two Iraqi Generals, who have been captured about weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. President, George W. Bush, met his Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, early this morning at the White House. Tomorrow, Mr. Bush is due to make a trip to the Pentagon and on Wednesday, he is travelling to the Central Command Headquarters at the Macdill Air Force Base in Florida. In a related development, the U.S. has asked Russia to prevent Russian firms from doing military business with Iraq. The U.S. President, George Bush, discussed the issue with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, during the course of a telephone talk.According to the Bush administration, the Russian firms were selling anti-tank missiles,night vision goggles and GPS jammers. ``We find these actions disturbing,'' the White House Spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said during a press briefing. ``We've asked the Russian Government that any such ongoing assistance cease immediately.'' Moscow denies that it is involved in any transaction that may be violative of the U.N. sanctions.
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