Ex-Marine Says Public Version of Saddam Capture Fiction - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Brewmaniac · 12-19-2005, 07:24 PM

I just stumbled across this and didn't see posted any where. So...

http://www.13wham.com/news/national/...0-21C8818788D4

United Press International

A former U.S. Marine who participated in capturing ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said the public version of his capture was fabricated.

Ex-Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh, of Lebanese descent, was quoted in the Saudi daily al-Medina Wednesday as saying Saddam was actually captured Friday, Dec. 12, 2003, and not the day after, as announced by the U.S. Army.

"I was among the 20-man unit, including eight of Arab descent, who searched for Saddam for three days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced," Abou Rabeh said.

"We captured him after fierce resistance during which a Marine of Sudanese origin was killed," he said.

He said Saddam himself fired at them with a gun from the window of a room on the second floor. Then they shouted at him in Arabic: "You have to surrender. ... There is no point in resisting."

"Later on, a military production team fabricated the film of Saddam's capture in a hole, which was in fact a deserted well," Abou Rabeh said.

Abou Rabeh was interviewed in Lebanon.

Ustwo · 12-19-2005, 07:32 PM

Quote:

According to this UPI "report", Ex-Sgt Nadim Abou Rabeh claims that:

Ex-Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh, of Lebanese descent, was quoted in the Saudi daily al-Medina Wednesday as saying Saddam was actually captured Friday, Dec. 12, 2003, and not the day after, as announced by the U.S. Army.

"I was among the 20-man unit, including eight of Arab descent, who searched for Saddam for three days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced," Abou Rabeh said.

Oddly enough Mr. Abou Rabeh doesn't show up in any DOD records databases that are available to the public.

Military.com has a rather extensive DOD database to search from called "Buddy Finder" (requires membership which is free). I've used it in the past to look up old friends who I served with, and I've never had a problem finding any of them. Active Duty members show up in the database as well. Now if Mr. Rabeh was indeed an active duty Marine, then he would show up, yet he doesn't.

Of course one should take the entire article fabrication with a big grain of salt, given that the "interview" was conducted in Lebenon. So why would the UPI even bother running what by all accounts is an outright falsehood? Why didn't the UPI even bother to source the story, or do basic fact checking. Is reprinting rumors from Saudi newspapers what constitutes journalism today?

And just to put another nail in the coffin, No Marines were involved in the capture of Saddam. Notice in these pictures the US flags on the shoulders of the soldiers holding Saddam, the Marine Corps does not put flags on their uniforms. Secondly, no Marine units were in that vicinity when Saddam was captured, third, no Marines were killed during that time frame, either the day before, day of or day after.

Case closed.

This is just a story for the moonbats and something to make Arabs nationalists feel less emasculated by the fall of Iraq.

Carno · 12-19-2005, 08:39 PM

LMFAO... yeah that was the first thing I noticed... Marines don't have the US flag on their cammies.

alpha phi · 12-19-2005, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carn

LMFAO... yeah that was the first thing I noticed... Marines don't have the US flag on their cammies.

Seems some do

http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/PHOTOGALLERY.html

the one with the flag in this pic is army
http://www.dod.gov/photos/Feb2005/05...-1888A-011.jpg (pic is huge)
http://www.dod.gov/photos/Feb2005/05...1888A-011.html

Is the picture in the article of army......Looks more like their uniform
UPI is still baised to the point that their reporting is questionable
The are owned by the Unification Church otherwist known as the Moonies.

Carno · 12-19-2005, 09:59 PM

You'll have to find me a better pic that has USMC insignia visible and the US flag patch.

Seaver · 12-20-2005, 05:41 AM

Carn that first picture Alpha posted IS a Marine. You can tell by the digi-cami's. Yeah the Army is getting their version, but it's a grey version and is clearly different.

Some Marines DO put the flag patch on their shoulder. It's on backwards because the Marines do not want to see the flag "in retreat", instead it's always charging forward. HOWEVER, they take it off while entering combat because that bright red/white stripes tend to ruin the whole point of camoflage.

stevie667 · 12-20-2005, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seaver

HOWEVER, they take it off while entering combat because that bright red/white stripes tend to ruin the whole point of camoflage.

"They're everywhere! I can't see them! What do we do?"
'Aim for the flags, aim for the flags!'

Grasshopper Green · 12-20-2005, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seaver

Carn that first picture Alpha posted IS a Marine. You can tell by the digi-cami's. Yeah the Army is getting their version, but it's a grey version and is clearly different.

Some Marines DO put the flag patch on their shoulder. It's on backwards because the Marines do not want to see the flag "in retreat", instead it's always charging forward. HOWEVER, they take it off while entering combat because that bright red/white stripes tend to ruin the whole point of camoflage.

Out of curiosity, I asked hubby about this and he affirmed this. He wore a patch on his shoulder during non combat deployments to Kosovo and Africa, but he did remove them while in Iraq. He said the picture posted was probably taken about the time he got out (fall 2003), because the Marine still had regular camoflauged helmets and mollypacks; they hadn't made the digitized ones yet.

pan6467 · 12-20-2005, 09:13 AM

I'd heard something like this right after it happened, but then never heard more about it.

A lot of war is propaganda and show, this was to immasculate the man and show him as human.

I doubt anyone could truly believe that we captured him that easily, but it makes for a great rally and pride propaganda photo op to show we did. And it allows us at home to believe the war was going smoothly and that we were fighting weaklings....

Alas, such is war. The problem the warmongers had with Vietnam was, for the first time the press showed what war really was, it showed the body bags and count every night and that war was not just some far away affair. The truth
couldn't be hidden by the propaganda and it scared the people at home into acting.

This administration has learned and has been able to keep focus on other issues.... Delay, Schiavo, and so on, and has been able to control the press far better than in the Vietnam era.

radioguy · 12-20-2005, 09:21 AM

does it matter how he was captured? people make stuff up to get attention or to make something appear more amazing than it really was. i could care less how saddam was captured, just that he was.

Ustwo · 12-20-2005, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pan6467

I'd heard something like this right after it happened, but then never heard more about it.

A lot of war is propaganda and show, this was to immasculate the man and show him as human.

I doubt anyone could truly believe that we captured him that easily, but it makes for a great rally and pride propaganda photo op to show we did. And it allows us at home to believe the war was going smoothly and that we were fighting weaklings....

Alas, such is war. The problem the warmongers had with Vietnam was, for the first time the press showed what war really was, it showed the body bags and count every night and that war was not just some far away affair. The truth
couldn't be hidden by the propaganda and it scared the people at home into acting.

This administration has learned and has been able to keep focus on other issues.... Delay, Schiavo, and so on, and has been able to control the press far better than in the Vietnam era.

Hehe of course you believe it pan, of course.

Charlatan · 12-20-2005, 09:54 AM

The problem with stories like this is that it reminds us that you can't always believe what you are told. It puts that little seed of doubt in your head.

All sides have ample reason and opportunity to massage the truth.

To remind some of the lies used to sell the US position, one only need look at how Hill and Knowlton used the Kuwaiti Ambassador's daughter to cry and tell us about babies being tossed from incubators. Something that never happened but this non-event was one of the main factors in convincing the average American that Gulf War 1 was justified. We could also look to the little show they put on for the rescue of Jessica Lynch.

To remind us how others might spin another way, just remember the daily briefings from Baghdad Bob. While we may laugh at what he had to say you must remember that for many in Iraq this was the only source of information they had at the time.

Sure, this piece may be just a hunk of nonsense there to make those who loved Saddam feel a little better... but in this story there just might be something like the truth.

The problem is... given how the media is manipulated... you just can't know. In the end, you just have to decide for yourself how you want to view the situation.

For me... I don't really care how Saddam was captured.

Carno · 12-20-2005, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seaver

Carn that first picture Alpha posted IS a Marine. You can tell by the digi-cami's. Yeah the Army is getting their version, but it's a grey version and is clearly different.

Some Marines DO put the flag patch on their shoulder. It's on backwards because the Marines do not want to see the flag "in retreat", instead it's always charging forward. HOWEVER, they take it off while entering combat because that bright red/white stripes tend to ruin the whole point of camoflage.

Interesting.. I didn't know that. I recognized the diggie cammies right away, but I had no explanation for it.. that's why I asked for another pic. And yes I know why the flag is facing that way. It's the same for soldiers, except they wear it on their right shoulder.

Regardless, the soldiers in the pic in the article are clearly not Marines.

kutulu · 12-20-2005, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlatan

The problem with stories like this is that it reminds us that you can't always believe what you are told. It puts that little seed of doubt in your head.

All sides have ample reason and opportunity to massage the truth.

To remind some of the lies used to sell the US position, one only need look at how Hill and Knowlton used the Kuwaiti Ambassador's daughter to cry and tell us about babies being tossed from incubators. Something that never happened but this non-event was one of the main factors in convincing the average American that Gulf War 1 was justified. We could also look to the little show they put on for the rescue of Jessica Lynch.

To remind us how others might spin another way, just remember the daily briefings from Baghdad Bob. While we may laugh at what he had to say you must remember that for many in Iraq this was the only source of information they had at the time.

Sure, this piece may be just a hunk of nonsense there to make those who loved Saddam feel a little better... but in this story there just might be something like the truth.

The problem is... given how the media is manipulated... you just can't know. In the end, you just have to decide for yourself how you want to view the situation.

For me... I don't really care how Saddam was captured.

I wouldn't put it past us to stage his capture after the fact. We staged plenty of other things (Jessican Lynch). In the end it really doesn't matter.

12-19-2005, 07:24 PM	#1 (permalink)
Brewmaniac Searching for the perfect brew!	Ex-Marine Says Public Version of Saddam Capture Fiction I just stumbled across this and didn't see posted any where. So... http://www.13wham.com/news/national/...0-21C8818788D4 United Press International A former U.S. Marine who participated in capturing ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said the public version of his capture was fabricated. Ex-Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh, of Lebanese descent, was quoted in the Saudi daily al-Medina Wednesday as saying Saddam was actually captured Friday, Dec. 12, 2003, and not the day after, as announced by the U.S. Army. "I was among the 20-man unit, including eight of Arab descent, who searched for Saddam for three days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced," Abou Rabeh said. "We captured him after fierce resistance during which a Marine of Sudanese origin was killed," he said. He said Saddam himself fired at them with a gun from the window of a room on the second floor. Then they shouted at him in Arabic: "You have to surrender. ... There is no point in resisting." "Later on, a military production team fabricated the film of Saddam's capture in a hole, which was in fact a deserted well," Abou Rabeh said. Abou Rabeh was interviewed in Lebanon. __________________ "That's a joke... I say, that's a joke, son"

12-19-2005, 08:39 PM	#3 (permalink)
Carno Junkie	LMFAO... yeah that was the first thing I noticed... Marines don't have the US flag on their cammies. __________________ http://how-to-spell-ridiculous.com/

12-19-2005, 09:59 PM	#5 (permalink)
Carno Junkie	You'll have to find me a better pic that has USMC insignia visible and the US flag patch. __________________ http://how-to-spell-ridiculous.com/

12-20-2005, 09:13 AM	#9 (permalink)
pan6467 Lennonite Priest Location: Mansfield, Ohio USA	I'd heard something like this right after it happened, but then never heard more about it. A lot of war is propaganda and show, this was to immasculate the man and show him as human. I doubt anyone could truly believe that we captured him that easily, but it makes for a great rally and pride propaganda photo op to show we did. And it allows us at home to believe the war was going smoothly and that we were fighting weaklings.... Alas, such is war. The problem the warmongers had with Vietnam was, for the first time the press showed what war really was, it showed the body bags and count every night and that war was not just some far away affair. The truth couldn't be hidden by the propaganda and it scared the people at home into acting. This administration has learned and has been able to keep focus on other issues.... Delay, Schiavo, and so on, and has been able to control the press far better than in the Vietnam era. __________________ I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

12-20-2005, 09:54 AM	#12 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	The problem with stories like this is that it reminds us that you can't always believe what you are told. It puts that little seed of doubt in your head. All sides have ample reason and opportunity to massage the truth. To remind some of the lies used to sell the US position, one only need look at how Hill and Knowlton used the Kuwaiti Ambassador's daughter to cry and tell us about babies being tossed from incubators. Something that never happened but this non-event was one of the main factors in convincing the average American that Gulf War 1 was justified. We could also look to the little show they put on for the rescue of Jessica Lynch. To remind us how others might spin another way, just remember the daily briefings from Baghdad Bob. While we may laugh at what he had to say you must remember that for many in Iraq this was the only source of information they had at the time. Sure, this piece may be just a hunk of nonsense there to make those who loved Saddam feel a little better... but in this story there just might be something like the truth. The problem is... given how the media is manipulated... you just can't know. In the end, you just have to decide for yourself how you want to view the situation. For me... I don't really care how Saddam was captured. __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke Last edited by Charlatan; 12-20-2005 at 11:35 AM..

12-20-2005, 05:41 AM	#6 (permalink)
Seaver Junkie Location: Fort Worth, TX	Carn that first picture Alpha posted IS a Marine. You can tell by the digi-cami's. Yeah the Army is getting their version, but it's a grey version and is clearly different. Some Marines DO put the flag patch on their shoulder. It's on backwards because the Marines do not want to see the flag "in retreat", instead it's always charging forward. HOWEVER, they take it off while entering combat because that bright red/white stripes tend to ruin the whole point of camoflage.

12-20-2005, 09:21 AM	#10 (permalink)
radioguy Registered User Location: Texas	does it matter how he was captured? people make stuff up to get attention or to make something appear more amazing than it really was. i could care less how saddam was captured, just that he was.