Saddam in his own words
2006-12-30 06:28
Baghdad - Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was
hanged on Saturday for crimes against humanity.
Here are some of his notable statements:
AT THE START OF GULF WAR - January. 1991:
"When the deaths and dead mount for them, the infidels
will leave and the flag of Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest) will
fly over the mother of all battles."
DURING THE GULF WAR - February. 1991:
"We will chase [Americans] to every corner at all times.
"No high tower of steel will protect them against the fire of
truth."
ON THE 9/11 ATTACKS - September. 2001:
"The United States is reaping the thorns its rulers have
sown in the world."
ON US THREATS OF WAR: August 9 2002:
"Darkness shall be defeated."
"The forces of evil will carry their coffins on their backs,
die in disgraceful failure, taking their schemes back with them,
or digging their own graves," he said.
MESSAGE TO UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY, September 19 2002:
"I hereby declare before you that Iraq is clear of all
nuclear, chemical and biological weapons."
"The US administration wants to destroy Iraq in order to
control the Middle East's oil, and consequently control the
politics as well as the oil and economic policies of the whole
world."
ON IMMINENT US ATTACK - January 17 2003:
"They will commit suicide on the walls of Baghdad and other
Iraqi cities ... The entire nation will rise up in defence of
its right to life, of its role and of anything it holds sacred."
ON NOT LOSING SLEEP ABOUT WAR - January 20 2003:
"Put your minds at ease that I rarely find it difficult to
sleep ... I fall asleep as soon as I put my head on the pillow.
"I don't need sleeping pills, unlike some officials we hear
about, and I don't get insomnia like some people do."
ON FIRST DAY OF US-LED INVASION - March 20 2003:
"The criminal little Bush has committed a crime against
humanity."
ON THE US INVASION - March 24 2003:
"After underestimating you ... the enemy is trapped in the
sacred land of Iraq which is being defended by its great people
and army."
SADDAM ON THE RUN - July 2003:
Addressing the Iraqi people in an audiotape: "I urge you to
protect the heroic resistance fighters and not to give the
infidel invaders or their aides any information or help."
"Now that all has been revealed, I would like you, Iraqis,
to ask the invaders: 'Where are the weapons that you claimed
Iraq was hiding and which you used as a pretext to wage war and
aggression on our country?'"
ON HIS CAPTURE - December 2003:
"My name is Saddam Hussein. I am the president of Iraq, and
I want to negotiate."
DURING HIS TRIAL - December 2005:
"Even if they put me in hellfire, God forgive me, let them
put me in fire with the firewood that wanted to burn Abraham and
I would say, 'Fine, for the sake of Iraq.' And I will not cry,
for my heart is full of belief."
DUJAIL TRIAL - March 2006:
During his trial for the killing of 148 Shi'ites from Dujail
and the razing of their farmland and mass deportations, Saddam
said he acted after an attempt on his life as he drove through
the town during a visit in July 1982: "So where is the crime?"
AHEAD OF EXECUTION - December 2006:
"Here I offer myself in sacrifice. If my soul goes down this
path (of martyrdom) it will face God in serenity."
- Reuters