But there've been some little stirrings and mentions once in a while. Which is what I expected when I first posted about Saddam's deputy and one of the biggest baddest in the deck of cards - #6, the highest card number still (allegedly) at large.
But is he really that big and bad? And is he really still at large?
June 24, 2004 - Fox News
Al Douri, the highest-ranking of the coalition's most-wanted 55 Iraqis still at large, was the deputy chairman of Saddam Hussein's Revolutionary Command Council, and was cited for several months as the most capable and dangerous Baathist for his ability to coordinate, plan and finance attacks, as well as his ability to recruit fresh insurgents.
Al Douri had fallen off the radar screen as coalition and media focus has shifted to Zarqawi and his ilk, but now senior officials are telling Fox News that al Douri — whom they describe as an avowed and "fanatic" Islamist whose two sons have sworn 'fealty' to Usama bin Laden — is in league with Zarqawi and Al Qaeda elements. Fallujah is the center of their universe, officials said.
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Al Douri, the highest-ranking of the coalition's most-wanted 55 Iraqis still at large, was the deputy chairman of Saddam Hussein's Revolutionary Command Council, and was cited for several months as the most capable and dangerous Baathist for his ability to coordinate, plan and finance attacks, as well as his ability to recruit fresh insurgents.
Al Douri had fallen off the radar screen as coalition and media focus has shifted to Zarqawi and his ilk, but now senior officials are telling Fox News that al Douri — whom they describe as an avowed and "fanatic" Islamist whose two sons have sworn 'fealty' to Usama bin Laden — is in league with Zarqawi and Al Qaeda elements. Fallujah is the center of their universe, officials said.
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A handy little package justifying the total annihilation of the city, which seems to be our goal.
December 17, 2003 - Sydney Morning Herald
He was once the butt of jokes, but now he is the most wanted man in Iraq.
...Many Iraqis were bewildered when the $US10-million reward was announced, because al-Douri was the subject of much ridicule during Saddam's regime. Atwan Rasul, 38, a Baghdad fish seller, said: "You couldn't tell jokes about Saddam himself, but you could tell jokes about Izzat al-Douri. No one respected him. This man can't be the leader of the Iraqi resistance."
article
He was once the butt of jokes, but now he is the most wanted man in Iraq.
...Many Iraqis were bewildered when the $US10-million reward was announced, because al-Douri was the subject of much ridicule during Saddam's regime. Atwan Rasul, 38, a Baghdad fish seller, said: "You couldn't tell jokes about Saddam himself, but you could tell jokes about Izzat al-Douri. No one respected him. This man can't be the leader of the Iraqi resistance."
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Well, maybe. The Chowderhead in Chief is the butt of a lot of jokes, and unfortunately, and incredibly, he's the leader of the world's alleged superpower.
I say alleged because from some things I've been reading, it appears that we could be a giant patsy to the much wilier Israeli and Iranian intelligence agencies, unwittingly and ignorantly (or are there traitors in high places?) doing their bidding in the Middle East.
December 16, 2003 - Xinhuanet, China View
BAGHDAD, Dec. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Saddam Hussein's top lieutenant, has surrendered to the US forces in Iraq,Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV channel reported Tuesday.
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BAGHDAD, Dec. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Saddam Hussein's top lieutenant, has surrendered to the US forces in Iraq,Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV channel reported Tuesday.
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Very interesting. A number of captures have been claimed and refuted, so it's possible that this was one of those reports that jumped the gun. But it might also be one that coincided with the idea that the value of keeping quiet about captures for use later might be greater than the value of immediate reports. The fact that it was reported in every Murdoch-owned Australian newspaper, but not on Fox News (which is also owned by Murdoch) makes it very suspect. Whether that indicates the truth or the inaccuracy of the report might be a toss-up except for the fact that the Australian press reported that they got the story from Al Arabiya TV. They say he surrendered. And other reports say he is riddled with cancer and needs medical attention, so he couldn't go into hiding. Plus, the Americans kidnapped his wife and daughter on December 1, 2003 (yes, I know, that's illegal).
I've decided to keep a page listing al-Douri posts, to follow this along for a possible surprise "capture". Interestingly, only one of the links in my posts back at the time of that reported surrender works any more, and it's an archived News.com.au article, which doesn't bear the date. However, at the time, I thought I might need the December 17, 2003, report later, so I archived a copy of it myself. I had to go to Lexis/Nexis to find the Xinhuanet article, where I also found the following. I can't seem to get it from a search engine other than LexisNexis, which is not freely publicly accessible, so I'll have to copy and paste it without a link:
BAGHDAD, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The current rotating president of the Iraqi Governing Council, Jalal Talabani, admitted on Wednesday that he had been asked to mediate between the US military and Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, former Iraqi regime's second figure.
"After the downfall of former regime, one of the relatives of al-Douri came to me and asked me to negotiate with coalition forces so that he could surrender on three conditions," Talabani told reporters.
Al-Douri had offered to surrender provided he was not handed to Kuwait, was given special medical care and had his name scrapped from the US most wanted list of former Iraqi officials, Talabani said.
The US-led coalition had agreed on the first two conditions but denied the third one because he was the number two in the former regime and his crimes could not be spared, Talabani stressed.
Al-Douri was reportedly in bad health when the US-led war began last March, probably suffering from blood cancer, but his current condition is unknown....
LOAD-DATE: November 6, 2003
"After the downfall of former regime, one of the relatives of al-Douri came to me and asked me to negotiate with coalition forces so that he could surrender on three conditions," Talabani told reporters.
Al-Douri had offered to surrender provided he was not handed to Kuwait, was given special medical care and had his name scrapped from the US most wanted list of former Iraqi officials, Talabani said.
The US-led coalition had agreed on the first two conditions but denied the third one because he was the number two in the former regime and his crimes could not be spared, Talabani stressed.
Al-Douri was reportedly in bad health when the US-led war began last March, probably suffering from blood cancer, but his current condition is unknown....
LOAD-DATE: November 6, 2003
I say he surrendered in December 2003, and is either dead now, or preparing to be "captured" before November 2. And if anybody wants to make bets, I'm putting my money on the latter.
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