Iraqi President Saddam Hussein urged fellow Iraqis to “hit them hard” in an appearance on state television today.
Wearing a military uniform and beret, Hussein made reference to an event that occurred after the “decapitation” airstrikes on March 20, which U.S. intelligence officials say suggests he may still be alive.
Hussein cited the downing of an American Apache helicopter on March 23, which Iraqi officials claim was shot down by farmers in central Iraq. Footage of farmers waving rifles and dancing near the helicopter aired shortly after the aircraft went missing. The two pilots were classified as missing, and are thought to be prisoners of war.
“Perhaps you remember the valiant Iraqi peasant and how he shot down an American Apache with an old weapon,” Hussein said.
Television footage later in the day showed the Iraqi leader inspecting bombed out areas in the streets and being cheered by a large crowd of people.
Pentagon and White House officials say the tape is not necessarily new.
“The tape does not give us any firm conclusions one way or another. As has happened in the past, the tape will go through technical analysis to determine whether the voice is indeed Saddam Hussein,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters at a briefing.
“In the bigger scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter because, whether it is him or whether it isn’t him, the regime’s days are numbered and are coming to an end,” he added.
Fleischer also disputed a statement by Hussein that coalition forces “bypassed” Iraqi armed defenses.
“That, of course, is not the fact. … We attacked the forces defending Baghdad. We hardly went around them,” he said.
“We find it interesting that Saddam Hussein, if he is alive, feels a need to walk in the streets and prove that. What we don’t see is effective command and control from his level,” said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
When asked why coalition forces have not taken out Iraqi television, which is clearly being used as a propaganda tool by the regime, Myers said coalition forces have degraded its capability and its transmission was “sporadic at best.”
Meanwhile, Iraq’s Information Minister Mohammed al-Sahhaf issued an ominous threat, vowing that the coalition forces deployed to secure Baghdad’s international airport faced “unconventional action” tonight.
Al-Sahhaf later clarified that “unconventional” was not a reference to weapons of mass destruction, but to “commando and martyrdom operations” that would be staged in “a very new, creative way.”
“Martyrdom operations” is widely used code for suicide bombings. Earlier today, a car explosion killed three U.S. soldiers at a military checkpoint northwest of Baghdad. U.S. Central Command officials describe the incident as a suicide bombing.
“A pregnant female stepped out of the vehicle and began screaming in fear,” according to a statement. “At this point the civilian vehicle exploded.”
The woman and the driver also died.
“These are not military actions. These are terrorist actions,” said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, Central Command deputy director of operations.
“As we close in on Baghdad, we have great concern about whether or not they would use [weapons of mass destruction],” warned Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke at a press briefing. “We realize that some of the fighting from a desperate, dying regime could be pretty intense.”
