The Saddam Capture Story a Fake?

By now, I'm sure you've heard this little nugget making the rounds. If not, here's a little run down. Some supposed ex-Marine (by the way, there are no ex-Marines, and no Marine would ever characterize himself as an "ex-Marine." But that's an issue for another day....)

Anyway, this supposed Marine claims that Saddam was actually captured the day before he was reported to have been captured. (Friday, 12/12/03 instead of Saturday, 12/13/02). The capture also supposedly took place at some "modest home" and not in the spider hole. Saddam supposedly defended himself in a fierce fire-fight that included shooting at the supposed Marine who was trying to capture him.

The supposed Marine, of Lebanese descent and named Nadim Abou Rabeh told his story in the Saudi daily paper, which was subsequently picked up by UPI.

Obviously, there's a lot more supposed "detail" from this supposed Marine, but you get the gist. Rather than credit the story any more, let's undertake a little critical analysi.

First, what took so long for this story to come out? Obviously, the Pentagon is denouncing and denying, but if this story is true, why did Nadim wait to tell his tale?

Second, if this story was true, why the cover up? Does it really matter how Saddam was captured? In fact, wouldn't it have made the US look better that Saddam was captured after an intense fire fight, but we controlled ourselves and didn't kill him when we had the opportunity?

Third, has anybody bothered to research the facts of Saddam's capture? I understand that it was the Army, not the Marines, that captured him. Army soldiers and Marines are far from interchangeable.

Fourth, it is an easy matter these days to confirm the existence of any given Marine. Did anyone search for this guy in the Marine locater, which is available on line? Here's a thought -- let's check the guy's story before we run with it.

Finally, who gains by this story? Certainly the supposed Marine, who's getting a bit of publicity now. And let's consider the original source -- a Saudi paper. What is the audience for that publication? We can bet that Saddam's reputation has to go up in light of this story. Instead of cowering in the dark, hoping the US goes away, his story has an ending closer to that of Butch and Sundance . . . excepting, of course, that he gets to walk away before the credits roll. At least, he gets to walk away for a little while longer....

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