Operation InfoMin - With the beret, the smirk, and the attitude of total denial, doesn't the Iraqi Information Minister somehow seem ... French? Maybe it's just me. But he continues to offer us our daily denial: Iraq's Information Minister said today that Baghdad was firmly under Iraqi control and denied US reports that troops had reached the centre of the capital. Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf also reiterated that Iraqi troops had defeated US forces at Baghdad airport overnight [...] But asked about US reports that troops were in the heart of the capital, Sahhaf told a news conference: 'You can go and visit those places. Nothing there, nothing there at all. There are Iraqi checkpoints. Everything is okay.'â
Wow, the âunconventional attackâ that he promised would happen overnight must have been so unconventional as to be invisible. Iraqi Invisibility Technology has proven to be far more advanced than we ever dreamed.
I know it would be against the Geneva Convention, but I sure would like to see us make a special raid into town to grab this guy, and perp walk him in front of the cameras. It might be worth it to hear him spout, âThose are not handcuffs on me, there's nothing there, nothing there at all. These are Iraqi soldiers cleverly concealed in US uniforms. Everything is okay...â
Later: Man, this guy is better than Saturday morning cartoons.
Frenchy InfoMin is being inteviewed on Al Jazeera, and even the interviewer can't keep a straight face. The only thing that was missing would have been an Abrams tank pulling up in the background, with a US soldier holding up a sign that said, âHi Mom!â
Frenchy says those pictures we're seeing from AP, CBS, Fox, and CNN of the 3rd Infantry cruising the southern quarter of the city are not of Baghdad. Please ignore the man behind the curtain. He said he just took a busload of reporters around that area, and saw nothing.
Though he did admit he could not fulfill the reporters request to see the airport, as it was âtoo dangerous.â Indeed.
P.S. I am about to set up a Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf fan club...