Iraqi Voter Hailed by US President

Not sure if this is 'war on terrorism' or 'politics'.
I think it's more about Iraq than politics ...

Iraq Voter Hailed By Bush Hugs Tragic Marine's Mom
NY Post
by Deborah Orin
February 3, 2005

Excerpt:
President Bush last night told the nation that Iraq "showed the world" by voting despite the terrorists — and an Iraqi woman in the crowd wept as she embraced the mother of a Marine who died a hero in Fallujah.

"We will succeed because the Iraqi people value their own liberty — as they showed the world last Sunday," Bush said in his annual State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress.

"In any nation, casting your vote is an act of civic responsibility. For millions of Iraqis, it was also an act of personal courage and they have earned the respect of us all."

Sitting with First Lady Laura Bush was Iraqi human-rights advocate Safia Taleb al-Suhail, whose father was murdered by Saddam Hussein's thugs. Shyly, on the brink of tears, she held up the purple ink-stained finger to show she'd voted.

Minutes later, Bush paid tribute to the parents of Marine Sgt. Byron Norwood, who was killed in Fallujah last November and told how Norwood had reassured his worried mother: "You've done your job, mom. Now it's my turn to protect you."

The fallen Marine's parents were sitting behind Mrs. Bush and they held tightly to each other as they stood up, their eyes teary — and suddenly al-Suhail turned around to hug the grieving mother and they both wept.

The Marine's mother clutched her son's dog tags as they hugged and wept.
Full Story
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I didn't watch the State of the Union address. However I have
seen clips of this on the news this morning. What a tear jerker!
Those two women hugging and sharing the joy and grief.
Amazing. Absolutly amazing and wonderful.

Picture of the moment.

You know what, let me go find some porcelain to puke in. The exploitation of those people was hideous!!!

Safia Taleb al-Suhail is an extremely rich Shi'ite Iraqi who was living in exile during Saddam's regime days. Her father Sheik Taled al-Suhail, was the head of the large Bani Tamin tribe who was assassinated in 1994 by Iraqi secret agents. Safia's father heavily opposed Saddam's government and conspired with US authorities by providing valuable intel etc. So make what you will, her father was a traitor to Saddam's Iraq.

Don't misinterpret my intentions here, I believe we need more Safia's in this world who are strong campaigners for women’s rights. But honestly, she doesn't represent the MAJORITY citizens nor the MAJORITY woman living in Iraq. She's very Westernized brought on by her many years of living in exile (since 94). She will never hold legitimacy in the middle-east since she does not represent Islamic women by not wearing vails etc.

This chirades was nothing more than an attempt in winning "the hearts and minds" of YOU! The American tax paying citizens who sacrifice sons & daughters for this unjustified war! I feel sorry for the Norwood's who's son would still be alive today if Bush hadn't lied to our nation/world.

God bless those good folks and the thousands of others just like them.



C'mon honestly folks, does this woman even remotely resemble the Iraqi women? The very same Iraqi women we constantly see crying on the streets of Baghdad/Fallujah? She looks more Americanized, and wealthy! than my entire family put together... deny deny deny..


[edit on 3-2-2005 by syntaxer]

Originally posted by syntaxer
Safia Taleb al-Suhail is an extremely rich Shi'ite Iraqi who was living in exile during Saddam's regime days. Her father Sheik Taled al-Suhail, was the head of the large Bani Tamin tribe who was assassinated in 1994 by Iraqi secret agents. Safia's father heavily opposed Saddam's government and conspired with US authorities by providing valuable intel etc. So make what you will, her father was a traitor to Saddam's Iraq.

Don't misinterpret my intentions here, I believe we need more Safia's in this world who are strong campaigners for women’s rights. But honestly, she doesn't represent the MAJORITY citizens nor the MAJORITY woman living in Iraq. She's very Westernized brought on by her many years of living in exile (since 94). She will never hold legitimacy in the middle-east since she does not represent Islamic women by not wearing vails etc.

This chirades was nothing more than an attempt in winning "the hearts and minds" of YOU! The American tax paying citizens who sacrifice sons & daughters for this unjustified war! I feel sorry for the Norwood's who's son would still be alive today if Bush hadn't lied to our nation/world.

God bless those good folks and the thousands of others just like them.

[edit on 3-2-2005 by syntaxer]

Good stuff Syntaxer! Of course they left all that stuff out. The herd really doesn't need to know that anyway.

Peace

What do you think everyone thought? They picked up a peasant woman off the street who doesn't speak English, took her away from her family, and threw her on a plane to Washington...come on, everyone knows she was a leading Iraqi women's rights leader and was in exile when Saddam was in power.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
What do you think everyone thought? They picked up a peasant woman off the street who doesn't speak English, took her away from her family, and threw her on a plane to Washington...come on, everyone knows she was a leading Iraqi women's rights leader and was in exile when Saddam was in power.

I think the people in Iraq may have preferred to have a woman there that was a little more representative of the majority. She was in exile from Saddam living in the lap of luxury. Give me a break!

Peace

Nothing more than a contrived photo op. Sad to see the powers that be exploit people like this just for a photo op. And you know right after it happened, Bush's advisors were congratulating each other on the idea.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
What do you think everyone thought? They picked up a peasant woman off the street who doesn't speak English, took her away from her family, and threw her on a plane to Washington...come on, everyone knows she was a leading Iraqi women's rights leader and was in exile when Saddam was in power.

Oh please, only a very small percentage of Americans, if any at all, know who this woman (Safia) really is, yet alone her background, family history, such as her warlord father and what he represented during the time (94) in Iraq.

How far are you willing to go down the "deny ignorance" rabbit hole?

US Secretly Helped Saddam

The Pitfalls of trying Hussein

Another case that Hussein might be able to shed some light on is the murder of Iraqi opposition leader Taleb al Suhail al Tamimi. In an interview published last weekend in the London-based Asharq Al Awsat, newspaper his daughter, Nora al Tamimi, alleged that the US tipped off Saddam Hussein in 1993 to the coup that her father was about to launch.

"Zero hour was set for a certain June day in 1993 to stage the coup when Hussein would have been sponsoring an official event in Baghdad," Nora told Asharq Al Awsat in an interview conducted at the family house in Beirut. "But the Americans, who did not want the coup to succeed possibly because they were certain my father would not go along with their polices, tipped off Hussein about the impending putsch by my father and gave the names of his top aides," Nora said. "All of them died in Hussein's torture chambers." Sheik Taleb Al Tamimi was assassinated in 1994 in his apartment in Beirut in a murder the Lebanese government blamed on four guards from the Iraqi embassy.

Welcome to the American Dictatorship

Originally posted by syntaxer
only a very small percentage of Americans, if any at all,
know who this woman (Safia) really is

I never heard of her before today. I think you are correct.
Most of America hasn't heard of her, and probably most don't care
who or what she is.

It's a manufactured photo-op, more Hollywood than reality.

Wipe the drool from your chin, it is as staged as any theatre play you will ever see.

"Make sure she still has her finger stained blue from voting!"
"Yeah, yeah, this is gonna be GOLD! Gonna play awesome to our supporters in rural areas."


jako

Originally posted by Jakomo

It's a manufactured photo-op, more Hollywood than reality.

Wipe the drool from your chin, it is as staged as any theatre play you will ever see.

"Make sure she still has her finger stained blue from voting!"
"Yeah, yeah, this is gonna be GOLD! Gonna play awesome to our supporters in rural areas."


jako

I like to call it sheep chow. You bring up an interesting point, I don't think that ladies finger had any ink on it, did it? I think that's why she did the quick maneuver to the peace sign because she forgot to stick her thumb on the community ink pad. It really was pathetic.

Peace

Originally posted by Dr Love
I like to call it sheep chow. You bring up an interesting point, I don't think that ladies finger had any ink on it, did it? I think that's why she did the quick maneuver to the peace sign because she forgot to stick her thumb on the community ink pad. It really was pathetic.

Peace

You know what? I recall seeing no ink on Safia's finger too! I also grew very suspicious when the camera kept quickly cutting away, then quickly back to Safia approx 4 to 6 times during the round of applause. At that very same moment I concluded the production/broadcast crews were trying to avoid a possible mishap, perhaps not trusting Safia's reaction and/or intentions during the celebrations. Plus, I could'a swore she was about to give the middle finger, which ultimately prompted the camera to cut away and back in a fury.

1994- De-facto tribal leader and Sheika Safia Taleb al-Souhail of the Beni-Tamim Tribe (Iraq)

She the second of eight daughters of a powerful tribal sheikh - the chief of the Central Iraqi shi'ite tribe the Bani Tamim, and helped her father plan a coup against Hussein . When he was killed by Iraqi intelligence in Beirut in 1994, she became the tribe's political representative and de-facto leader, Sheikha, of the 1 million members of the tribe. She was an exile-leader and has returned to Iraq and is rather influential. In 2003 she was mentioned as a candidate for the governing council. (b. 1965-).

Safia sister, Nora, believes the US tipped off Saddam to squash the plans her warlord father had to ousted the Iraqi president. Nora's court statements involve a charge that the U.S. was a virtual accomplice in her father's murder.

I'm sorry folks I hardly ever take credit for anything here, but this is way above top secret sh*t and i deserve at least a few 'hell yea' Syntaxers!



[edit on 3-2-2005 by syntaxer]

Originally posted by syntaxer
Safia Taleb al-Suhail is an extremely rich Shi'ite Iraqi who was living in exile during Saddam's regime days.

We'll have to start requiring that any person mentioned or given a commendation supply us with their income statements for the last seven years.

How petty can you be?

Her father Sheik Taled al-Suhail, was the head of the large Bani Tamin tribe who was assassinated in 1994 by Iraqi secret agents. Safia's father heavily opposed Saddam's government and conspired with US authorities by providing valuable intel etc. So make what you will, her father was a traitor to Saddam's Iraq.

And by default a patriot to the rest of the Iraqi people.

She will never hold legitimacy in the middle-east since she does not represent Islamic women by not wearing vails etc.

I don't remember seeing any Iraqi women wearing vails (sp) when watching them on TV Sunday.??

C'mon honestly folks, does this woman even remotely resemble the Iraqi women? The very same Iraqi women we constantly see crying on the streets of Baghdad/Fallujah? She looks more Americanized, and wealthy! than my entire family put together... deny deny deny..

That's pretty rude of you Syntaxer, implying that the average Iraqi woman is something less than dignified.

You make it sound like the average Iraqi woman is a slovenly, poorly dressed peasant.

i deserve at least a few 'hell yea' Syntaxers!

Yeah, I got your 'hell yea' right here.

Originally posted by jsobecky
Safia Taleb al-Suhail is an extremely rich Shi'ite Iraqi who was living in exile during Saddam's regime days.

What gives? it's 100% true. Her father was a Shi'ite Warlord who conspired to oust Saddam and take over the country for themselves. Safia is filthy rich, that is a simple fact.

And by default a patriot to the rest of the Iraqi people.

Umm no, by default her father is a traitor to Iraq during Saddam regime days. To your westernized perspective, he was a patriot.

I don't remember seeing any Iraqi women wearing vails (sp) when watching them on TV Sunday.??

Again, you clearly are refering to a westernized perpsective. When you say "watching them on TV Sunday" you are clearly refering to American approved Islam/Muslim broadcasting, assuming you live in America/UK.

That's pretty rude of you Syntaxer, implying that the average Iraqi woman is something less than dignified.

You make it sound like the average Iraqi woman is a slovenly, poorly dressed peasant.

Indeed you're right. The average Iraqi woman has a new washer/dryer, shops at k-mart and enjoys the extra features that her new hyndai accent has to offer. Give me a break man! The average Iraqi woman IS a slovenly, poorly woman who live under oppression.

They ARE considered 2nd rate citizens.

I think another thing that jsobecky failed to pick up on was the irony that this country that's using her now is the same country that helped Saddam whack her old man out. It's definitely a tangled web that's been weaved.

Peace

Boy... more dead Iraqis from the corrupted UN cesspool
and their Oil for Food theft. It ties in to the women who
hugged at the State of the Union Address.

BTW - BOTH women have made the rounds saying that
the hug was unplanned. They BOTH are saying it was
sincere and a very emotional moment for them and that
it definately WAS NOT PLANNED. This has been on the
TV News.

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NY Post
Ian Bishop
February 4, 2005
Excerpt:

The Iraqi woman who embraced the mother of a fallen Marine during President Bush's State of the Union Address said yesterday her father was slain by a Saddam Hussein hit man paid with money from the tainted U.N. oil-for-food program.

Safia Taleb al-Suhail, whose heartfelt hug with Janet Norwood moved a watching nation to tears, said she was in awe of the "great woman who gave her beloved child to the freedom of our country" and invited her to visit a democratic Baghdad.

"I invited her in the near future to come visit us in Baghdad," al-Suhail told Fox News.

Al-Suhail's father, Sheik Taleb al-Souhail al-Tamimi, led a failed coup to oust Saddam in 1993 and was assassinated for it in Lebanon in 1994.

The Post reported last year that al-Suhail claimed Saddam used oil-for-food money as "a present" for once-trusted family friend George Tarkhaynan, a Beirut shirtmaker, to turn on her father and help Iraq assassinate him.

Al-Suhail said her tearful hug of shared sacrifice with Norwood underscored the new U.S.-Iraqi partnership in spreading democracy to Iraq.

"I didn't control myself to hold her and hug her and tell her how grateful I am," al-Suhail said. "We have both suffered in losing our beloved and I know the feeling when you lose someone who is very dear to you."
Full Story

About That Hug
NY Post
John Podhoretz
February 4, 2005

Excerpt:

... It was fraught with so much meaning that it's almost impossible to sort it all out. First of all was the expression of loss — the loss of Sgt. Byron Norwood and the pain his death has caused his mother Janet. Second was the very specific expression of gratitude on the part of Safia Taleb al-Suhail, who was able to vote this week in large measure because of the sacrifices of Americans like Norwood.

Both women seemed overwhelmed by the moment — two ordinary people from opposite sides of the world sitting in the balcony of the House chamber, to whom the president of the United States was paying tribute in part because of the tragedies they have had to endure.

But what made the moment especially meaningful was its symbolic force. It was impossible not to see the two women as indelible representatives of their respective countries — an American mother whose loss helped bring about an immeasurable gain in freedom and dignity for an Iraqi who not all that long ago was a prisoner in a torture chamber of a country.

For years now, opponents of the war have continually brought up the supposed failure of the Iraqi people to greet American military personnel as liberators. No matter that profound expressions of gratitude were in fact commonplace throughout the war and in its aftermath in the Kurdish and Shiite parts of the country.

With no single unforgettable photograph, no 10 seconds of TV coverage, to crystallize the spirit of Iraqi gratitude, it was as though that spirit did not exist.
Full Story

Iraqi voter hailed by US president? Oh, you mean Bush. For a minute I thought it was someone whose opinions matters on voting

The Iraqi woman who embraced the mother of a fallen Marine during President Bush's State of the Union Address said yesterday her father was slain by a Saddam Hussein hit man paid with money from the tainted U.N. oil-for-food program.

I have a hard time embracing this propaganda hogwash as the truth FlyersFan. It was Safia's own sister, Nora, with the court statements under OATH, that clearly fingers the CIA/US tipping off Saddams agents in fathers 94 assassination.

Give me a break, I'm sure Saddam was THAT financially poor were he couldn't afford a few measly millions of his own assassination money. How convenient, the ongoing Oil-for-Food scandal solves yet another US conflict of interest. Even if Saddam did use Oil-for-Food money to pay for George Tarkhaynan assasination services, the US provided intel that intially tipped off Saddam of Safia's father plan to form a Shi'ite revolution.

This case scenario is so typical of the US dictating the direction of foreign interests.