# Kurds Caught Saddam FIRST?! How will we ever know? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 22, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-caught-saddam-first-how-will-we-ever-know/220448 "2003-12-22T14:06:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CheekyMonkey613](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e480ec/32.png) [@CheekyMonkey613](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheekyMonkey613)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-caught-saddam-first-how-will-we-ever-know/220448/1 "2003-12-22T14:06:14Z")
On [Drudge](http://www.drudgereport.com/) this morning, I see two interesting headlines: [Saddam was held by Kurdish forces, drugged and left for US troops](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=1514&u=/afp/iraq_saddam_britain&printer=1) > [@](#): > > LONDON, (AFP) - Saddam Hussein was captured by US troops only after he had been taken prisoner by Kurdish forces, drugged and abandoned ready for American soldiers to recover him, a British Sunday newspaper said. Saddam came into the hands of the Kurdish Patriotic Front after being betrayed to the group by a member of the al-Jabour tribe, whose daughter had been raped by Saddam’s son Uday, leading to a blood feud, reported the Sunday Express, which quoted an unnamed senior British military intelligence officer. [We got him: Kurds say they caught Saddam](http://www.smh.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2003/12/21/1071941612613.html) > [@](#): > > An unnamed Western intelligence source in the Middle East was quoted in the British Sunday Express yesterday: “Saddam was not captured as a result of any American or British intelligence. We knew that someone would eventually take their revenge, it was just a matter of time.” That would make a lot of sense. Saddam’s own daughter claimed right away that anyone who knew him could tell he was drugged. The US was so proud to announce, “Ladies & Gentlemen, we got him”. Would they be so brazen to do this knowing full well the Kurds got him first? Last but not least, **HOW WILL WE KNOW FOR SURE?** Will it just come down to believing whatever story seems more likely? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-caught-saddam-first-how-will-we-ever-know/220448/2 "2003-12-22T14:34:50Z")
If the Kurds caught him first, they would right now be parading his head on a stick. They would be telling the world of how they tortured him, and they would be showing video of how quickly he began to beg for his life. If the Kurds caught him first, there wouldn’t be a Saddam Hussein right now. Saddam treated the Kurds in a way analogous to how Stalin treated the populations of Eastern Europe. He launched air strikes on them, he killed individuals outright, and he dumped nerve gas on Kurdish women and children. The Kurds have absolutely no interest in keeping him alive, save for the revenge of torturing him to death. But will we ever know for sure? No. We’ll also never know for sure that you are a human being, not an alien from Mars. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-caught-saddam-first-how-will-we-ever-know/220448/3 "2003-12-22T14:55:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > **If the Kurds caught him first, they would right now be parading his head on a stick. They would be telling the world of how they tortured him, and they would be showing video of how quickly he began to beg for his life. If the Kurds caught him first, there wouldn’t be a Saddam Hussein right now.** You must think Kurds are dumb, impulsive folk. There’s a [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=230605) in GD on this. I’ve posted two links there that might be of help. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-caught-saddam-first-how-will-we-ever-know/220448/4 "2003-12-22T15:00:55Z")
**Gyan9** : I think Kurds are humans who have been treated inhumanely due to the actions of one specific man. I think they would react as such. Look at how the Italians treated Benito Mussolini. I believe they hung the corpse by its feet and just kept beating it. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-caught-saddam-first-how-will-we-ever-know/220448/5 "2003-12-22T15:05:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\ ***Gyan9** : I think Kurds are humans who have been treated inhumanely due to the actions of one specific man. I think they would react as such. > \*\* We aren’t talking about common folk here. We are talking about organized militia here. Surely, their leaders have political aspirations and US favour-currying in mind. They are surely aware that Saddam’s fate is fixed no matter which coalition authority gets hold of him and that the US admin. would be quite willing to make some concessions in order to scoop the capture. ---
**Author:** ![adirondack\_mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@adirondack\_mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adirondack_mike)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-caught-saddam-first-how-will-we-ever-know/220448/6 "2003-12-22T16:21:33Z")
Well Let’s see- 1. Have the Kurds capture SH - keep quiet about it. 2. Turn him over to US troops who - keep it quiet until - 3. they organize 600 troops on a raid - and they keep quiet about it, AND 4. make sure the big guy (SH) - keeps quiet about it. Yup that makes sense to me. Remember JFK if you want to keep a secret involve as many people as possible. ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-caught-saddam-first-how-will-we-ever-know/220448/7 "2003-12-22T16:28:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by adirondack\_mike \* > \*\*Well Let’s see- > > 1. Have the Kurds capture SH - keep quiet about it. > > 2. Turn him over to US troops who - keep it quiet until - > > 3. they organize 600 troops on a raid - and they keep quiet about it, AND > > 4. make sure the big guy (SH) - keeps quiet about it. > > Yup that makes sense to me. Remember JFK if you want to keep a secret involve as many people as possible. \*\* You forgot to add: 1. Give him a loaded gun. 2. Give him $750,000 to count while wating for the Americans to get him. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-caught-saddam-first-how-will-we-ever-know/220448/8 "2003-12-22T16:37:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by adirondack\_mike \* > **Well Let’s see-** You make this sound like the Jessica Lynch conspiracy. Surely the Saddam story is equally spinworthy? ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-caught-saddam-first-how-will-we-ever-know/220448/9 "2003-12-22T17:21:46Z")
One of the articles I read gave the reason for the Kurds actions. They realized that Bush needed the prestige of the “capture” for political hay, while the Kurds needed to make certain that they were awarded power in a country in which they have had very little in the past. The Kurds in essence, held Hussein hostage for their concessions. Seems perfectly plausable to me considering the rest of the spin our current administration has spat out. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-caught-saddam-first-how-will-we-ever-know/220448/10 "2003-12-22T17:49:58Z")
Does the $25 million reward go up or down depending on whether Saddam is turned in alive or dead? ---
**Author:** ![LemonThrower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@LemonThrower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LemonThrower)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-caught-saddam-first-how-will-we-ever-know/220448/11 "2003-12-22T18:29:21Z")
this is the biggest conspiracy since the not-fake Thanksgiving turkey story. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-caught-saddam-first-how-will-we-ever-know/220448/12 "2003-12-23T08:16:01Z")
No, no, you’ve got it all wrong. The Kurds were out looking for Osama for us. They caught Saddam, realized they’d kidnapped the wrong guy, and decided to drug him and leave him in a hole so they could blame it on the Americans… ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-caught-saddam-first-how-will-we-ever-know/220448/13 "2003-12-23T09:08:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\*Look at how the Italians treated Benito Mussolini. I believe they hung the corpse by its feet and just kept beating it. \*\* That’s about right. Have you seen the photos of Il Duce’s head, after he’d been hanging for a while? Yeech! :eek: :pukie: