Saddam morreu a 31 de Dezembro de... 2000

Regressado ao trabalho depois de um retiro espiritual e eis que a grande notícia do fim de 2006 foi a morte, a 30 de Dezembro, de Saddam Hussein. A fazer lembrar-me o fuzilamento sumário do antigo ditador romeno, Ceausescu, que morreu também durante as férias do Natal (no dia 25 de Dezembro de 1989)...



Para mim, a notícia da morte de Saddam Hussein chegou com seis anos de atraso. Saddam Hussein morreu a 31 de Dezembro de 2000, pouco antes da tomada de posse de George W. Bush, cerca de nove meses antes dos supostos atentados terroristas do dia 11 de Setembro que mais tarde serviriam de pretexto (sustentado de mentiras) para a invasão do Iraque:

"The Estimate
Political & Security Intelligence Analysis of the Islamic World and its Neighbors

12 de Janeiro de 2001

Saddam: Still Dead and Living in Baghdad

Saddam Hussein's latest 'death' — this time from an alleged stroke — proved as short-lived as his previous passings, as the Iraqi leader made several televised appearances to confound the reports. The fact that Saddam is known to use a double who resembles him closely always leaves a certain amount of lingering doubt about whether the man on the screen is really the President, but the lack of any other indications of a vacuum at the top tended to quickly dispel the stories, but some skeptics noted that the televised appearances could have been taped at any time. On the other hand, such stories have turned up often enough that most Iraq-watchers want to see a body before they believe them. But with each day that passes without tanks in the streets, the likelihood of something major being wrong seems to dwindle(...)
Reports continued to circulate that something had happened on December 31. London's Daily Telegraph cited military sources as saying that Saddam had spent five hours in the cold reviewing troops, had been seen to be handed an overcoat at one point, and had reportedly claimed of chest pains at the end of the parade, after which he was taken to Ibn Sina hospital and treated by private cardiologists. That version could no more be confirmed than the others, but might at least explain how the rumors began (...)".

Só não sei quem seria este desgraçado que foi na cantiga do carrasco...