Hussein Speech: Quick War a ‘Stupid Hope’ of Foes

Following are excerpts from the speech by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein broadcast on Baghdad Radio on Sunday, as translated by Reuters news agency:

In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate . . . :

Oh glorious Iraqis, oh moujahedeen (holy warrior) Iraqis, oh Arabs, oh believers wherever you are, we and our steadfastness are holding. Here is the great Iraqi people, your brothers and sons of your Arab nation and the great faithful part of the human family. We are all well. They are fighting with unparalleled heroism, unmatched except by the heroism of the believers who fight similar adversaries. And here is the infidel tyrant whose planes and missiles are falling out of the skies at the blows of the brave men. He is wondering how the Iraqis can confront his fading dreams with such determination and firmness.

After a while, he will begin to feel frustrated, and his defeat will be certain, God willing. . . . At that time, the valiant Iraqi men and women will not allow the army of atheism, treachery, hypocrisy . . . to realize their stupid hope that the war would only last a few days or weeks, as they imagined and declared. In the coming period, the response of Iraq will be on a larger scale, using all the means and potential that God has given us and which we have so far only used in part. . . . When the war is fought in a comprehensive manner, using all resources and weapons, the scale of death and the number of dead will, God willing, rise among the ranks of atheism, injustice and tyranny.

When they begin to die and when the message of the Iraqi soldiers reaches the farthest corner of the world, the unjust will die and the “God is Great” banner will flutter with great victory in the mother of all battles. Then the skies in the Arab homeland will appear in a new color and a sun of new hope will shine over them and over our nation and on all the good men whose bright lights will not be overcome by the darkness in the hearts of the infidels, the Zionists and the treacherous, shameful rulers, such as the traitor (Saudi King) Fahd. . . . It remains for us to tell all Arabs, all the faithful strugglers and all good supporters wherever they are: You have a duty to carry out jihad (holy war) and struggle in order to target the assembly of evil, treason and corruption everywhere.

You must also target their interests everywhere. It is a duty that is incumbent upon you, and that must necessarily correspond to the struggle of your brothers in Iraq. . . . If the opposing multitude captures you, you will be prisoners in their hands, even if they refuse to admit this in their communiques and statements.

You will inevitably be released when the war ends, in accordance with international laws and agreements which will govern the release of prisoners of war. In this way you will have pleased God and honored, with your slogans and principles, the trust given to you.

God is great, God is great, God is great, and accursed be the lowly.