US ridicules Saddam and son

US ridicules Saddam and son
REUTERS

JAN 17: The United States ridiculed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his eldest son Uday on Tuesday for their latest comments on the status of Kuwait and the plight of poor Americans.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher mocked Uday Saddam Hussein's proposal to include Kuwait inside Iraq on Iraqi maps and his father's offer of 100 million euros ($94 million) to help poor Americans.

"This (Uday's proposal) is a vivid illustration that Saddam's regime remains mired in the same dangerous delusions that dragged Iraq into conflict with the world community 10 years ago," he said.

On January 17, 1991, the United States launched the campaign of air strikes that ended with Iraqi troops driven out of Kuwait six weeks later.

On the offer of 100 million euros, he said: "It's a nonsensical idea that underscores the absurd lengths to which Saddam's regime will go in order to deflect world attention from the desperate plight of the Iraqi people under his dictatorship. Such ridiculous public statements ignore what should be his first responsibility as head of government -- to see to the welfare of his own people."

He added: "Much has changed in 10 years but there are two constants -- Saddam Hussein's continued duplicity and brutality and the resolve of the international community to help the Iraqi people and to prevent Saddam Hussein from seriously threatening the region again."