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Iraqi information chief unshakable as Baghdad falls around him  by Elonka at  2:05 pm EDT, Apr  8, 2003 |  
] Al-Sahhaf's aura of confidence, along with the surprising  ] resilience of Iraqi fighters in the first weeks of the war,  ] have become an unlikely source of pride for an Arab world that ] has watched the invasion in impotent anger.  ] ] "He's the comic relief of the war," said Salwa, a 59-year-old ] Egyptian teacher. "At the same time, he's the voice of victory ] that we want to believe."   . . . ] By Monday, U.S. troops were occupying the Baghdad parade ] grounds and one of the main presidential palaces and calmly  ] chatting live on TV with a Fox News reporter. Meanwhile,  ] a few hundred yards away on the eastern bank of the Tigris  ] River, al-Sahhaf stood on the roof of the Palestine Hotel  ] telling reporters that U.S. troops had been taught "a lesson  ] that will not be forgotten in history" and were "committing  ] suicide against the walls of Baghdad."   . . . ] Indeed, it seems like the only appropriate ending for ] this televised point-counterpoint (with al-Sahhaf on one ] side and reality on the other) would be for a U.S. tank ] to roll by in the background of one of al-Sahhaf's news ] conferences with a soldier holding up a "Hi, Mom" sign.  |  
  
 
Iraqi information chief unshakable as Baghdad falls around him  by Andy at 11:26 am EDT, Apr  9, 2003 |  
] Al-Sahhaf's aura of confidence, along with the surprising  ] resilience of Iraqi fighters in the first weeks of the war,  ] have become an unlikely source of pride for an Arab world that ] has watched the invasion in impotent anger.  ] ] "He's the comic relief of the war," said Salwa, a 59-year-old ] Egyptian teacher. "At the same time, he's the voice of victory ] that we want to believe."   . . . ] By Monday, U.S. troops were occupying the Baghdad parade ] grounds and one of the main presidential palaces and calmly  ] chatting live on TV with a Fox News reporter. Meanwhile,  ] a few hundred yards away on the eastern bank of the Tigris  ] River, al-Sahhaf stood on the roof of the Palestine Hotel  ] telling reporters that U.S. troops had been taught "a lesson  ] that will not be forgotten in history" and were "committing  ] suicide against the walls of Baghdad."   . . . ] Indeed, it seems like the only appropriate ending for ] this televised point-counterpoint (with al-Sahhaf on one ] side and reality on the other) would be for a U.S. tank ] to roll by in the background of one of al-Sahhaf's news ] conferences with a soldier holding up a "Hi, Mom" sign.  |  
  
 
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