Baqdaad (Al-Jazeera): In what may be a show of defiance aimed at silencing critics, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein appeared on Iraqi television on Friday visiting a residential area in Baghdad.
In the first footage since the start of the war, two weeks ago, to show the Iraqi leader in public, President Hussein was shown being mobbed by cheering, chanting Iraqis in the streets of Baghdad’s al-Mansour neighborhood.
Hussein appeared in olive green military garb on the main square of the residential area, flanked by just a few bodyguards but packing a firearm in a holster.
The footage, which showed a scene in daylight, was broadcast at about 9:20 pm (1730 GMT).
"It was a courageous step by Saddam since he was not heavily guarded," Moustapha Maher, retired Egyptian general told Al Jazeera. "It also looks like it was not pre-arranged or else we would have seen a much bigger crowd. But the move will raise the morale of the Iraqi people especially at this time with reports of American troops near the city."
The US Central Command in Doha dismissed the televised scenes as "a pretty bad performance" that would have no impact on the war.
"Our campaign is much larger than any one single personality," Jim Wilkinson, CENTCOM spokesman said.
The White House also said victory in Iraq did not depend on finding Saddam. "I can also tell you in the bigger scheme of things it really doesn't matter, because whether it is him or whether it isn't him, the regime's days are numbered and are coming to an end," the White House said.
Smiles
Smiling broadly, the Iraqi leader accepted several kisses of his hand from the jubilant crowd, which chanted, "With our blood and our souls, we shall redeem you" and "Bush, Bush, listen well, we all love Saddam Hussein."
Some kissed him on his cheeks and hands and he held up a small child.
There was no way of verifying when the film was made. But the footage showed Saddam walking amid bomb-damaged buildings with smoke seen from oil fires burning in the distance.
Taken in conjunction with further, time-specific comments President Hussein made on Iraqi television on Friday about specific incidents that have occurred over the course of the war, it appears to dispel rumours he has been injured or killed on the first night of the war.
It is not clear when or where the broadcast was recorded but Hussein referred to US military gains around the capital and other cities and admitted invading forces had "by-passed Iraq's defensive lines."
"The enemy is overtaking our valiant defences around Baghdad just like it did around other cities and they (enemy) are avoiding clashes..." Saddam said in his address. "They are deploying here and there, just like we expected, and these deployments are normally thin and we can confront them with the weapons available, and you recall the Iraqi peasant that downed an Apache with his rifle."
The BBC quoted US intelligence officials saying that Hussein’s reference to the Apache helicopter suggested that the broadcast was made after the air strike which targeted him and his sons.
Control
Saddam has a number of doubles. The clip was shown on a day when US troops said they had taken control of Saddam International Airport, just 20 km (12 miles) southwest of the capital.
"Saddam’s repeated calls to confront and resist invading forces in his speech indicates that there is some kind of disintegration among the ranks of the Iraqi forces," General Mohammed Ali Bilal, commander of Egypt’s forces during the 1991 Gulf War told Al Jazeera. "Therefore, such a speech was necessary to urge the Iraqi people to defend their capital."
Since the start of the war, Iraqi state television has often shown footage of what is says is Saddam, usually chairing meetings. His last known public appearance was in January 2001.
The US Defence Department said the recent footage of Saddam indicates that the Iraqi leader does not have effective control of the military.
"We find it interesting that Saddam Hussein, if he is alive, feels a need to walk in the streets to prove that," said Major General Stanley McChrystal, vice director of operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Television has been a key instrument used by the regime to control the populace, according to McChrystal. "We intend to limit their ability to use those mechanisms to control the population."
The use of mobile vans as well as fixed installations have made it difficult to take out, however. "Sometimes its on, sometimes it is off," Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said.
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