Motivation for the Saddam Story

Why would the government suggest to the media that there may be hidden messages in a press release from Saddam?

First off, they want to do anything they can to make him look bad in order to maintain support for the war.

Second, they would like an excuse to silence him.

Third, they would like to manipulate the public perception of the motives held by the insurgency. The government would like us to think that the insurgents are killing allied troops and beheading journalists and aid workers because they are a bunch of Muslim nutcases or because Saddam told them to do it. What they do not want the American public to think is that the main motivation of the insurgency is revenge. When we have killed approximately 100,000 over there, you would expect someone to get pretty pissed off that their home has been destroyed, their children have been killed, and there are American soldiers that hassle them at every turn. Al Jezeera tries to show that side of the story, and Rumsfeld and others call it terrorist television.

Perhaps Fox News should be called Genocide Television.