---------------------------------------------------------------- Who is Aziz al-Taree? ----------------------------------------------------------------
He's an 40 yo Iraqi ex-pat (20 yrs), Philadelphia entrepreneur, and founder of the Iraqi-American Council.
al-Taree (AKA Aziz Taree) made the media rounds in the lead up to the Iraq invasion, appearing as a representative of his organization and often referred to as an "expert."
Remember the story of the Iraqi mother, presented with the dead body of her son and a bill from Saddam for the bullets used to murder him? She was also warned that if she mourned his death, she'd be killed too. That was a tale told by al-Taree. al-Taree also maintained the following:
*) Complained that not enough attention was paid to Saddam's genocide. *) Was frequently interviewed assuring Iraqis that the FBI round up of 50k Iraqis before the war was *) Saddam would use Iraqis as human shields during the war. *) Saddam forced his family to house Republican Guards. *) Saddam was providing AK47s to children to fight. *) Saddam was kidnapping children to fight. *) Backed the war as a war for Liberation. *) Peace protestors were demoralizing the Iraqi people, giving aid to Saddam. *) Insisted that the Iraqi people want nothing to do with the UN (on Michael Savage show). *) Also encouraged belief in WMDs. *) Told people that Saddam plays footage of peace protests.
Nick Berg initially met up with Aziz al-Taree when he attended an expo on business opportunities in Iraq. That was December. Berg e-mail Aziz-al Taree in January. Aziz al-Taree claims that he was the last person to see Nick alive. He also claims to have cell phone records indicating that Berg made phone calls on April 19, ten days after his family last heard from him on April 9.
INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL SAVAGE:
http://www.homestead.com/prosites-prs/savageinterviewwithaltaee.html
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1]. On the same program Aziz Al-Taee an Iraqi opposition supporter and former Iraqi citizen makes the point that "Saddam is in dialog with supporters of Bin Laden
he [Saddam] is a thug. To Europe, he said "The Americans helped save you from Hitler." http://www.jhs.jordan.k12.ut.us/beetdiggerpost/publications/issue13/printfriendly/story06.html
2]. Al-Taee: "It's not the appropriate policy because containment has been a process of slow-death for the Iraqi people. We have had sanction on us for the last 13 years in Iraq and the people are dying, the kids are dying. Saddam doesn't care about the people. He takes the money. What he does, for example, he, the United Nations pay the bill so he will get some food imported from, from Syria to the Iraqi borders. He will get the United Nations to pay for it, then he will take it to Jordan, start again and get paid for it again and again and he's doing it like a black market like that. Containment also it didn't stop his torture to the Iraqi people. They didn't stop his killing the Iraqi people. So we cannot depend on containment and have like 500,000 Iraqis die every month." http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2003/cyb20030304.asp
3]. Aziz Al-Taee, Chairman of the Iraqi-American Council, told NewsMax.com prior to his address to the gathering, that Iraqis with whom he had communicated "are very excited about liberation. They know Saddam's days are numbered. Saddam has taken them hostage for the last thirty-four years.
A refugee from Saddam's torture chambers, Al-Taee described how he had been electrocuted with a high voltage, and subjected to "hanging to the ceiling with [his]hands tied, had his hands lifted up while they whip you with a stick on the bottom of your feet. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/3/2/165001.shtml
4]. Aziz al Taee is an Iraqi-American who says Saddam Hussein must be stopped.
"This dictator has ambitions of having a nuclear bomb. He already has biological and chemical weapons, so the threat is larger than Hitler and Milozovic. So, we do support force as a last resort," al Taee said. http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:SCQHQl429poJ:www.nbc4.com/news/1742154/detail.html+%22Aziz+al-Taee%22&hl=en
5]. Many Iraqi residents hope coalition forces destroy Tikrit because of its history as a symbol of the excesses of the Hussein regime, according to the Journal.
"I would tell the people of Tikrit they have 24 hours to get out of there and then bomb the whole city to the ground, said Aziz al-Taee, chairman of the American Iraqi Council (John Fialka, Wall Street Journal, April 9). http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/newswires/2003_4_9.html
6]. Coalition Provisional Authority Operational Briefing Presenter: Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, Commander U.S. Ground Force in Iraq August 7, 2003
<...> Q My name is Aziz Al-Taee, chairman of the Iraqi-American Council, visiting from the States. Actually, I want to take the opportunity to express the thankful feeling among the Iraqi-American community for the great jobs has been done.
The question we have -- obviously, we are concerned about the casualties among the civilians, and also, among the U.S. soldiers and the coalition soldiers. How fast is in your plan to transfer the power and empower the Iraqi Governing Council and try to stabilize the security situation here? http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/transcripts/20030801.htm
7]. "I spoke to my family in Baghdad yesterday. They said, 'We are waiting for freedom!' " yelled Aziz Al-Taee, chairman of the Iraqi-American Council. He then hugged an Operation Desert Storm veteran clad in his beige uniform and led the crowd in six chants of "Free Iraq now!" http://www.politicalposts.com/news/index.asp?id=172628
8]. "My family tells me, 'The big wedding is coming soon,'" said Aziz Al-Taee, who chairs the American-Iraqi Council, a national nonprofit for Iraqi exiles, and regularly calls his mother and sister in Baghdad. "We don't have anybody getting married, so what they mean is the liberation or something good is about to happen."
Over the phone it is not just who does talk, but who doesn't, that matters. Al-Taee last spoke to his mother, his sister and one of his nieces, but his brother and brother-in-law and the other male members of his family never picked up.
"They tell me the men are sleeping but I don't think that's the reason - I worry they've been taken by Saddam's military group, or used as human shields," said Al-Taee, 39, who left Iraq 20 years ago and owns electronics stores in Philadelphia. "The last three times I've called, no male members of my family have come to the phone." http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.relatives29mar29,0,2095214.story?coll=bal-iraq-headlines
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1]. Iraqis Call for Saddam Trial http://www.metimes.com/2K3/issue2003-5/reg/iraqis_call_for.htm
2]. Iraqi Dissident Leader To Speak At Freeper Event Tomorrow They're Not Expecting Any Counterprotests 3/21/03 5:18:20 PM
Washington, DC -- [Bill: I know the woman -- Beth Caherty -- who organizes lots of this nonsense and boy is she an ugly, hateful bitch. She is also a Republican Party and NRA organizer -- giving discredit to both of those organizations. Her husband left her, and having known her, I understand why.]
<....> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/869829/posts
3]. Iraqi protestors misrepresented by media by marisa 28 Oct 2002 Modified: 11 Aug 2003
I spoke with Aziz Al-Tahee, one of the organizers of the Iraqi protest that is being called a "counter-protest." He gave me a copy of their press release, which contains no mention of war at all. They were calling for human rights inspectors and the trial of Saddam by an international tribunal. The major thrust of their protest according to the press release was to protest the "false amnesty" that Saddam had supposedly granted political prisoners, many of whom are still missing.
Mr. Tahee also indicated that Saddam plays footage of American peace protests on Iraqi TV, claiming that our resistance to war means that we support him and his regime. Very demoralizing to Iraqis! Their purpose was to make sure we remember his crimes and take action against him, but war was not the action they were calling for. http://lists.mutualaid.org/pipermail/imc-dc-editorial/2002-October/002629.html
4]. The FReepers and MOVE-OUT also will host Aziz Al-Taee of the Iraqi-American Council as speaker. "Theirs is a voice that isn't heard in the media," Taylor complains. Aziz recently appeared on Greta van Susteren's Fox News show, Taylor said, and now he is starting to get a "few appearances." He adds that Aziz and his group publicly demean Osama bin Laden in very strong terms, something that isn't seen or heard a very rare thing in the Islamic world." He added that the two groups agree on a very fundamental issue: a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Taylor thoroughly denounced anti-Semitism, saying "We're not racist, and we don't like people who are." The FReeper leader was referring to last April's "pro-Palestinian" march in D.C., organized also by A.N.S.W.E.R. He called it a "horrific rally," saying "I saw more swastikas there than in the films of the old Nuremberg rallies." Taylor has now reported that, unlike the October rally, "C-SPAN has informed me that they will not be covering 'The Patriots Rally for America,' but they will be broadcasting http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30566 (10 of 13) [1/19/2003 4:21:09 AM]
http://mensnewsdaily.com/archive/newswire/news2004/0504/051104-saddam.htm http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:8tP1I_gNBo0J:209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/873009/posts+%22Aziz+al-Taee%22&hl=en
5]. Aziz Al-Taee, chairman of the Washington, D.C.-based Iraqi-American Council, said his organization believes in cooperating with the FBI but advocates interviews based on probable cause rather than ethnicity.
"Iraqi-Americans are victims of Saddam Hussein," said Al-Taee, whose group advocates democracy in Iraq.
He said the U.S. government apparently plans to contact 50,000 Iraqis using a protocol initiated in Philadelphia, where about 200 people have been interviewed. Al-Taee said they were given a leaflet listing their rights, were asked about specific Iraqi individuals and were offered FBI protection against hate crimes. Al-Taee said the sessions averaged less than 10 minutes. http://www.bethil-online.com/news/news/march_03/fbi-03.htm
6]. Aziz Al-Taee, chairman of the Iraqi American Council, at Saturday's Patriots Rally for America: "This war is going to lead to peace." http://www.radioleft.com/article.php?op=Print&sid=988
7]. Aziz Al-Taee, a representative of the Iraqi-American Council who spoke to the Marines and Other Veterans, and the FreeRepublic.com groups, said none of the anti-war speakers accurately described the Iraqi dictator.
"They never tell of Saddam's horrible crimes," he said. "They never want to show pictures of Halabja, but they only want to show pictures of people affected by the [United Nations´] sanctions." Halabja was the scene of a gassing of 6,000 Kurds by Saddam Hussein in 1988. http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/825313/posts
8]. Berg e-mailed Aziz Taee, Philadelphia director of a group called the American-Iraqi Council, and said he wanted to do some business in Iraq. Aziz agreed to give him some space in an office he had in Baghdad; they would form a partnership, seeking communications work.
And in January, he went to Iraq. http://www.fox23news.com/news/world/story.aspx?content_id=EC7AA970-1DB...
9]. Aziz al-Taee, chairman of the Iraqi-American Council, relates some of the atrocities he has seen. He tells of how his cousin was tortured and murdered by Iraqi officials after which his mutilated body was returned to his mother with a bill for the bullets used to kill him. She was threatened with execution if she held a funeral service for her son.
http://gopusa.com/news/2003/march/0310_torture.shtml
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January 25th , 2003 United Nations Security Council
To: Whom It May Concern
Dear Sir/Madam
We in the Iraqi-American Council (IAC) , like millions worldwide , have watched on all TV screens,with shock and sadness, the UN inspectors in Baghdad giving up an Iraqi individual seeking to meet with them to provide with some information that could be useful to their work in Iraq. We condemn the behavior of the UN! inspectors for refusing to help this oppressed Iraqi Citizen who tried to seek refuge in the UN Property screaming " Save me! . ..Rescue Me!" as he was holding with his both arms a thick file of documents. The screams of this brave Iraqi represent the voice of all the oppressed Iraqi people who have been suffering for the last 34 years under the regime of Saddam Hussein. <....> Sincerely ,
Aziz Al-Taee ( Chairman) cc: GENVA, SWITZERLAND
FAX: 0041227397377 http://www.barzan.com/upcoming_events43.html
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Iraqi-American Council (IAC) 1220 L Street NW, Suite #100-262 Washington DC, 20005-4018 Tel: 800-416-8684 Fax: 877-803-1800 Web site: http://www.iraqiamericans.org e-mail: iraq at al-iraq.org
ON Al-Jazeera:Iraqi-Americans ask Saddam to step down from power to prevent the War
WASHINGTON (03-15-03): Iraqi-Americans made a last minute demand for Saddam to step down from power to prevent a possible War in Iraq. Aziz Al-Taee Chairman of the Iraqi-American Council IAC told his host Hafiz Al-Mirazi that "at this point it is totally up to Saddam to prevent the War by stepping Down from power and going to exile" " I am not pro war" Al-Taee said" Actully, I want to stop Saddam's Continuing War on the Iraqi People during which he has killed 2 million Iraqis, gassed with chemicals against them, poisoned some and murdered the women and children." <...> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IRAQIAMERICANS/message/2301
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