Georges Sada
Encyclopedia
General Georges Hormiz Sada (aka Gewargis or George Hormis; Arabic: كوركيس هرمز ساده, Syriac
: ܓܘܪܓܝܣ ܗܪܡܙ ܣܕܐ; born 1939?) is an Iraq
i of Assyrian
descent, an author
and retired general officer of the Iraqi Air Force
.
Sada is a Christian
from an ethnic Assyrian
family (see his account) in Northern Iraq, that belonged to the Assyrian Church of the East
before becoming a 'born-again' Christian. In 1959 he graduated from the Iraqi Air Academy
, and over the following years served as an Air Force Officer, including stints studying overseas in Britain
, the USSR
and the United States
. Through 1964–1965 he was a student at Lackland Air Force Base
in Texas
.
He officially retired in 1986 as a two-star officer, but was called back to active service for the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. According to his autobiography, he was briefly imprisoned in 1991 for refusing to execute POWs. He was told that Saddam didn't want him harmed but that he never wanted to see him again either.
After the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
, Sada sided with the US-led government, and served as spokesman for the interim leader Iyad Allawi
, and was appointed as National Security Advisor.
In August 2004 Sada announced that he would be signing a bill to introduce the death penalty for those "threatening national security". (on al-Jazeera)
He serves as the Senior Warden of the St. Georges Anglican Church and as the President of the National Presbyterian Church, both in Baghdad
. The former President of the Evangelical Churches of Iraq, Sada is also chairman of the Assembly of Iraqi Evangelical Presbyterian Churches. He has been active in advocating that Iraq was historically Assyrian
and Christian
in nature, and not Arab and Muslim.
On January 24, 2006, he announced the publication of a book he had written entitled Saddam's Secrets: How an Iraqi General Defied And Survived Saddam Hussein, with the tagline "An insider exposes plans to destroy Israel, hide WMDs and control the Arab world."http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6291124.html#review3 Sada, the former Air Vice-Marshal
under Hussein, appeared the following day on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes
, where he discussed his book and reported that other pilots told him that Hussein had ordered them to fly portions of the WMD stockpiles to Damascus in Syria
just prior to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
.
His claims, though, tend to contradict the findings of the Duelfer Report, which "judged that it was unlikely that an official transfer of WMD material from Iraq to Syria took place," though analysts were unable to rule out the possibility.
Sada made a guest appearance on The Daily Show
on March 21, 2006 to promote Saddam's Secrets.
Syriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...
: ܓܘܪܓܝܣ ܗܪܡܙ ܣܕܐ; born 1939?) is an Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i of Assyrian
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
descent, an author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and retired general officer of the Iraqi Air Force
Iraqi Air Force
The Iraqi Air Force or IQAF is the military branch in Iraq responsible for the policing of international borders, surveillance of national assets and aerial operations...
.
Sada is a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
from an ethnic Assyrian
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
family (see his account) in Northern Iraq, that belonged to the Assyrian Church of the East
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ʻIttā Qaddishtā w-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi d-Madnĕkhā d-Āturāyē), is a Syriac Church historically centered in Mesopotamia. It is one of the churches that claim continuity with the historical...
before becoming a 'born-again' Christian. In 1959 he graduated from the Iraqi Air Academy
Iraqi Air Force
The Iraqi Air Force or IQAF is the military branch in Iraq responsible for the policing of international borders, surveillance of national assets and aerial operations...
, and over the following years served as an Air Force Officer, including stints studying overseas in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Through 1964–1965 he was a student at Lackland Air Force Base
Lackland Air Force Base
Lackland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located west-southwest of San Antonio, Texas. The base is under the jurisdiction of the 802d Mission Support Group, Air Education and Training Command ....
in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
He officially retired in 1986 as a two-star officer, but was called back to active service for the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. According to his autobiography, he was briefly imprisoned in 1991 for refusing to execute POWs. He was told that Saddam didn't want him harmed but that he never wanted to see him again either.
After the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
, Sada sided with the US-led government, and served as spokesman for the interim leader Iyad Allawi
Iyad Allawi
Ayad Allawi is an Iraqi politician, and was the interim Prime Minister of Iraq prior to Iraq's 2005 legislative elections. A prominent Iraqi political activist who lived in exile for almost 30 years, the politically secular Shia Muslim became a member of the Iraq Interim Governing Council, which...
, and was appointed as National Security Advisor.
In August 2004 Sada announced that he would be signing a bill to introduce the death penalty for those "threatening national security". (on al-Jazeera)
He serves as the Senior Warden of the St. Georges Anglican Church and as the President of the National Presbyterian Church, both in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. The former President of the Evangelical Churches of Iraq, Sada is also chairman of the Assembly of Iraqi Evangelical Presbyterian Churches. He has been active in advocating that Iraq was historically Assyrian
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
in nature, and not Arab and Muslim.
On January 24, 2006, he announced the publication of a book he had written entitled Saddam's Secrets: How an Iraqi General Defied And Survived Saddam Hussein, with the tagline "An insider exposes plans to destroy Israel, hide WMDs and control the Arab world."http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6291124.html#review3 Sada, the former Air Vice-Marshal
Air Vice-Marshal
Air vice-marshal is a two-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in...
under Hussein, appeared the following day on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes
Hannity & Colmes
Hannity & Colmes was a live television show on Fox News Channel in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 6, 1996, and the final episode aired on January 9, 2009. It was the...
, where he discussed his book and reported that other pilots told him that Hussein had ordered them to fly portions of the WMD stockpiles to Damascus in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
just prior to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
.
Well, I want to make it clear, very clear to everybody in the world that we had the weapon of mass destruction in Iraq, and the regime used them against our Iraqi people...I know it because I have got the captains of the Iraqi airway that were my friends, and they told me these weapons of mass destruction had been moved to Syria. Iraq had some projects for nuclear weapons but it was destroyed in 1981Operation OperaOperation Babylon was a surprise Israeli air strike carried out on June 7, 1981, that destroyed a nuclear reactor under construction 17 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, Iraq....
. (When asked if there was any chance there were nuclear weapons or on their way to nuclear weapons when USA invaded, he said): Not in Iraq.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,182932,00.html
His claims, though, tend to contradict the findings of the Duelfer Report, which "judged that it was unlikely that an official transfer of WMD material from Iraq to Syria took place," though analysts were unable to rule out the possibility.
Sada made a guest appearance on The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
on March 21, 2006 to promote Saddam's Secrets.
See also
- Al Qa'qaa high explosives controversyAl Qa'qaa high explosives controversyThe Al Qa'qaa high explosives controversy concerns the possible removal by Baathist insurgents of about 377 tonnes of high explosives HMX and RDX after the 2003 invasion of Iraq....
- WMD theories in the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq War