One Last October Surprise: Sadaam Claims Iraq Accepted the Ultimatum Before the War

It is amazing how many people are trying to influence the USA election this year. Now a ex-Sadaam official is claiming that Iraq accepted the U.N. Ultimatum before the war, but the Marines cut the phone cord never let the announcement out.

Couple of hours before the expiration of the Bush ultimatum, Saddam ordered Colonel Amer, his strongman, to facilitate Shaltout's broadcast of the communique. Colonel Amer ordered Allaa Mecky, the head of the Iraqi Channel 2 television, to accompany Shaltout and help him broadcast the communique."
It was very late at night and CNN in Baghdad was closed. So they went to al-Jazeera, and Shaltout told al-Jazeera Washington correspondent Hafez Almirazy on the air that he had the Iraqi government's official reply to the Bush ultimatum. Moments after Mirazy asked him for a brief, the plug was pulled on the transmission. Shaltout has a copy of that interrupted broadcast.
Shaltout said that when the Americans arrived in Baghdad, he offered his assistance to U.S. military officials. Instead he was arrested by Marines who went to his hotel suite taking his documents.

I guess 8 PM on October 31 still counts as an "October Surprise." Thing is, even if true it won't change any minds. Sadaam had run out of chances years previously.