Apparently US intelligence has picked up “chatter” in Baghdad about a possible last-ditch plan to let Saddam and his sons and cronies escape into Syria in order to prevent thousands of more civilian deaths.
General Tommy Franks, while not answering this question yesterday, has been briefed by intelligence on this possibility.
Under no circumstances can the United States allow Saddam to go into exile anywhere.
Why not?
Because if he survives this war and goes into exile in some nearby Arab nation, he will still be a mortal threat to the United States. He will still have command of his international network of spies, ‘sleepers,’ and ’embedded’ agents. He will probably take some of the chem/bio weapons of mass destruction with him. And, most of all, he will be fomenting trouble in the ‘new’ Iraq – trying to destabilize the new government and return to power.
Let us remember the 1979 scenes of the Ayatollah Khomeini – living in a tent on the outskirts of Paris – leading the Iranian revolution thousands of miles away.
Saddam, while not the same type of religious leader, is being elevated in Muslin/Arab eyes as a ‘hero’ for confronting the Great Satan – and for surviving longer than expected. He is the Muslim ROCKY – who did not win but was lionized for lasting longer than anyone ever could have imagined.
US intelligence has also picked up talk of a last minute Saddam ploy: threaten the mass death of 30,000 civilians and US military in some last-ditch use of WMD unless Saddam is allowed to go into exile.
Such a ‘deal’ would be difficult to turn down.
On the other hand, we could accept the deal, save the 30,000 people, and then go kill Saddam anyway. A just reward for him!
The point is this: we entered this war on the claim that Saddam was a threat to America. That threat was that Saddam might give his WMD to a terrorist group to use against us. Well, Saddam in exile is the very same threat – with an even great motive driven by bitterness over our invasion.
No, the war’s beginning should have meant no more possible deals for Saddam. He had his chance – and he blew it off.
Now the goal of the coalition is simple: hunt down Saddam and his two sons and kill them.
Until that is accomplished, those malignant cancer cells will be spreading their deadly disease wherever they travel.
Let’s us not allow Saddam to be another Osama bin Laden: on the run, causing trouble and seen among millions of Muslims as a ‘hero’ for defying the United States.