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Saddam could be offered deal
Ha'aretz ^ | 12/14/03

Posted on 12/14/2003 7:34:36 PM PST by knak

ATHENS - Deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could be offered a deal in which he would give his captors information on if and how he hid weapons of mass destruction and if he smuggled some of them into Syria. In exchange, he would face life imprisonment and not be executed for war crimes, senior Iraqis attending a conference here on the future of the region have hinted.

Saddam was captured, alive and well, on Saturday near his hometown of Tikrit. U.S. troops found him hiding in a subterranean hole. He did not resist.

The Iraqi figures also said that, even if the number of concealed weapons of mass destruction is not large, Saddam will certainly know who he appointed to take charge of the operation and in what area the weapons are being stored.

The possibility that Saddam transferred some of the weapons to Syria was raised on the eve of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, when satellite pictures showed convoys moving from Iraq to Syria. It is still unknown precisely what was transported in these convoys, but it is clear that this was a secret operation between Iraq and Syria.

It was a unique experience to hear the news of Saddam's capture while in the company of Iraqis, Kurds, Iranians and other Arabs. One of the Kurdish representatives burst into the conference room in tears and demanded an immediate halt to the discussions.

"Saddam Hussein has been captured," he said, adding they had received word from Kurdistan, before the television reports. The delegate also claimed that most of the information leading to the deposed dictator's arrest had come from the Kurds, who had organized their own intelligence network and for months had been trying to uncover Saddam's tracks.

He further claimed that some six months ago, the Kurds had discovered that Saddam's wife was in the Tikrit area. This intelligence was transferred to the Americans, but the Kurds never received any news on what the coalition forces did with the information and were angered by this.

If it does emerge that most of the information that led to Saddam's arrest did indeed come from Kurdish sources, this will probably boost their status with Washington.

The capture of Saddam Hussein is the greatest success for the Americans since taking over Iraq. It does not, however, let the Americans off the hook on the question of how long their rule of occupation will remain in Iraq and how power will be transferred to the new Iraqi leaders without shocking the system. Will they wait until a new constitution is drawn up for Iraq and elections are held?

Iraqi delegates say the capture of Saddam will not mean an automatic, immediate end to guerrilla warfare and terror attacks against the coalition forces. The forces opposed to the Americans are mostly made up of former members of the Ba'ath movement, of Saddam's security and intelligence forces and volunteers from Arab states and have merely lost their "symbol" with Saddam's capture. In fact, these elements have been released from the heavy burden of a man identified with bloodshed and mass murder.

Saddam's capture enables the Americans to now define in a more coherent manner what their strategic goals are in Iraq, thus reducing their time there.

Iraqi representatives are divided over Saddam's expected trial. Some claim that since most of his crimes, including the use of chemical weapons on the Iraqi Kurdish population, were commited on Iraqi soil, he should be tried in Iraq. Others claim this is not desirable and there should be an international aspect to his trial. An Iraqi trial would make the internal reconciliation more difficult and could be seen as an American Iraqi-purifying trial. A special international war crimes trial, however, would have greater global resonance and would act as a deterrent against commiting war crimes in the future.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: censureandmoveon; decapitation; husseincapture; iraq; mrshussein; prisonersaddam; regimechange; saddam; saddamcaptured; saddamhussein; saddamontrial; saddamtrial; topplesaddam; viceisclosed; waronterror; wmd; wot
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To: Riley
IIRC, Noriega is still in the federal pokey. Where, I don't know. As for his disposition, I heard he became a born-again Christian.
61 posted on 12/14/2003 9:33:13 PM PST by Genesis defender (Prayer is the first line of defense.)
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To: Wolfgang_Blitzkrieg
Ha! Saddam will be on the talk show circuit in a few years -- come out with a book, movie rights, maybe a staring roll. The man has real star power... It would be short sighted to waste him!
62 posted on 12/14/2003 9:36:41 PM PST by GregoryFul
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To: Enterprise
This is one powerful game of Texas Hold 'Em being played out. And right now, it's President Bush's turn to make the bet.

After seeing "W" play for a few years, even Sam Farha would fold.

63 posted on 12/14/2003 9:39:56 PM PST by Go Gordon (The older I get, the better I used to be.)
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To: Azzurri
My guess is the rats (the Iraqi ones, not the Democrats) are scattering furiously trying to leave the country after they heard this bit of info. My guess is the insurgency becomes largely null and void after this capture.

We can thank the stupid media again for another "Loose Lips Sink Ships" event. Had they not mention for 72 hours, we probably could have had a bunch of them rounded up.

64 posted on 12/14/2003 9:42:06 PM PST by Go Gordon (The older I get, the better I used to be.)
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To: mrobison
Any nation who would confront us now would be destroyed.

We have had a bit of practice that the Chinese, to my knowledge, have not. When is the last time China has carry out a military mission? Command and control is key, along with superior weapontry and the Chinese just haven't been down that road with todays technology.

65 posted on 12/14/2003 9:45:30 PM PST by Go Gordon (The older I get, the better I used to be.)
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To: Go Gordon
Do you realize that if got into a war with China, and killed a million of them a day, every day, for a year, there would still be a billion of them left at the end of the year?
66 posted on 12/14/2003 9:59:15 PM PST by WackyKat
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To: MinuteGal
You are right on target.

When the lead sentence in a spin uses the words "Could be", it is time to put on the hip boots or chest waders.

The BS is starting to flow.

"Deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could be offered a deal/"
67 posted on 12/14/2003 10:12:50 PM PST by Grampa Dave (George $orea$$ has owned and controlled the Rats for decades!)
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To: Mr. Mojo
Real info on WMD, any info he has on AQ, AND fingering NK, Syria, or anybody else who is part of the terrorist family of supporters.

This is a dangerous time in many ways. If they get Saddam to finger people, this will necessarily open hot fronts on the war on terror, and fast.
68 posted on 12/14/2003 10:16:35 PM PST by HitmanLV (I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.)
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To: OneTimeLurker
I don't think the Israelis made an exception. I think they banned the death penalty after Eichmann.

It might seem that way, given that Eichmann is the only person ever to be judicially executed in Israel. But how about the case of John Demjanjuk, aka "Ivan the Terrible"? He was extradited from the US to Israel to stand trial for war crimes (being a Nazi guard at Treblinka) and was sentenced to death in Israel in 1988. However, before the sentence could be carried out, the fall of the Soviet Union resulted in the release of new evidence that showed that Ivan the Terrible was not John Demjanjuk.

69 posted on 12/14/2003 10:52:52 PM PST by cynwoody
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To: knak
Let the Iraqis try him, torture him, execute him - then let the Hague have a crack at trying him. No point in being selfish about the bastard.
70 posted on 12/14/2003 11:01:31 PM PST by Hank Rearden (Dick Gephardt. Before he dicks you.)
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To: cynwoody
So many folks would like to have the pleasure of executing Saddam:

The Kurds
The Shiites
The Kuwaitis
The Iranians
The Israelis
The Americans

There's only one way to settle this. Put his execution up for bid on e-Bay. Shipping and handling not included. PayPal preferred. Half of the proceeds will go to rebuilding Iraq and forming a new government while the other half will go to a memorial fund for soldiers of all nationalities whose lives were lost in this war.

71 posted on 12/14/2003 11:09:34 PM PST by Tall_Texan ("Is Rush a Hypocrite?" http://righteverytime2.blogspot.com)
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To: cynwoody
"John Demjanjuk, aka "Ivan the Terrible"? He was extradited from the US to Israel to stand trial for war crimes (being a Nazi guard at Treblinka) and was sentenced to death in Israel in 1988. "

Are you sure he was sentenced to death in Israel in 1988?
72 posted on 12/14/2003 11:18:10 PM PST by OneTimeLurker
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To: OneTimeLurker
He was found guilty in 1988 and was sentenced to death but appealed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/18/newsid_2525000/2525057.stm
73 posted on 12/14/2003 11:25:42 PM PST by boxerblues (If you can read this.. Thank a Teacher..If you can read this in English ..Thank a US Soldier)
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To: knak
Depending on the fulfillment of a well-done proffer, fine with me. Build a special cell for him at Gitmo, based on the Pelican Bay SHU design - complete sight and sound separation from other prisoners (no contact with any other criminals ever), 23 hr. lockdown, eat in the cell, one shower a week. 3 days "wine and cake" as and when appropriate.
74 posted on 12/14/2003 11:32:41 PM PST by 185JHP ( "What seest thou, Jeremiah?")
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To: mhking
Saddam could be offered deal

Let me guess, "Censure and move on" courtesy of the useful idiots at Moron.Org

75 posted on 12/14/2003 11:36:43 PM PST by weegee
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To: knak
TRY HIM as quickly as possible, though perhaps with some calculated boost to the 2004 election . . .

SENTENCE HIM QUICKLY

EXECUTE HIM . . . PERHAPS A BIT SLOWLY.

While he views videos he had taken of those he ordered tortured being tortured.

76 posted on 12/15/2003 12:37:30 AM PST by Quix (Choose this day whom U will serve: Shrillery & demonic goons or The King of Kings and Lord of Lords)
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To: Dilbert56
I think those would the the only SUITABLE sorts of deals for him.

Anything that leaves him alive is a serious hazard to Iraq as well as the world.
77 posted on 12/15/2003 12:38:22 AM PST by Quix (Choose this day whom U will serve: Shrillery & demonic goons or The King of Kings and Lord of Lords)
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To: knak
A deal exactely... Spill you're guts and be housed in an Iraqi jail OR in Guantamo AFTER he is convicted... total verified disclosure -OR- the Mother of all hell holes...
78 posted on 12/15/2003 1:04:45 AM PST by hosepipe
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To: Go Gordon
We can thank the stupid media again for another "Loose Lips Sink Ships" event. Had they not mention for 72 hours

Hmmm. I recall it was Bremer and the US gov't that mentioned it. The media were just reporting what they were told.

79 posted on 12/15/2003 1:12:20 AM PST by Prodigal Son
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To: WackyKat
Do you realize that if got into a war with China, and killed a million of them a day, every day, for a year, there would still be a billion of them left at the end of the year?

This is a very simplistic way of looking at war and not accurate. War is not measured in the raw numbers of people killed. What we can do to China is wage war from a distance. China has no capacity to invade the US and I personally do not believe they are capable of making any meaningful strike against our mainland. Theoretically, we could defeat China without killing that many Chinese- the same way we defeated Iraq. Methodically and precisely destroy their command and control structures. If their populace need subduing- disrupt their food supply. It wouldn't take long. A well placed nuke here and there and we would defeat China easily.

It's not really about killing a billion Chinese but killing the right Chinese.

80 posted on 12/15/2003 1:18:46 AM PST by Prodigal Son
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