[SauronOfMordor]

Can't do it. A huge civil war would break out in Baghdad, complicating our occupation efforts immensely. We need 100,000 soldiers in the city before we confirm Saddam's death.

Exactly. The regular populace would likely rise up and kill every Ba'ath Party member and every suspected Secret Police informer they could find. And the down side of this is?

[SamAdams76]

Big downside. The U.S. military doesn't need riots in the streets of Baghdad to add to their headaches. I postulated a few days ago that the U.S. would wait to secure Baghdad before making the announcement. Those remaining in Iraq's command structure don't want to make the announcement for obvious reasons - once the people know that Saddam is dead, they will no longer have any power over them.

I'm not 100% convinced of the accuracy of this story. But I'm leaning that way. There is simply no indication whatsoever that Saddam is in any way still in command or even still alive. If we got him that first night, what a story to tell!

[Enterprise]

"?And the down side of this is?"

Maybe a strategy would be to wait until we got closer to Baghdad and then announce that Hussein is dead. The people might revolt and distract the Iraqi army from killing Americans. I can't see a downside in having all the members of the bloodbaath party killed though.