[Eric in the Ozarks]

I heard this argument on the radio this week. We give him a billion $ and he exits to Syria or someplace like it. Trouble is, there are just too many people who'd like to kill him. When he leaves Iraq, he's dead.

[daviddennis]

We wouldn't need to give him a billion; he could simply take some of the billions he already has.

But look at the strange record of some of these dictators. Pinochet of Chile, who in the long run helped transition the country to democracy, was almost tried and jailed. Saddam would want to avoid a similar fate.

My attitude is that if we make a deal with one of these people, it has to stick unless they go back to their evil ways and start buying weapons. But many people think differently, and a lot of the time I don't think that happens, and Saddam knows this.

Besides, if Saddam was a nice guy or could live in peace, he's had ample incentive to do so over the last decade. If I were him, I'd retire and enjoy my harem of beautiful and talented women. There's no reason why he couldn't do that, but he obviously loves bellicosity for its own sake.

I'm afraid that in the end he will have to die.

D