CIA Had Fix on Hussein: Intelligence Revealed 'Target of Opportunity'

Washington Post ^ | March 20, 2003 | Barton Gellman and Dana Priest

[The Great Satan]

Prove it.

He's alive. Get over it.

[TankerKC]

Bwahahaha!

[justa-hairyape]

You missed the point. The point being, since the US does not even have his DNA, we will NEVER get 100 % kill confirmation. Especially since the Baathist can parade an endless number of look-alikes in front of the camera. Some with cleft chins, some without. And some with stares that would not scare a child. Every time we take the 'real one' down, another takes it place. Might as well use the fog of war to confuse the enemy, since many Iraqis themselves probably have no clue about the situation.

The only clear cut answer is to 'unlesh hell'. An order about to be given, once the fog sets in.

[TankerKC]

I don't know that any of us can prove it was or prove it wasn't Sadaam from our keyboards!

[ArneFufkin]

No, it was the real thing alright

Do you think it was the real thing broadcasting live?

[The Great Satan]

It was a tape. Could have been pre-made with cut-and-paste dates, but I doubt it. If he were dead, I would expect either immediate collapse of the regime, or someone else would grab power, and they'd want to show their face ASAP. Chances this is all an elaborate charade to buy time close to nil, IMO.

[ArneFufkin]

What if one or both of his sons are alive? Or any of a number of Hussein's butchers who would likely dangle at the end of a rope for their crimes against humanity? Wouldn't the charade of Saddam being alive give them a short window to find refuge in some Chechnyan or Georgian craphole? I'm still hopeful we nailed him.

Very few people in Iraq EVER encounter Saddam Hussein in the flesh. Even his military officers. They wouldn't know his voice. You don't want to. Most of those who gain his confidence subsequently lose it and die as a result.

I'm going to keep the glass full approach, even if it is really 9/10 empty! ;^)

[The Great Satan]

Yeah, I got excited about this earlier today, but I think it's past time to let go. And, I'm not now convinced that we were even trying to hit him. The very fact that the papers are full of stories that we were trying for an assassination -- supposedly as spur-of-the-moment, last-minute change of plan -- makes me think exactly the opposite is true: this was dialed in long ago, and was intended to intimidate and isolate Saddam, not kill him. In other words, this may have been a glorified version of the Abu Nidal op of last summer. I'm curious to see who, if anyone, we killed.

[Claire Voyant]

Looks like George Tenet screwed up AGAIN. What a waste of skin he is. He changes Bush's plans and didn't get Saddam. Probably blew it for good. George Tenet is the ENEMY.

[IncPen]

I suspected that the CIA had created the Aziz story simply to get him to poke up his head and confirm where the snakes were nesting

Could be the case....

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I personally am surprised at the use of 40 cruise missles, targeting five individuals. My scepticism comes from the constant comparison not only to "shock and awe" that everyone says was supposed to happen. Why did they even emphasize that? (Do they say this because they want us to believe that it still will happen?)

Bush's administration will take great pains to assure the public that they do not want a Clintonesque type of strike. At least that is the impression I got with Afghanistan, especially in reading Bush at War.

So, if their intention is to deflect criticism that the initial launch did not remove Hussein and the other four, then they'll gladly turn the page for us, and halt any speculation that it is impossible to take out Saddam.

Their main concern may be that the Democrats will say that we cannot take out bin Laden, and Hussein is no different.

And then I am reminded that it took America a long time to come to the final conclusion that Hitler was dead.