First, you are all assuming
Saddam actually HAS nukes.
Is it possible he does? Yeah, it's possible. Is very likely? No, not really. So far, some empty chemical weapon casings have been found. Where did the contents go? Who knows. Does that mean a
war is the answer? No. Geez, you guys have assasins, just go peg
Saddam off sometime. Most of Iraq wouldn't mind (<50% of the population likes
Saddam).
There was an article in the Globe and Mail today, it raised some good points (it has to do with
war not being answer to getting rida
Saddam).
Quote:
-Bid to oust Hussein without war gains force-
Plans for bloodless coup would allow senior Iraqi leaders to flee into exile
By DOUG SAUNDERS
With reports from Associated Press and Reuters
Monday, January 20, 2003 – Print Edition, Page A1
WASHINGTON -- Even while forces are massing in the Persian Gulf, it has become apparent that Washington and its allies are making aggressive efforts to head off a war in Iraq.
Those efforts appear to have included both overt and secret offers for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his officials to abdicate power in exchange for exile and immunity; efforts to engineer a coup by Iraqi security forces; and a possible willingness by the White House to accept a peaceful end to the United Nations disarmament process.
And even as White House officials prepare to make a case to the Security Council that Iraq has violated UN disarmament resolutions, weapons inspectors indicated yesterday that talks with Iraqi officials have produced a new willingness to provide information and co-operate with the disarmament process.
"I think [the Iraqis] have said that there are still certain areas they are ready to provide more information. I think that in other areas, they said they are ready to reconsider their position," senior weapons inspector Mohamed ElBaradei said. He also said Baghdad has voluntarily revealed the presence of four more empty chemical-weapons warheads similar to the 12 found last week.
Two top White House officials went on television, offering Mr. Hussein and members of his Baath Party an opportunity to move into safe exile in neighbouring countries in exchange for a new leadership in Baghdad.
"To avoid a war, I would be personally -- would recommend that some provision be made so that the senior leadership in that country and their families could be provided haven in some other country," U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. "And I think that that would be a fair trade to avoid a war."
On the other hand, Mr. Rumsfeld also sent clear signals that the United States may soon decide that Iraq has committed material breaches in the terms of UN security resolution 1441, which demands that Iraq provide a full account of its secret nuclear-, biological- and chemical-weapons programs. Once Washington has declared a "material breach" of this resolution, Mr. Rumsfeld said, it could decide that a war is necessary "in a matter of weeks, not in months or years."
However, other White House officials sought to defuse speculation that Jan. 27 -- when the UN inspectors are to present a thorough report to the Security Council -- would be an automatic deadline for war.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell repeated to Mr. Hussein the offer for an exile agreement.
"I would encourage Saddam Hussein, if he is getting any messages of this type, to listen to them carefully," Mr. Powell said in an interview.
He said exile would bring about what the United States has sought for years: a change of leadership in Iraq.
"And the challenge before us then would be to see whether or not that new regime would commit itself to eliminating weapons of mass destruction, satisfying the international community that they are interested in the welfare of their people and not in threatening their own people or threatening their neighbors," Mr. Powell said.
"And we would have had an entirely new situation presented to the international community, and we might be able to avoid war," he said.
The New York Times reported yesterday that leaders of Saudi Arabia, and officials from countries such as Turkey and Egypt, have presented detailed plans to Mr. Hussein and other Baath Party leaders for an escape and exile. Communicating through Mr. Hussein's son Qusay, they offered a new home in another Arab state for the leader's extended family.
These efforts are likely to intensify after leaders of several Muslim countries gather in Turkey this week for last-ditch discussions on developing a peaceful, Arab-led solution that would stave off an invasion.
"The Americans want to get Saddam out by military means, and we want to get him out by psychological intensification," an adviser to the Saudi royal family told the Times. "The most important thing for the generals and everyone else in Iraq is to separate themselves from Saddam, especially if he wants to kill himself through resistance and through war that will take everyone with him."
It was also reported yesterday that Saudi officials have been secretly plotting both an abdication plan and a possible coup, sending messages to guards and soldiers close to Mr. Hussein that a coup would be welcomed and rewarded.
However, other officials dismissed the notion that Mr. Hussein would voluntarily give up the position he has held for three decades.
"I just think that it is unlikely that this man is going to come down in any other way than to be forced," said Condoleezza Rice, national security adviser to U.S. President George W. Bush.
http://www.globeandmail.com
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What you all think of that? Could it work?