Hussein Was Sure of Own Survival

[kskiska]

Aide Says Confusion Reigned on Eve of War

Monday, November 3, 2003; Page A01

BAGHDAD, Nov. 2 -- Saddam Hussein refused to order a counterattack against U.S. troops when war erupted in March because he misjudged the initial ground thrust as a ruse and had been convinced earlier by Russian and French contacts that he could avoid or survive a land invasion, former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz has told interrogators, according to U.S. officials.

Aziz, who surrendered to U.S. authorities on April 24, has also said Iraq did not possess stocks of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons on the eve of the war, an assertion that echoes the previously reported statements of other detained Iraqi leaders and scientists. Yet Hussein personally ordered several secret programs to build or buy long-range missiles in defiance of international sanctions, according to Aziz's reported statements.

The former deputy prime minister has described an argument he had with Hussein in 1999, in which the Iraqi president insisted that U.N. Resolution 687, enacted to limit Iraq's armaments, prohibited long-range missiles only if they were armed with weapons of mass destruction.

Aziz said he countered, "No, it's a range limit," and all Iraqi missiles able to fly beyond 150 kilometers (about 93 miles) were banned, according to a senior U.S. official familiar with the interrogation reports. Hussein demanded in reply, "No, I want to go ahead," according to the senior official.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55022-2003Nov2.html

[acmavm]

1. Right, and if this guy offers you some land in Florida, my advice is

don't buy it.

[Philosophy]

2. This is the smoking gun!

Saddam was thinking about possibly starting some weapons programs maybe sometime soon. This proves that president * was right on WMD all along.

[Yupster]

3. Very interesting

thanks for posting.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

4. I wouldn't believe Tariq Aziz...

He's a little too loyal to Saddam.

[On the Road]

5. Fascinating Article

I'm glad more of this is coming out. Just like in the first war, there seems to have been a total lack of understanding between the two sides.