Did Saddam just Checkmate Bush?

[Must_B_Free]

I smell disaster for Bush out of this Saddam thing.

The timing is all wrong.

They can't milk this until the election, The longer they can drag it out, the more opportunity they are giving Saddam to spill the beans and make a case for himself.

If they just pop him now, it will be blown out of town like tumbleweed, by the time the election comes round.

Meanwhile, the attacks keep coming and coming. The justification for occupation is gone.

Did Saddam just Checkmate Bush?

[JailBush]

1. I suggested the same thing in another post, but you get the award for

the best title of a "They Just Captured Saddam" thread.

[soothsayer]

2. I, too, think the timing is bad for *

unless he pulls the troops out now. That alone would help him, I think.

[Must_B_Free]

6. Pull the troops out, declare victory

Will they keep him drugged 24/7 like Noriega, so he can't talk?

[areschild]

8. Dead men tell no tales.

He probably won't live long enough to spill the beans. Or else he'll be in an undisclosed location and no one will be able to talk to him or hear what he has to say.

[SahaleArm]

3. No this blip will stop Dem-primary coverage...

The next will be when he pulls Bin-Laden out of the meat locker prior to the election.

[aquart]

9. There could be a plus in that.

If the press is too busy to anoint a winner, or tell their disparaging and biased stories, Democratic voters might just get to make the decision all by themselves.

[SahaleArm]

13. Or it just freezes everything as it is today.

Less coverage means less name recognition and information on the candidates...

[Sapphocrat]

4. That's what I was just wondering...

...in the "what now?" thread. Saddam should have been *'s ace in the hole. If producing Saddam now was *Co's way of knocking Dean flat, it seems premature, and a waste of a good "ace."

On the other hand -- worst-case -- it could mean they're keeping OBL under wraps until, say, late summer, 2004.

P.S. With all the activity in Tikrit, how did they not find SH before now? Smells like a plan.

[leftyandproud]

5. I don't think Saddam is a very sympathetic character...

Bush takes the king...game over.

[Must_B_Free]

7. what are his leading attrocities?

[JailBush]

10. Using poisnous gases against the Kurds - and against Iran, I believe.

One of the sickest chapters of his reign of terror was the war between Iraq and Iran. I believe much of the fighting occurred in marshy terrain, where thousands of extremely young Iranians - just kids - were killed by "gases." I may not have all the details straight, but I think that's the gist of it. The punch line: We were supporting Iraq at the time. In fact, I believe the Pentagon wanted the war to continue as a means of keeping both countries destabilized.

Again, don't quote me, but I think that's a fairly accurate outline.

[bluesoul]

12. All of that was done

with the silent consent of the USA that supported him at the time of his worst crimes against Kurds, during the IRaqi-Iran war, when Rummy was paying him friendly visits..

[aquart]

25. Uh, may not have been Saddam. May have been Iran.

At this hour, that's as good as I can remember.

He was a bad boy. We know that for sure. But maybe he didn't gas the Kurds.

[morgan2]

26. there is some quote

of someone from the pentagon saying its great that iraq and iran were using gas on each other. Something about it being a great testing ground.

[corporatewhore]

14. using wmds

america supplied him with

[Must_B_Free]

16. Sounds like they put him up to it.

ANd from what I have heard on TV it sounded like he was leading his people. He kept talking about the "resolve of the Iraqi people" and "defeating the invader".

Plus he didn't have the WMDs, apparently.

Plus if they do off Saddam, it would go beyond the goal of trying to locate the supposed WMDs which were likely destroyed. Iraq was a supply threat to Saudi Arabia, and they were trying to industrialize. This was all about taking out the competition.

[corporatewhore]

11. If bush doesnt

pull at least some of the troops out it will just show that it wasnt about saddam I think iraqis/forgieners will up the attacks now that one dictator is gone and those attacks wont be from saddam loyalists any more
but will take a while for press to make connection.
If saddam by some miracle makes it to trial might be bad for bushco because it will show who supplied him w/wmds and helped propped him up
i do think timing is suspicious (right after gores endorsement of dean and he takes lead in polls)I do think they have osama in a meatlocker waiting right before election day

[MarkTwain]

15. No. Bush just checked...

....the Democratic Party in light of its now presumptive nominee, Dr. Dean and the serious baggage he brings to the electoral dynamic on behalf of progressive goals.

Nominate Dr. Dean and it will, indeed, then be a full checkmate.

Endgame: Karl Rove.

[spinbaby]

17. Could be

There is always the possibility that Saddam tried to save his own hide by arranging his own capture by the Kurds and making sure word got out that he was captured alive. No question that a live Saddam is a liability for the Bush administration.

[MarkTwain]

19. As your moniker implies....

... Spin is everything.

Irrespective of what Sadam says, claims, or alleges during the course of the next year, prior the election of November, 2004, it will be spun as the rantings of a tyrant, a dictator, a cruel and merciless animal. All of which, by the way, happen to be true.

I mean just look at how effectively the Cabal has managed to bury the naked act of treason - which to any politically observant soul is known to have occured deep in the heart of the West Wing, if not the Oval Office itself.

Less than two months after a six month delay of its disclosure, it's now a non-story. Treason. Betrayal of a CIA asset. A non-starter as far as this country appears to be concerned.

Sadam will be a much easier run through the spin cycle for this bunch. Believe me.

[Pontus]

18. This will help Lieberman -- hurt Clark, Dean etc.

Lieberman has stood firm on the reasons he supported the war. Others backtracked and it will now hurt them.

[FrenchieCat]

20. The war on terror goes on....

This does not hurt Clark...it makes Clark the strongest contender against Bush....as now the issue of Foreign policy and national security will be the centerpiece of the election.

Bush will brag all day and all night long...therefore we need our strongest in that area to run against him. To ignore the issue and put someone up that is weak in this area, would be suicide!

[MarkTwain]

21. Hurts Dean....

... who never served in the military. Who was skiing while his chief Democratic primary opponent not only served but prevailed to the highest of ascents within that military.

"General" Clark will have no problem with dealing with this issue, at all.

The question remains, will the Democratic party pull its head out of its swamp of starry-eyed, lava lamp idealism and nominate a man who can truly do battle with the evil which is The Cabal.

[soothsayer]

27. oh, did saddam have the WMDs in his pockets?

you mean we still haven't found them?

wasn't that the reason for our illegal invasion?

[KharmaTrain]

22. How About Chinese Checkers?

A couple of thoughts:

Saddam's capture won't mean a thing in three months, dead or alive, as long as the drip, drip, drip of American dead continue. If anything, there will now be an undercurrent of "Well we've got Saddam, let's go home" that will build.

Now the man who knows all about WMD can either spill the beans and vindicate this regime or either refute everything or remain silent...or even more fun...start fingering members of this regime that helped him over the years. As you can see, two out of the three in this game aren't good for RoveCo.

While Saddam's "captured", Osama, the dude who blew up those towers in New York...remember him...remains very much at large and as potent as ever. If the reports in last week's Newsweek are to be believed, his henchmen are quickly picking up any slack inside Iraq. All the hoopla about Saddam can be literally blown away with another Al Queda attack on American interests.

For those who want to vindicate this invasion, this is the big victory and be prepared to hear the chest-beating and told-ya-sos over the next couple days, but that's about the shelf-life of this story, unless Saddam sings like Barbra Streisand.

Final Note: Watching this prep rally in Baghdad is good that it's at such an early hour not too many people are watching...this is embarassing. What next? Supreme Court sessions with a studio audience?

[FrenchieCat]

24. Yea...but what about the trial?

THey can schedule that for whenever they wish...Like October 2004.....

[BlueCollar]

28. even if direct attacks against U.S. Troops diminish significantly

what will be the effect amongst the three primary ethnic groups in Iraq?

I see a strong potential for a "civil war" type of scenario, similar to the balkans after the fall of communism.

The short term benefit may go to *, but the more real problem may be the instability. * and company may be in danger of finding themselves caught in a similar situation. The Iraqui civil/military infrastructure isn't up to the task...

[radfringe]

23. anyone have a link to the Bush* quote

about Saddam no longer being a "concern" or "relevant"? I believe Bush* said it around the time he declared "mission accomplished"