Saddam son 'was poised to topple dad'

The Australian ^ | March 3, 2005

[cake_crumb]

"Looks like a couple of TOW-heads"

"They were of the highest caliber."

But now their chances are shot.

[kayak]

I wonder which senior military official was going to become manager of the baby milk factory after the big coup?

[VeniVidiVici]

"Looks like a couple of TOW-heads"

"They were of the highest caliber."

"But now their chances are shot."

It would've been a hollow victory for them anyhow. They could've been the belles of the ball.

[cake_crumb]

"Looks like a couple of TOW-heads""

"They were of the highest caliber." "But now their chances are shot."

"It would've been a hollow victory for them anyhow. They could've been the belles of the ball."

Now they'll be remembered as 'mostly armless'

[Enchante]

Mildly interesting, BUT....
1) nothing Peter Arnett ever says or writes can be trusted at all - I won't take this report seriously without independent confirmation;
2) if true, it's only a minor footnote in the whole saga of the war and aftermath - was probably just a last-moment desperate ploy by Ba'ath Party leaders to save their a--es as US forces advanced.... they may have imagined that deposing Saddam would somehow lead to a UN-imposed ceasefire, but with 150,000+ troops already in-country we wouldn't have stopped short of routing the whole depraved Ba'ath government;
3) any liberal/leftist like Arnett who will want to use this tale to assert that Saddam's regime could have been toppled by means short of war still misses the point - even if this story is true, it was only the presence of onrushing US forces bearing down on Baghdad that made Saddam's regime vulnerable.

[SlowBoat407]

The ambitious heir had even formed a shadow government on the outskirts of his father's capital Baghdad, that was disguised under the cover of his powerful Iraqi National Olympic Committee and funded by murky oil deals, he said.

Khofi?

[xm177e2]

If he did take power from Saddam, his first act of business would be to have Qusay murdered.

[razorback-bert]

Great news, let us dig him up, prop him up and put him in charge.

[Cultural Jihad]

Ah, Uday, that democratic philanthropist! More like a Roman Emperor who poisoned his father and slit the throat of his elder brother in order to take the throne.

[Mike Darancette]

I guess that the left would like us to believe that Uday was going to depose dad and make Iraq a benevolent democracy. And Bush ruined the best chance for a free Iraq.

[Cultural Jihad]

For the record, Peter Arnett was the CNN reporter in Baghdad during the first Gulf War. Afterwards, Pat Buchanan asked him on Crossfire (and here I paraphrase) "If you were to get wind in Baghdad of a planned assault against American forces, would you have alerted the Allies in order to prevent dozens of possible deaths?" Incredulously, Mr. Arnett answered: "No, I wouldn't have. I am strictly a reporter."

[I_like_good_things_too]

Eff Peter Arnett.

[A CA Guy]

Well, if playboy said it, must be so.

[planekT]

...US Cable News Network?," I thought.... Oh yeah, CNN...

Yes, that was a nice touch.

There was one good thing that came out of Arnett and CNN's miscalculation of the situation.

The Republican Guard had hunkered down outside of Bagdad about this time believing that U.S. forces were bogged down and unable to operate in the terrible conditions the giant sandstorm had created. (where'd they get that idea? You got it. CNN).

We could see from the infrared satelite images (which are delayed) that they were parked there, and destroyed them.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Uday and Qusay were killed in a blistering battle in the northern city of Mosul on July 22, 2003,...

Too bad Peter couldn't have been with them then.