Posted on 03/21/2003 7:46:46 PM PST by Sabertooth
In an intensified effort to divide Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from his inner circle, U.S. military and intelligence officers in recent days have communicated with Iraqi commanders and they have secretly designated buildings in the capital for defectors to occupy, promising they will not be targeted in U.S. airstrikes, senior U.S. officials said today. U.S. military and intelligence officers also have gained promises from some Iraqi commanders that they would not fire chemical weapons at American ground forces, the officials said, although U.S. officials said they are monitoring one Republican Guard unit outside Baghdad that they believe has been issued artillery shells filled with chemical agents.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
They must be doing something at all that training the top commanders go to... I doubt it is sitting around and playing with their toes.
Still, Iraq experts said they believe Hussein, even if he has survived, could face potential assassination from inside his ranks. The Iraqi leader's normal protection devices failed him on Thursday, leading to the surprise U.S. air attack on the residential compound in Baghdad. For someone obsessed with security, the attack could be disorienting at a time when Hussein is also supposed to issue commands to thwart the military attack by U.S. and British forces.
"Saddam is obsessed with his own security and spares no expense, including his own time and attention, to ensure his safety," said Kenneth Pollack, a former CIA analyst who has written a book on Iraq. Hussein has employed separate rings of bodyguards and security service personnel, many of whom are members of his clan and are sworn to protect him.
Pollack said yesterday that the airstrike on the bunker, "even if it did not hurt him, probably did a lot of damage in a psychological sense."
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