Drudge: BUSH WARNS SADDAM: LEAVE IRAQ IN 72 HOURS

Drudge / CNN ^ | 3.17.03

[Hugin]

Don't be surprised if Saddam accepts it, and then Bush will have painted himself into a similar corner to the one his father created.

How so? Bush will insist that Saddam an his top 200 or so people leave Iraq. Not just say they will, or say they will talk about it, but be gone by then. Of course it will never happen.

[Dog Gone]

this exile option is a terrible idea. Terrible. Don't be surprised if Saddam accepts it, and then Bush will have painted himself into a similar corner to the one his father created

Saddam won't accept it. Notice that there's no guarantee of amnesty in exile. It's an ultimatum to leave and surrender the country, or stay and die. Either way, we go in.

This is carefully calculated.

[johnb838]

Saddam's not leaving. He's hoping for a big world-wide squeal "Stop the Bombing!" and that he'll squeak through again.

[twigs]

It will also put us at the beginning of the Muslim sabbath.

[Alamo-Girl]

This is carefully calculated.

I agree! We are on a hair trigger. Bush will give him n hours, but the minute after Saddam says "no", we're in.

[ambrose]

Where is Saddam supposed to go

Either North Korea or France...

[twigs]

Why wait until Tuesday? Do they WANT their inspectors to be taken as hostages?

[ambrose]

Also, the moment Saddam shows signs of weakness (i.e., fleeing) may lead a general to put a bullet in his head. He may be trapped right where he is.

[not-alone]

72 minutes? :)

more like it

[Adam-ondi-Ahman]

Fox reporting that the Iraqi Foreign Minister says that Hussein will not leave Iraq. So, no need for an ultimatium, huh?

[mass55th]

And aren't the Oscar's on this coming Sunday? All eyes will be on coverage of the war, not those leftist freaks.

[twigs]

I was referring to the UN inspectors. I just think it's strange that the SG is not asking them to leave until tomorrow. I never did believe that SH would leave Iraq. I think he truly thinks he will survive this war in the "safety" of his bunker. Ego is a wonderful tool for the opposition.

[My Favorite Headache]

Which is why Bush is giving him 48-72 hrs. Just enough time for statements and games to come from Iraq and then Bush will put the smackdown. I say Bush will be speaking to the nation around Wednesday night again.

[brydic1]

Haven't heard anything from France. The Germans have recalled their diplomatic staff and asked all Germans to leave Iraq. Nothing heard from France. Are they going to stay in Iraq?

[Cabbages and Kings]

I work on saturdays and sundays, would it be possible, and I solicit your comments here, for me to ask the President to further delay the attack until next monday, or at least push it up for a start this friday? my only regret is that we have not, as yet, decided to open a second front on the left-wing liberal trash in this country! oh well.

[Alamo-Girl]

I work on saturdays and sundays, would it be possible, and I solicit your comments here, for me to ask the President to further delay the attack until next monday, or at least push it up for a start this friday?

Er, you can ask for anything, but I wouldn't hold my breath (LOL!) On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if this whole thing was over by Friday.

[ZULU]

He's giving the bad guys 3 days to clear out of town. I thought the line was "be out of town by sunset."

The sooner the better. Go get them Bush!!!

[Cabbages and Kings]

You got that right!

[carl in alaska]

A 48 hour ultimatum has a much better ring to it.

[finnman69]

US news reporting 82nd airborne getting ready for a action.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=926&e=4&u=/usnews/20030317/ts_usnews/battle_ready

NORTHERN KUWAITI DESERT--Paratroopers do not pack up their equipment unless they are getting ready to jump. The process is too numbingly laborious: rigging jeeps, humvees, and artillery pieces with parachutes and readying them to be dropped from cargo planes in the black of night. So there may be no more telling indicator of impending war than the 82nd Airborne Division's sweaty soldiers working around the clock to rig their equipment for what could be the most dangerous jump of their lives.

Their backbreaking work is critical. If the weapons aren't safely at the drop zone by the time the paratroopers touch Iraqi soil minutes later, they will stand little chance against Iraqi troops waiting to kill American soldiers falling from the sky. The 82nd trains to seize enemy airfields, and commanding officer Maj. Gen. Chuck Swannack and his intelligence staff have spent weeks poring over the key strategic airfields his troops might secure in the opening hours of an Iraq (news - web sites) invasion. But in the end, they know they could be asked to drop anywhere. "In the desert," says Swannack, "pretty much anything you look at is a drop zone."