Doctors Might Be Treating Saddam In Bunker

Yahoo/USA Today ^ | 3-25-2003 | Jack Kelley

[blam]

Doctors might be treating Saddam in bunker

Tue Mar 25, 6:00 AM ET

Jack Kelley USA TODAY

KUWAIT CITY -- CIA operatives and Army commandos who are hunting for Saddam Hussein believe that the Iraqi leader could be in a Baghdad bunker receiving medical attention from military doctors, U.S. intelligence and military sources said Monday.

''We know we hit him. We know he was wounded'' Thursday in a missile and bomb attack on a compound south of Baghdad, said a U.S. intelligence official involved in tracking Saddam. ''We also believe he hasn't left Baghdad.''

The assessment came on a day in which Saddam gave his second address on Iraqi TV since that attack, which U.S. officials said was aimed at ''decapitating'' his regime in the opening hours of the war. Saddam appeared more robust than the pale, shaken figure who was shown a few hours after the attack. He taunted coalition forces in referring to battles in southern Iraq .

''Have you found what the devil that besets your soul promised you?'' he asked, imploring Iraqis to fight coalition forces. ''Cut their throats and even their fingers. . . . We will make it as painful as we can. . . . Victory is imminent.''

U.S. intelligence officials said they believe the person in the latest video was Saddam. Even so, they and the White House said the tape could have been recorded before the war began and didn't necessarily prove that he was in control of his army. On the tape, Saddam praises his army's 51st Division. But some troops in the 51st have surrendered in southern Iraq, U.S. military and Kuwaiti government sources said.

Publicly, U.S. officials say they aren't sure whether Saddam is alive. But air attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere continue to make Saddam's residences and command centers a priority, suggesting an assumption that he is alive.

Intelligence and military sources said intercepted communications, captured Iraqi generals, spy satellites and aircraft are being used to try to track Saddam's movements. It's a difficult task, the sources said, because he can move from bunker to bunker via underground tunnels in Baghdad.

But two intelligence gains have given U.S. officials more hope. Intelligence sources said Delta Force commandos in Baghdad have tapped Saddam's underground phone lines, and said the CIA has recruited an Iraqi official who knows where Saddam sleeps.

Some of the bunkers are 300 feet underground and are beneath mosques, hospitals and schools to keep coalition forces from bombing them, U.S. intelligence officials said.

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[katze]

Interesting. I wondered about this, why with a $150M bunker that he wouldn't have a medical facility included.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[Pearls Before Swine]

Interesting. I wondered about this, why with a $150M bunker that he wouldn't have a medical facility included.

He'd also need to have a standby medical staff. They won't keep their edge forever as underground prisoners.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

treating Saddam

[katze]

The medical staff is a given, but I say hit 'em again, just in case.

[dinok]

Enough with these pipe dreams.

the UN will come around...never did
turkey will let us in...as if that would happen
decapitation...never happened
surrender of key officers...never happened
Shock and awe...no one was shocked or awed
But the worse of all was underestimation of the enemy and sending too few troops...

Rumsfeld's arrogance and Powel's naivete..

When its time for Powell to look at the French in the eye and call them for what they are...he blinks...

On the other hand Rumsfeld's mouth is his own worse enemy. "saddam is loosing control of his country..."
Tell me that when you are in Baghdad and Saddam is in chains.

I just hope we get some troops in there because I don't see the people rising up to throw flowers. They are still terrorised by Saddam's thugs.

[gov_bean_ counter]

Paging Dr. KILLdare, paging Dr. KILLdare...

[Magic Fingers]

ENOUGH!!!!

[Yankee]

''Have you found what the devil that besets your soul promised you?'' he asked, imploring Iraqis to fight coalition forces. ''Cut their throats and even their fingers. . . . We will make it as painful as we can. . . . Victory is imminent.''

You've got to admit, their hyperbole puts ours to shame. Sort of poetic, even if it's dellusional.

The best I can muster on short notice is "We'll cut off Saddam's head and shit down his neck".

[doug from upland]

If the doctors treating him were trained in the U.S., let's hope that got into med school through affirmative action and quotas.

[Lando Lincoln]

One thing I have wondered about......If we thought it was worth the effort to blast his hideaway last week, why didn't we hit it with about 4 times the ordinance than we did? There should be nothing but a crater left in that spot. At least that's my thinking.

[gov_bean_ counter]

Interesting. I wondered about this, why with a $150M bunker that he wouldn't have a medical facility included.

Same result as with Hillarycare.

[Jim Noble]

>>Some of the bunkers are 300 feet underground and are beneath mosques, hospitals and schools to keep coalition forces from bombing them, U.S. intelligence officials said<<

They need air, don't they?

[TominPA]

"Shock and awe...no one was shocked or awed..."

I detect a note of defeatism in your tone. These things are easy to say when your sitting in front of your computer safe and sound. Had you been on the receiving end of any of the many bombing assaults I belive your tone (and opinion of its impact) would be remarkably different.

[Just Another Lurker]

[El Gato]

CIA operatives and Army commandos who are hunting for Saddam Hussein believe that the Iraqi leader could be in a Baghdad bunker receiving medical attention from military doctors,

Time for a bunker buster then! Several in fact, at least two on each known or suspected bunker. They aren't doing any good sitting in the bomb dump.