thedrifter
04-08-03, 09:38 AM
RULING FAMILY
U.S. Military Says It Hears Hussein Son Calling Shots
By BERNARD WEINRAUB
ITH V CORPS HEADQUARTERS, near the Kuwait border, April 7 — American military officials said today that they believed that Saddam Hussein's younger son, Qusay, was still alive and leading Iraq's security forces.
The officials based their conclusions on intercepted communications of top Iraqi military officials, including conversations among officers who said that the younger Mr. Hussein had given them orders.
For nearly three weeks, the fate and whereabouts of Saddam Hussein, and his two sons, Qusay and Uday, have been uncertain. All three may have been in a bunker in Baghdad that was targeted by cruise missiles and bunker-busting bombs on March 19, the opening night of the military campaign.
Since then, it has been unclear whether senior members of Iraq's leadership were injured or killed in the attack.
The latest information, based on monitored conversations in the last few days, has led officers to conclude that Qusay, his father's heir apparent, is most likely alive. "If he's not, then there's a very good imposter out there," one official said.
In addition, the communications reveal the same defiant optimism that Baghdad's information minister presents to listening Iraqis and foreign journalists, these officer said.
As American infantry troops encircle Baghdad and make thrusts into the city itself, top Iraqi military commanders are apparently still conveying positive messages to the younger Mr. Hussein, who was appointed leader of the security forces by his father before the war began and who is reputed to be a cunning and brutal officer.
The American officials who monitor the conversations of the Iraqi military and listen to the command-and-control systems said that Iraqi generals speaking to Qusay over satellite phones and other communications devices generally talk about high American casualties and defeats of the allied forces in various cities.
They have also claimed, the officials said, that American forces were turned back at the international airport on the edge of Baghdad.
"He's being told by his cronies, by military officers, by political appointees, they have control of the airport," said one American officer who has listened to the transmissions. "They say, `We're ready, we're fighting, we're moving to attack.' He's being told lies."
Intelligence officers said the Saddam Hussein government had so intimidated and brutalized its military leadership that officers might be fearful of passing on accurate information that could infuriate the Iraqi leader, if he is still alive, or his son.
The flow of inaccurate information from Iraqi officials to the public has also grown in recent days. Today, for example, Iraq's information minister, Muhammad Said al-Sahhaf, held a news conference in Baghdad in which he said that "Baghdad is safe," that there were no American troops in the city and that the Americans were lying when they said Baghdad was under siege.
Mr. Sahhaf also said American soldiers were committing suicide and were "sick in their minds." He said the sound of gunfire in Baghdad came from the killing of Americans troops.
Qusay, who is 36, is believed to be the closest family member in Saddam's inner circle.
"Qusay has emerged as the star of the family," wrote Kenneth M. Pollack, a Middle East expert at the Brookings Institution, in "The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq." "Quiet, dependable and ruthless, he heads the Special Security Organization, which has become Iraq's pre-eminent internal security organization, with far greater responsibilities than Saddam had previously allowed any other security agency to possess."
More recently, Qusay took control of the Republican Guard, Iraq's best-trained force. Several divisions in the guard have been overwhelmed by the American-led advance on Baghdad.
Qusay has apparently outmaneuvered his older brother, Uday, to become his father's heir apparent. Uday, considered by experts on Iraq to be unstable, survived an assassination attempt in 1996 and is partly paralyzed. The brothers are believed by Iraq experts to be bitter rivals.
American officials say Qusay has also developed ties to extremist groups in the Middle East. In recent weeks, officials said, an undisclosed number of Syrians, Sudanese, Egyptians and Palestinians have slipped into Iraq to join the fight against the Americans and British.
Sempers,
Roger
U.S. Military Says It Hears Hussein Son Calling Shots
By BERNARD WEINRAUB
ITH V CORPS HEADQUARTERS, near the Kuwait border, April 7 — American military officials said today that they believed that Saddam Hussein's younger son, Qusay, was still alive and leading Iraq's security forces.
The officials based their conclusions on intercepted communications of top Iraqi military officials, including conversations among officers who said that the younger Mr. Hussein had given them orders.
For nearly three weeks, the fate and whereabouts of Saddam Hussein, and his two sons, Qusay and Uday, have been uncertain. All three may have been in a bunker in Baghdad that was targeted by cruise missiles and bunker-busting bombs on March 19, the opening night of the military campaign.
Since then, it has been unclear whether senior members of Iraq's leadership were injured or killed in the attack.
The latest information, based on monitored conversations in the last few days, has led officers to conclude that Qusay, his father's heir apparent, is most likely alive. "If he's not, then there's a very good imposter out there," one official said.
In addition, the communications reveal the same defiant optimism that Baghdad's information minister presents to listening Iraqis and foreign journalists, these officer said.
As American infantry troops encircle Baghdad and make thrusts into the city itself, top Iraqi military commanders are apparently still conveying positive messages to the younger Mr. Hussein, who was appointed leader of the security forces by his father before the war began and who is reputed to be a cunning and brutal officer.
The American officials who monitor the conversations of the Iraqi military and listen to the command-and-control systems said that Iraqi generals speaking to Qusay over satellite phones and other communications devices generally talk about high American casualties and defeats of the allied forces in various cities.
They have also claimed, the officials said, that American forces were turned back at the international airport on the edge of Baghdad.
"He's being told by his cronies, by military officers, by political appointees, they have control of the airport," said one American officer who has listened to the transmissions. "They say, `We're ready, we're fighting, we're moving to attack.' He's being told lies."
Intelligence officers said the Saddam Hussein government had so intimidated and brutalized its military leadership that officers might be fearful of passing on accurate information that could infuriate the Iraqi leader, if he is still alive, or his son.
The flow of inaccurate information from Iraqi officials to the public has also grown in recent days. Today, for example, Iraq's information minister, Muhammad Said al-Sahhaf, held a news conference in Baghdad in which he said that "Baghdad is safe," that there were no American troops in the city and that the Americans were lying when they said Baghdad was under siege.
Mr. Sahhaf also said American soldiers were committing suicide and were "sick in their minds." He said the sound of gunfire in Baghdad came from the killing of Americans troops.
Qusay, who is 36, is believed to be the closest family member in Saddam's inner circle.
"Qusay has emerged as the star of the family," wrote Kenneth M. Pollack, a Middle East expert at the Brookings Institution, in "The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq." "Quiet, dependable and ruthless, he heads the Special Security Organization, which has become Iraq's pre-eminent internal security organization, with far greater responsibilities than Saddam had previously allowed any other security agency to possess."
More recently, Qusay took control of the Republican Guard, Iraq's best-trained force. Several divisions in the guard have been overwhelmed by the American-led advance on Baghdad.
Qusay has apparently outmaneuvered his older brother, Uday, to become his father's heir apparent. Uday, considered by experts on Iraq to be unstable, survived an assassination attempt in 1996 and is partly paralyzed. The brothers are believed by Iraq experts to be bitter rivals.
American officials say Qusay has also developed ties to extremist groups in the Middle East. In recent weeks, officials said, an undisclosed number of Syrians, Sudanese, Egyptians and Palestinians have slipped into Iraq to join the fight against the Americans and British.
Sempers,
Roger