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thedrifter
08-04-03, 06:02 AM
U.S. debates killing Saddam to avoid trial
Some officials fear proceeding could embarrass Washington

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Posted: August 2, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern



© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

To kill Saddam Hussein, or not to kill.

That is the question Bush administration officials are grappling with amid word this week the Iraqi Governing Council wants to try him in an Iraqi court.

Citing defense and intelligence officials, the Boston Globe reports officials in high-level meetings are debating whether to order military commanders to kill rather than capture Saddam. They fear the prospect of an open trial that puts the ousted Iraqi dictator on a public stage where he could stir up nationalist Arab sentiments and embarrass the United States by publicizing its past support.

The Globe describes one of the officials as having "mixed feelings" on the issue.

Among those said to have taken part in the discussions are Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Cheney's office would not comment on the matter.

Part of the concern, according to the Globe, is that a war-crimes proceeding would revisit the debate about Saddam's compliance with United Nations resolutions outlawing weapons of mass destruction, which figured into the administration's justification for the war.

Despite the reported hand-wringing, U.S. officials insist the decision to capture or kill Hussein will be up to commanders on the ground.

''This is a tactical issue,'' the paper quotes Lieutenant General Norton Schwartz, the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as saying.

The debate may be purely academic, as Hussein would likely fight coalition troops to the death like his sons rather than allow himself to be taken alive.

Meanwhile, coalition forces have intensified their hunt for Hussein in his hometown of Tikrit, amid the broadcast of yet another audiotape on Al-Jazeera television purporting to be Hussein urging Iraqis to resist the U.S. occupation.

"The feeling of defeat and bitterness might lead some people to commit treason ... instead of being a gun pointed at the enemy," said the voice on the tape reportedly made Sunday.




Central Command, or CENTCOM, handed out digitally altered photos of Saddam to troops that approximate what he could look like if disguised to elude capture.




Two photos show him with a heavy black beard. The white keffiyah headscarf of a tribal Arab is added to one.




Three other photos show the 66-year-old without the benefit of hair dye and the dark-brown toupee he is thought to wear.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33882

Sempers,

Roger
:marine: