Endgame?David Ignatius of the Washington

Endgame?David Ignatius of the Washington Post has an excellent post on the Iraqi leadership's preparations for the endgame.

A faction within Hussein's government is said to be urging him to comply with the U.N. resolution. Give up the weapons, they are supposedly telling the Iraqi leader. The real source of Iraqi power is the country's scientific and technical expertise, they contend, which will still be there in a few years when the Americans have forgotten about Iraq again. The advocates of this compromise approach are said to include officials in ministries that have extensive dealings with the West on issues such as energy, trade and foreign affairs.
But nobody in Hussein's inner circle is thought to be advocating compliance, and for a simple reason: They know that if he reversed course and gave up the weapons he has secretly been accumulating for so many years, it would amount to a disastrous loss of face. The regime's authority would crumble -- and Hussein, his family and inner circle would be more vulnerable than ever to attack. That's why Saddam Hussein is likely to seek a defiant and probably suicidal last stand, like the famous American battle of the Alamo. He has few other viable choices. He is damned if he doesn't capitulate to the U.N. inspectors and damned if he does.

Read the whole thing. There are many things in this article that, if confirmed, beg many questions of many anti-war and/or pro-Hussein pundits.

Posted by Mitch at November 11, 2002 08:13 AM