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Saddam should consider exile: US
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should either disarm or accept any offer he might get to go into exile if he wishes to avoid a crushing military defeat, the United States said. He won't do that, because he can't take his arms and ammunition with him into exile... State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said he was not aware of any activity now under way to negotiate a exile option for Saddam but maintained the Iraqi leader should either "change his ways or change his venue." That's diplotalks for "get out of Dodge"... "I'm not aware of any active efforts to promote such proposals," he told reporters on Wednesday when asked about speculation that the United States and other nations may be trying to arrange a face-saving method for Saddam to step down and thus perhaps avert a war. "But at this point, if it's an option he has, he ought to be smart enough to take it." Scaring him out of town will be a lot cheaper than fighting a war, but it'll also leave the Arab states with some influence in the successor state. But it definitely looks like Bush is going to try the cheaper alternative — first. Dan Quayle made similar suggestions in the run-up to the first Gulf War, and in fact I think he was still mentioning the idea all the way through it. Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-01-03 |
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