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| Axis of Evil |
| CIA authorized to topple Saddam |
| 2002-06-16 |
| President George W. Bush early this year signed an intelligence order directing the CIA to undertake a comprehensive, covert program to prepare the way to topple Saddam Hussein, including authority to capture the Iraqi president, The Washington Post reported Sunday. The order suggests that the administration has begun to put money and resources into a policy that has publicly consisted mostly of tough rhetoric. The presidential order, an expansion of a previous presidential finding designed to oust Saddam, directs the CIA to use all available tools, including increased support to Iraqi opposition groups and expanded intelligence collection efforts, and possible use of advance teams in Iraq. The order authorizes any CIA in-country team to defend itself with the use of lethal force if necessary. Tens of millions of dollars have been allocated to the covert program. CIA Director George Tenet has told Bush that the CIA effort alone, without the deployment of troops and the use of economic and diplomatic pressure, probably has only about a 10 percent to 20 percent chance of succeeding. The CIA's covert program should be viewed largely as preparatory to a military strike, devoted to the identification of targets and building relationships with alternative future leaders within the country. Sources said the CIA initiative is part of a broader Bush administration plan to remove Saddam that includes economic pressure, diplomacy and what officials believe will eventually include military action on a large scale. Thay shows good sense. Rather than rushing in with guns blazing to take on the Republican Guard toe-to-toe as we fight it out with the Former Fourth Largest Army in the World, we soften them up in advance. If possible, we dump Sammy and his Tikriti thugs without expending a large number of resources. There are all sorts of intricacies that have to be attended to, chief among them being dismantling the Ba'ath Party structure and identifying who gets shot, who gets jugged, and who's a good guy in disguise. I think they'll eventually do Sammy in, and I'm glad they're taking the time to do it right. I just hope they're not losing track of the al-Qaeda problem, which actually encompasses more than just al-Qaeda. Sammy's more in the tradition of Mussolini than bin Laden. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |