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| Middle East |
| Israeli ’93 ’hit’ on Saddam Backfired |
| 2003-03-13 |
| If not for a dramatic missile accident that killed five Israeli soldiers, Saddam Hussein might be dead today — assassinated in a top-secret commando operation 10 years ago. The soldiers died in a final run-through when the short-range missile they had been trained to fire at the Iraqi dictator was accidentally launched and blew them up — in front of top Israeli brass. Israel has never admitted that Saddam was the target of the elite Sayeret Matkal commandos who died that day, Nov. 5, 1992. The closest that officials have come to confirming it was two weeks ago, when former prime minister Ehud Barak was confronted on Israeli TV. Barak, who was commander-in-chief of the Israeli military in 1992 and was a short distance from the missile explosion, pointedly refused to admit there was such a plot. But what has leaked out to the foreign press is this: In 1992, Israel felt it had a score to settle with the man who sent 39 Scud missiles raining down on the Tel Aviv area during the Gulf War. Also, both U.S. and Israeli intelligence knew that they faced a long-term problem because Saddam had hidden weapons of mass destruction. Since Israel had complied with U.S. pleas to stay out of the Gulf War, relations with Washington were good. So when Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's government warned the administration of George H.W. Bush of their intent to assassinate Saddam, there was no objection. A plan was devised and the assignment given to Sayeret Matkal. Barak and top aides watched in horror as the missile exploded and the entire unit died. Such a catastrophe couldn't be covered up entirely, so Israeli officials acknowledged that there had been five deaths in an undisclosed training accident. If this article is true, it's a great shame. Might have saved us a lot of lives, although who knows? Saddam's boys might be even worse. |
| Posted by:Dar Steckelberg |