UAE offered asylum to Hussein

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/11/02/saddam.exile/index.html
UAE official: Hussein was open to exile
UAE deal died at Arab League meeting days before Iraq war
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- Days before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Saddam Hussein agreed in principle to accept an offer of exile from the United Arab Emirates, but the deal fell through, a UAE government senior official told CNN.

[babylonsister]

1. Thanks for this reminder; I had forgotten that. nt

[ingac70]

2. Doesn't bother me. Hussein was no threat to me and mine.

Make sure the freepers hear about it, though.

[w8liftinglady]

4. point is,"aiding and abetting the enemy"-

they love using that term..

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Sad that it didn't happen

maybe thousands who died would still be alive.

[kenny blankenship]

5. Oh I doubt that. Saddam would not have been allowed to leave.

Not if it meant that we would have a regime change without firing any shots. Clearly the Bush people weren't going to accept Saddam leaving and a Ba'athist government replacing him. The Pentagon had a lot of new toys that they wanted to try out and to demonstrate to the world. Iraq was essentially an immobilized test subject. We know what our new weaponry can do on the test range but there's nothing like a flesh and blood enemy to really assess their destructive powers. Shock and Awe was probably as much directed towards the edification of the watching world as it is was directed towards the Iraqi military--much like the firebombing of Dresden was a demonstration of the power of Anglo-American strategic bombing as a warning for Stalin.

[ingac70]

7. The US was going into Iraq regardless

[OhioBlue]

6. and now * wants to give security of six ports to them

:banghead:

[Yupster]

8. Remember the speech made before the war on TV

He gave Saddam 48 hours for him and his sons to leave the country or face war.

There were 3-4 countries who stepped forward saying they'd take him.

I was right here on DU telling everyone who would listen that there was no need to worry. At the last minute Saddam would fly to Saudi Arabia and take the palace right next to Idi Amin's while he plotted his comeback.

If anyone wants any more fine predictions from me ...

I bet Saddam wishes he would have listened to me though. He could be in Saudi Arabia and there might very well be a call to bring him back legally to settle the turmoil down. He'd be in better shape than he is now anyway, and his sons would be alive.