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| Iraq |
| U.S. Officials Believe Hussein’s Son Qusay Is Still Alive |
| 2003-04-07 |
| United States military officials believe that Saddam Hussein's younger son, Qusay Saddam, is still alive and leading Iraqi security forces. Officials based their conclusions on communications of top Iraqi military officials, including conversations among officers who say that Qusay Saddam has given them various orders. For nearly three weeks, the fate and whereabouts of the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his two sons, Qusay and Uday, were considered uncertain. All three may have been in a bunker in Baghdad that was targeted by cruise missiles and bunker-busting bombs on March 19, the opening night of the military campaign. Since then, it has been unclear whether Iraq's top leadership were injured or killed in the attack. The latest information, based on overheard conversations in the last few days, had led officers to conclude that Qusay Saddam, his father's heir apparent, is most likely alive. "If he's not, then there's a very good imposter out there," one official said. In addition, the overhead communications reveal the same defiant optimism that Baghdad's information minister presents to listening Iraqis and foreign journalists. As American infantry troops encircled Baghdad, and made thrusts into the capital, top Iraqi military commanders are still conveying positive messages to Qusay Saddam, who was appointed leader of the security forces by his father before the war began. Qusay has a reputation for being cunning and brutal. The upbeat messages from the Iraqi military about what they call American battlefield defeats not only fly in the face of reality but seem to place the Iraqi government in a state of fantasy. The American officials who monitor the conversations of the Iraqi military and listen to the command-and-control systems said that Iraqi generals speaking over satellite phones and other communications to Mr. Saddam generally talk about high American casualties, defeating the Americans in various cities and repelling the American assault into the international airport on the edge of Baghdad. "He's being told by his cronies, by military officers by political appointees they have control of the airport," said one officer who has listened to the transmissions. "They say, `We're ready, we're fighting, we're moving to attack.' He's being told lies." Intelligence officers said Saddam Hussein's regime has so intimidated and brutalized officials that military officers may be fearful of passing on accurate information that could infuriate the Iraqi leader, if he is still alive, or his son. The inaccurate information has rippled across the Iraqi regime, creating an Orwellian dialogue with the public. Today, for example, Iraq's Information Minister, Mohammed Al-Sahaf, held a bizarre news conference in Baghdad, in which he said that "Baghdad is safe," that there were no American troops in the city, and that Americans were full of "lies" when they said Baghdad was under siege. Beyond this, he said that American soldiers were committing suicide and "sick in their minds." He said that the sound of gunfire in Baghdad could be heard because Americans were being killed. Qusay, born in 1968, recently took control of Iraq's military. He is believed to be the closest family member in Saddam's inner circle. "Qusay has emerged as the star of the family," wrote Kenneth M. Pollack in "The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq." Mr. Pollack said, "Quiet, dependable and ruthless, he heads the Special Security Organization, which has become Iraq's preeminent internal security organization, with far greater responsibilities that Saddam had previously allowed any other security agency to possess." More recently, Qusay took control of the Republican Guard, the best equipped and trained force in the Iraqi military. Several Guard divisions have been overwhelmed by the American and British advance. Qusay has appeared to outmaneuver an older brother, Uday, as heir apparent. Considered by Iraqi experts as brutal and unstable, Uday was the subject of an assassination attempt in 1996 and is partially paralyzed. The two brothers are believed by Iraq experts to be bitter rivals. American officials say Qusay has also developed ties to extremist groups in the Middle East. In recent weeks, officials said, an undisclosed number of Syrians, Sudanese, Egyptians and Palestinians have slipped into Iraq to join the fight against the Americans and British. Military officers believe many of them are suicide attackers who may seek to assault American and British soldiers and marines, once the allied troops start moving in and out of Baghdad. |
| Posted by:Anonymous |
| #4 Yeah, Sammy, you're winning. Why don't you come on out and see for yourself? Bring Qusay with you. You both can relax at your little amusement park. |
| Posted by: Former Russian Major 2003-04-07 23:38:46 |
| #3 see above post |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-04-07 21:32:58 |
| #2 Impeccable timing. |
| Posted by: Brian 2003-04-07 21:09:50 |
| #1 Makes sense if he (was) alive, though I suspect Saddam's been dead. |
| Posted by: someone 2003-04-07 20:55:02 |