If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

The Tehran Times (Iranian newspaper) has contributed to the current raft of speculation over what is (or isn’t) going on inside (and outside) or Iraq as it braces itself for possible attack. On its site today:

It seems that Saddam is clutching at every straw to survive. In his latest move to stay in power, Saddam sent his chief spy to Israel, an informed source told the TEHRAN TIMES.

In a meeting between the Iraqi chief spy and a son of Israel’s Ariel Sharon, Saddam sent the following message to the Israelis: If Israel convinced the United States not to attack Iraq, as a quid pro quo Iraq will officially apologize to Israel for supporting the Palestinians; Iraq will accommodate two million Palestinians and will grant them Iraqi nationality; and Iraq will supply 350,000 barrels of oil to Israel every day. The Israelis told the Iraq chief spy that they will respond after the elections.

Meanwhile, back at Le Monde Diplomatique, it seems the expected house to house fighting inside Baghdad might not be so fierce as predicted:

Saddam Hussein’s goal will be to prevent or delay social upheaval by keeping the population in line as long as he can. Contrary to extravagant official pronouncements urging the people to rise up en masse to fight the invader, the regime is ensuring that Iraqis stay in their homes, with an around-the-clock curfew to be imposed as soon as hostilities commence… Party officials assigned to each neighborhood will maintain public order, with each household held responsible for the conduct of its members, all of whom will be confined to their homes.

The more the build-up is reported, the less anyone really knows about the truth of the situation. How much of what we read is speculation based on fact, and how much is accurate prediction of what will actually happen?

This entry was posted on Friday, February 28th, 2003 at 6:56 pm and is filed under War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.