'Saddam, US had pre-war deal'

[dArKeR]

Moscow - Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein cut a deal with the United States before the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, former Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov said in an interview published on Thursday.

"There was an understanding with the Americans, as paradoxical as it may seem," Primakov told the Russian daily Gazeta in a lengthy interview.

"Why weren't the bridges of the Tigris blown up when the American tanks approached Baghdad? Why weren't Iraqi aviation and tanks used, and where are they now?" asked Primakov, a former head of the Russian secret service and a specialist in Arab affairs who was formerly on good terms with Saddam.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1547794,00.html

[MirrorAshes]

1. Gets wierder every day, I swear.

What to believe?

[tom_paine]

2. How sad has Imperial Amerika become when I believe this ex-Commie

over our Imperial Family and their Stooges?

Pretty bad.

I didn't say I fully believed Primakov, just that whatever level of belief I placed in him is GREATER than that which I have for the Imperial family and their Battalion of Lying Liars.

[sniffa]

3. this after putin's statement

on iraqi terrorism. weird.

[colonel odis]

4. so ask saddam about it. n/t

[russian33]

5. oh come on...

Yevgeny Primakov was a prime minister at some point in the the 90's...how the hell does he know what did or did not happen in 2003?

and maybe the reason they can't find any traces of Iraqi aviation, is cause there is none...this country was under sanctions after all..

[gWbush is Mabus]

6. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>the rest of the story is important

"Why was there an immediate ceasefire? Why was there practically no resistance a year ago?" he added.

Primakov, who now heads Russia's chamber of trade and industry, also cast doubt on the authenticity of footage of Saddam's reported capture that circled the world on December 14.

"They showed two soldiers with guns with palm trees in the background near the hole (where Saddam was reportedly hiding). At that time of year, date palms are never in bloom," he said.

"Finally, any man can tell you that such a long beard (as Saddam had when he was reportedly caught) could not grow in seven months," he said.

"All evidence suggests that Saddam surrendered earlier and the story of the hole was invented later," he said.

Primakov, who was also Russian foreign minister, made two secret trips to Iraq at the request of President Vladimir Putin, shortly before the invasion by US and British troops.



BASICALLY, the whole "quick invasion" of military might was staged as was the capture of Saddam.

holy shit.

call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think there is a major conspiracy behind EVERYTHING this administration says and does.

[Oreegone]

9. Ok now I'm paranoid

I can't get to the link, it doesn't exist. It says News24 can't be found.

[maddezmom]

12. link works for me

:)

[David__77]

7. I have respect for Primakov--he should have been president, not Putin.

Primakov understands a lot about the current int'l crisis, and the crisis in Russia since its collapse into disaster in 1991. I wonder if he is right about this.

[russian33]

10. To put his statement in perspective, here's some info on Primakov

Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov (born October 29, 1929) is a former prime minister of Russia. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was an important official in the KGB. After the formation of the Russian Federation, he became a close associate of President Boris Yeltsin and during the late 1990s was one of the highest-ranking members of the government, serving as foreign minister from 1996 until 1998 and as prime minister from 1998 until he was fired in May 1999. In March 2003 he visited Iraq, in a failed attempt to convince his alleged friend, Saddam Hussein, to give up some of his power in order to prevent war with the United States, a move which received some support from several nations opposed to the war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yevgeny_Primakov


Also (from 1998)...

"Many majority Republicans and minority Democrats are already angry at what they consider Primakov's efforts to bolster dictator Saddam Hussein against the US-led campaign to maintain sanctions against Iraq until it fully discloses its illicit weapons-of-mass-destruction programs."

http://csmonitor.com/cgi-bin/durableRedirect.pl?/durable/1998/09/11/fp8s2-csm.shtml

[Tracer]

8. I recall stories ...

... implying that the * administration had paid off Iraqi generals to just go away and not oppose the invasion. Which is slightly different than claiming that there was a deal between the U.S. and Saddam.

How they could get operatives close enough to pay off top Iraqi brass has always been a mystery to me.

[rawstory]

11. bump

[Kagemusha]

13. Primakov may be past his prime, but you have to wonder.

I mean, I was super shocked those bridges never got blown and never understood why. But the reason could be quite different.

[librechik]

14. they had a "relationship!"

because they did!

[geek tragedy]

15. Saddam complicit in his own capture?

Weird.

[keithyboy]

16. It really could have been a deal but they forgot to tell the Iraqi people!

Who knows anymore what the truth is. It is for sure that the US and Saddam were pals throughout the 1980's when the 'great communicator' reigned. Saddam received most of his weapontry from good ol'e Ronnie and the gang. I wondered about the length of Saddam's beard when I first saw his pictures but I passed it off as Iraqi men's beards must grow faster. So when were we looking at Saddam's doubles and when were we not? That's the question. Only his plastic surgeon knows...I guess.
Will the real Alfred E. Newman in the WH please stand up?

[KoKo]

17. Remember the DU threads on the "Date Palms" with links to when

date palms bloom, and the analysis of the photograph of the soldiers removing the cover of his "spider hole" and what was in the background.

We had a long thread going on this with much speculation that something wasn't right about Saddam's discovering. The "Wackadoo" element here on DU (including myself) felt the whole story was concocted and Saddam had been captured months before.

[Miss Authoritiva]

19. Oh, yes, I remember the date palm threads.

Never thought it was wackadoo. My only question is this: what does Saddam get out of the deal? Other than total escape to some rogue luxurious island somewhere, the best deal would be not being turned over to an Iraqi justice system and maybe joining Slobodan Milosevic in the Hague. And the US is still playing out the string about when and how we'll turn over Saddam to the Iraqis. So, maybe. But why would the US and Saddam trust each other? And who was the go-between?

[colonel odis]

20. what does saddam get out of it?

he gets to avoid being handed over to the iraqis. can you imagine what the general populace would do to him and his corpse?

perhaps that's why the u.s. is becoming adamant about keeping saddam in its custody after the transfer of power.

[KoKo]

22. Maybe Bush reneged on the deal with Saddam. It wouldn't be the first

time Bush stabbed someone in the back. Maybe Saddam thought he had WMD and told Bush where they were, and when it didn't pan out, Bush/Cheney said, you will be tortured for this and you won't be allowed to exile?

BTW: Some of us DU'ers got tired of bein called "tinfoilhatters" so we started calling ourselves the "Wackadoo's" It was a joke on ourselves.

I'm proud of my "Tinfoil." Seems it's turned out to be tuned in to the "truth" vibes more than not wearing it. :D

[struggle4progress]

25. Agree. If there was a deal, the Bushistas would likely renege.

The Bushistas p*ssed off the UN by carefully talking around to negotiate 1440, then turned and gave it a different meaning when that was convenient for them. Later, they played a similar trick on CARICOM, negotiating one approach to the Haiti "crisis," then following a different tack while claiming (incorrectly) that CARICOM had signed on. The basic Bushista stance is, we talk some with you, then we do what we want, as we insult you gratuitously. Cheney's remark to Leahy is quite representative of the Bushista philosophy.

[BadGimp]

18. say what..

""All evidence suggests that Saddam surrendered earlier and the story of the hole was invented later," he said. "

Oh Boy...is the cat getting outta the bag here?

[wabeewoman]

21. I remember at the time

that bush said he was invading even if Saddam surrendered. I really doubt this is true but if it is, then what exactly was the point of all the loss of life? We could have had a bloodless coup. Besides, the bridges not being blown up just means we planned to use them. Still....

[Mnemosyne]

23. Why didn't the Red Guard blow them up, not the US??? n/t

[tlcandie]

24. To fill the coffers of he and his compadres?

:shrug:

[drool_n_yank]

26. Rember this

In late May, 2003, General Tommy Franks announced his retirement. Shortly thereafter, he confirmed in an interview with Defense Week that the US had paid Iraqi military leaders to defect. The extent of the defections and their effect on the war were not clear as of this writing (May 24, 2003).

http://www.brainyencyclopedia.com/encyclopedia/2/20/2003_invasion_of_iraq_1.html

I cant find a better link to that story but it was all over back in 03 .

It wouldn't surprise me if Saddam was included in the deal with the other Iraqi military leaders to defect. Gives shock and Awe a new purpose , to give the appearance of an an all out invasion , with a real enemy army and a real victory and not simply a walk in and occupy . This was necessary to convince the public their brave leader just won a war with a sizable and formidable enemy . Was there ever a real target or just a few pockets of resistance ? Just a big fireworks display . Imagine going to a big sports event and only one team shows up the other refuses to play. You have already sold the public tickets and you don't want to give a refund . Turnout the lights in the arena and let the commentators ramble about the excitement of the game, the dominance of the home team and mix in some sound bites over the arena's PA of bone crushing blows or squeaking sneakers and sssswish SCORE ! Then have lots of comments from retired players . Thats what I remember .