Word: iraqi
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...American plot to bring him down just might throw him off balance and embolden his opponents to try something. Such rumors also might encourage some allies who Washington fears might soon be ready to do business with Saddam -- notably Turkey -- to reconsider and hang tough in keeping the Iraqi regime isolated. Says an Administration official: "It's a comedy of errors. Those stories ((of a well-advanced plot)) are inaccurate, but they suit our policy...
Sightings of that bumper sticker in California and New Hampshire probably go farther than any deep-think analysis to unravel a Washington mystery. Why is the Bush Administration starting to leak hints of a new scheme to dethrone the Iraqi strongman, despite the derision of virtually everyone who knows anything about the Middle East...
...most extreme version, the operation would begin with covert CIA stimulation of a new revolt by Saddam's Kurdish and Shi'ite opponents and proceed to very overt bombing of the forces the Iraqi dictator sent to smash the rebellion. That, goes the plan, would so weaken the regime that either the rebels or Saddam's military commanders, or both, would get rid of him. In another version, the U.S. would covertly incite a military coup by Saddam's lieutenants, in part by letting them know Washington stood ready to back them up with air power, if need...
...Kurds and Shi'ites did rise again, British analysts warn, it is by no means certain that they could overcome the Iraqi regulars facing them. Saddam has 400,000 fresh troops that he kept out of the gulf war standing by, as well as two Republican Guard divisions confronting potential rebels in the north and south. He might never have to call on the three or four Guard divisions he keeps around Baghdad as a kind of personal army. Nor is it certain that American air power could turn the tide -- or even that it could be fully employed...
Sheik Jaber is not only determined to punish his enemies; he is also reluctant to trust his friends. Egypt and Syria offered to lend ground troops as a deterrent against the threat of future Iraqi aggression in exchange for billions of dollars in economic aid. But Kuwait wants no Arab soldiers stationed on its soil. Instead, the Kuwaitis are almost totally reliant on the ! U.S. for protection. They had hoped American troops would stay, but have contented themselves with a 10-year security agreement allowing the U.S. to maintain weapons and conduct military exercises in Kuwait...