Daily News (New York) December 15, 2003
It Won't End Bloodshed
Loyalists may fight to death, pros warn
By James Gordon Meek and Greg Gittrich
Saddam Hussein's capture probably will not end guerrilla attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, Washington officials and military experts cautioned.
"The message to the Iraqi people is that the blanket of fear is beginning to lift," a senior White House official said yesterday.
But the official added: "There are unfortunately still people in Iraq who have no future because their loyalties are to Saddam. We expect they will continue to fight to the death."
More than 300 U.S. soldiers have been killed in action since U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq in March.
Almost 200 of the casualties were claimed by guerrilla attacks since May 1, when President Bush declared major combat over.
The soldiers who yanked Saddam from his hole found alongside him $750,000 in cash, a pair of AK-47 machine guns, a pistol and a letter from a Baghdad rebel leader, a U.S. intelligence official told Time magazine.
The letter contained the minutes of a meeting held by a number of Saddam die-hards and could lead to the capture of guerrilla leaders around the Sunni Triangle. It also was expected to shed light on Saddam's activities while in hiding, the official said.
"We can now determine if he is the mastermind of everything or not," the official told Time. "Have we actually cut the head off the snake or is he just an idiot hiding in a hole?"
Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, which captured Saddam, said the fallen dictator had no communications equipment, not even a cell phone, in his hideout.
"I think he was more there [in Iraq] for moral support, and I don't think he was coordinating the entire effort," Odierno said.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called that possibility "significant and disturbing."
"While this achievement will bring the Iraqis the peace of mind that Saddam is not coming back, we should not deceive ourselves into thinking the violence will stop," said Rockefeller (D-W. Va.).
The Bush administration is hoping that Saddam's capture will lead his scattered loyalists to give up, preventing at least some future assaults.
At the same time, U.S. officials are careful to point out that Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, which became more active in Iraq following Saddam's fall in April, remains a threat.
Democratic Rep. Dick Gephardt, who is running for President, said: "For many years, we will be confronted with a war on terrorism that is unfinished."
Within hours of Saddam's capture, a car bomb ripped into a police station in Khaldiyah, west of Baghdad, killing at least 17 people. A U.S. bomb disposal expert also was killed as he tried to defuse a deadly device.
"The insurgency may get worse because the people behind it have no options," said Judith Kipper, an Iraq expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"They cannot simply put down their arms and melt back into Iraqi society," Kipper said. "People know who they are."
After Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay were killed in July, attacks against U.S. forces increased.
November was the bloodiest month for the U.S.-led coalition since the war began. At least 104 allied troops, including 79 U.S. soldiers, were killed in Iraq last month.
Since the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Nov. 25, the violence has been decreasing.
"It's hard to tell if that's a temporary lull or a trend," said John Pike, director of Global Security, a Washington research group.
"I'm not holding my breath," Pike said. He added: "Just because the old man's gone, it doesn't take that much to keep [the guerrilla attacks] going."
© Copyright 2003, Daily News, L.P.
