OMG! What if Saddam:

[Banana]

The USA will be in big trouble if Saddam:

1) Releases the US POWs in a gesture of goodwill! I mean--how the heck will the US respond to THAT?!! Thank allah Saddam is too stupid to do it. Whew!

2) Does not have WMD. What's going to happen when the US wins, but doesn't find WMD? I hope to god that we find WMD.

3) Disappears. Can you imagine--US conquers Iraq, but can't find Saddam. It would be like Osama bin Laden all over again.

Any other worse case scenarios?

1YP

 

[Orsorum]

I am most afraid of what will happen if Saddam uses chemical weapons. Not of Saddam's actions, but of Bush's reactions.

 

[KK]

I think as long as the regime is gone, that'd be good enough.

KK

 

[Piano Man]

1. I don't see that happening anytime soon, especially since all Iraqis know who we treated the people with 9-11 connections.

2. If there isn't any WMD, we'll put some there for us to find. But, I'm guessing there is still WMD. Not like it matters, WMD was an excuse for this operation.

3. Could definately happen, and it would be a political disaster. However, the oil will still be there, and that's what counts.

 

[Banana]

Originally posted by: Piano Man1. I don't see that happening anytime soon, especially since all Iraqis know who we treated the people with 9-11 connections. (snipped)

I don't get your point. What I was saying is that it would be a PR nightmare if Saddam releases the POWs. It doesn't benefit him to keep them because to hold them as hostage would be dumb . . . Oh wait--we're talking about Saddam here . . .

Another thing, what if Iraq kills the POWs, but claims that it was collateral damage from a US attack? I've got to stop imagining all these possibilities--it just gets worse and worse.

 

[WangChungNinjaCo]

If they do not find WMS, then they should plant some.

lol

 

[rchiu]

Originally posted by: 1YellowPeril
The USA will be in big trouble if Saddam:


3) Disappears. Can you imagine--US conquers Iraq, but can't find Saddam. It would be like Osama bin Laden all over again.

We will attack North Korea and free all the North Korea people and get rid of WMD there. That will make people forget Saddam and bin Laden.

 

[WangChungNinjaCo]

Originally posted by: rchiu

Originally posted by: 1YellowPeril
The USA will be in big trouble if Saddam:


3) Disappears. Can you imagine--US conquers Iraq, but can't find Saddam. It would be like Osama bin Laden all over again.

We will attack North Korea and free all the North Korea people and get rid of WMD there. That will make people forget Saddam and bin Laden.

That is a great idea.

 

[jaeger66]

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I am most afraid of what will happen if Saddam uses chemical weapons. Not of Saddam's actions, but of Bush's reactions.

If Bush didn't push the button after 9/11, nothing that happens in Iraq will make him do it.

 

[rommelrommel]

Well, there wasn't really a target to attack that day... what was he gonna do, just nuke some random cities?

If saddam has a nuclear arsenal, which I seriously doubt, and uses it, which probably would have already happened, it would be a possiblity for tactical nukes to be used in retribution.

 

[jaeger66]

Originally posted by: rommelrommel
Well, there wasn't really a target to attack that day... what was he gonna do, just nuke some random cities?

If saddam has a nuclear arsenal, which I seriously doubt, and uses it, which probably would have already happened, it would be a possiblity for tactical nukes to be used in retribution.

I didn't mean a literal nuke, I just meant all out war. On who? Any regime that sponsors terrorism. As for this war, the whole premise of the invasion is that Saddam has chemical weapons. So I don't see how him using them would change anything.

 

[Siddhartha]

I always thought that the WMD issue is one of red herrings Bush uses for justifying this war. Bush will probably just shrug and go "aw shucks" if they do not find any of those type of weapons.

 

[Banana]

Originally posted by: jaeger66 . . . I didn't mean a literal nuke, I just meant all out war.

Isn't this already an all out war? Unless you mean no holding back on inflicting civilian casualties? I don't know if that's feasible because in today's world, the country's reputation is also very important. The US may win faster if it ignores civilian deaths and damage, but it will cause lots of ill will. And don't pretend that reputation does not matter, unless you're the "bad" guy already : )

1YP

 

[Agamar]

I hope they kill Saddam soon. Having him live is causing more civilians to die.

 

[Fencer128]

Originally posted by: Agamar
I hope they kill Saddam soon. Having him live is causing more civilians to die.

Unfortunately, I don't think its just him, its his cronies under him, and the regional and town/village level cronies beneath them. I think there is a good possibility that another may try and take his place in the short term if he buys it. Then they can martyr him.

Cheers,

Andy

 

[Spyro]

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I am most afraid of what will happen if Saddam uses chemical weapons. Not of Saddam's actions, but of Bush's reactions.

Good point.....

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: WangChungNinjaCo
If they do not find WMS, then they should plant some.

lol

Is WMS anything like PMS? The allied forces will find the weapons. Be patient ... give them time.

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: Tiles2Tech

Originally posted by: WangChungNinjaCo
If they do not find WMS, then they should plant some.

lol

Is WMS anything like PMS? The allied forces will find the weapons. Be patient ... give them time.

Even when we do, they anti-war fanatics will say that we planted them, so what is the difference?

1. maybe after they have infected them with some plague
2. Iraq is a big country and they have had over 10 years to find a hiding spot in their country or outside their country.
3. He is surrounded and we aren't relying on sympathetic natives to help us catch him, but actually smuggle him to safety..*cough* Afghanistan *cough*

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I am most afraid of what will happen if Saddam uses chemical weapons. Not of Saddam's actions, but of Bush's reactions.

Didn't Rumsfeld intimate, at one point, that use of nuclear weapons was a possibility? That scares the #$%#$ outta me. I hope to heck that NEVER happens no matter what Saddam throws at us as there's no telling what that nutjob in North Korea will lob toward Japan and the U.S. west coast.

 

[AbsolutDealage]

I hope that Saddam has not had time to stockpile a nuclear arsenal. Even if he doesn't have the resources to have his own successful nuclear program.... the russians have been selling iraq weapons for years. Who is to say that a nuke didn't slip through those channels?

The thing I fear most is the last few days of the war, when Saddam knows that he is defeated. I would not put it past him or his sons to detonate a nuke in the middle of bagdhad... (if I can't have it, nobody can).

 

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Zakath15
I am most afraid of what will happen if Saddam uses chemical weapons. Not of Saddam's actions, but of Bush's reactions.

Didn't Rumsfeld intimate, at one point, that use of nuclear weapons was a possibility? That scares the #$%#$ outta me. I hope to heck that NEVER happens no matter what Saddam throws at us as there's no telling what that nutjob in North Korea will lob toward Japan and the U.S. west coast.

the use of nuclear devices is always a possiblity. They say it for the deterrence effect...the moment a nuc is used is the moment it loses the political power it has...deterrence.

 

[Yax]

Originally posted by: 1YellowPeril
The USA will be in big trouble if Saddam:

1) Releases the US POWs in a gesture of goodwill! I mean--how the heck will the US respond to THAT?!! Thank allah Saddam is too stupid to do it. Whew!

2) Does not have WMD. What's going to happen when the US wins, but doesn't find WMD? I hope to god that we find WMD.

3) Disappears. Can you imagine--US conquers Iraq, but can't find Saddam. It would be like Osama bin Laden all over again.

Any other worse case scenarios?

1YP

1. Releasing prisoners, won't happen.

2. WMD? We'll find that even if Bush has to fly it in.

3. Disappears? Well, if that happens, Bush will turn our attention to North Korea so Saddam's name will be a background noise like Osama's name is now. He's proven to be smart enough to know that if you screw up and let one bad guy get away, you just turn the mass' attention to another one. Make the new one look bad enough and everyone will forget about the screw up.

 

[seawolf21]

After the war, it doesn't matter if Saddam doesn't have (or destroyed) WMD. It doesn't matter if he escapes capture. Sure, it will be a bit embarrassing, but we're running the show in Baghdad and the voters are not going to penalize Bush on these two points.

 

[Yax]

Originally posted by: seawolf21
After the war, it doesn't matter if Saddam doesn't have (or destroyed) WMD. It doesn't matter if he escapes capture. Sure, it will be a bit embarrassing, but we're running the show in Baghdad and the voters are not going to penalize Bush on these two points.

But it does matter if Saddam gets away. If he's still alive, it means he's plotting revenge. We will all be in more danger. First, Bush lets Osama get away, now he's picking on Saddam. If he lets Saddam get away too. That would be 2 for 2 or 0% success.

 

[seawolf21]

Originally posted by: cheapbidder01

Originally posted by: seawolf21
After the war, it doesn't matter if Saddam doesn't have (or destroyed) WMD. It doesn't matter if he escapes capture. Sure, it will be a bit embarrassing, but we're running the show in Baghdad and the voters are not going to penalize Bush on these two points.

But it does matter if Saddam gets away. If he's still alive, it means he's plotting revenge. We will all be in more danger. First, Bush lets Osama get away, now he's picking on Saddam. If he lets Saddam get away too. That would be 2 for 2 or 0% success.

The Administration will claim that it doesn't matter if Saddam gets away because US objectives have been accomplished. He's stripped of his WMD (if he had any), and the Iraqi people is "freed." Besides, no nation is going to kick us out of Iraq regardless of whether Saddam or his WMDs are found.

As for plotting revenue, between Osama and Saddam, I would say the former is more dangerous.

Actually, it is already 2 for 2. The Tailban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar got away; we made a big fuss about capturing him when we bombed Kabul.