Would you have preferred the US paid Sadaam Hussein the $1 billion to go into exile?

Question

What would have been the outcome if Bush accepted the offer?
Do you think there would still be a civil war in Iraq?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=484162


Saddam Hussein offered to step down and go into exile one month before the invasion of Iraq, it was claimed last night.

Fearing defeat, Saddam was prepared to go peacefully in return for £500million ($1billion).

The extraordinary offer was revealed yesterday in a transcript of talks in February 2003 between George Bush and the then Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar at the President's Texas ranch.

The White House refused to comment on the report last night.

But, if verified, it is certain to raise questions in Washington and London over whether the costly four-year war could have been averted.

Only yesterday, the Bush administration asked Congress for another £100billion to finance the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Answer 1

Of course, it would have been a cheap price. The US has already spent at least 600 times more than that on the war.

Could the war have been averted? lol. Bush also kicked out the IAEA inspectors so he could invade.

Some say the objective of the war was business, that the point was to create a chaotic frontierland that could be rebuilt.

Answer 2

That worked reasonably well in Iran... for a while. After the second world war, the United States essentially paid off the people who had been running the country so they would go into voluntary exile in France, I believe. Shah Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was set up as Iran's ruler, the intention being that he should be more secular and progressive. Unfortunately people back in Iran were upset about this.

Their grievances would have probably fallen on deaf ears as far as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was concerned. But in the 1970's the US government decided to stop footing his bills to live the high life on the Rivera. Revolution time!

It's a tenuous arrangement at best.

Answer 3

Actually, that would have been wrong too. We don't bribe dictators to do our will. That would have been a terrible precedent.

On the other hand, there was no need to go in Iraq at all. Let the inspectors do their jobs. Ease the sanctions to allow medicine for little kids and food for the people and (radical idea) actually impose sanctions on weapons coming into the country. That would have cost us $0, prevented the death of over 70 000 Iraqi civilians (a strict minimum conservative estimate) and saved the lives of over 4 000 U.S. service men and allied coalition forces (Not to mention those who will have injuries to last them a lifetime).

Of course, that method would leave the door wide open for China and Russia to bid for Iraqi oil.

Answer 4

This was a rumor 3 days before the Iraq invasion that I heard, about Hussien offering to take his family and leave.

Perhapsp King George and his court viewed this as another stall tactic.

The removal of Hussien's government by force was neccessary in my view, but we should have followed the Powell Doctrine and brought more troops and allied troops to secure the border, and brought other nations in for the rebuilding.

The UN should have played a greater role.

-Spartacus

Answer 5

It would not have mattered. BushCo was already hell bent on invading and occupying, regardless of what "olive branch" Saddam Hussein would propose as the Bush adminstration already had their puppet regime ready to take over. Chaos would have ensued with Saddam's loss of power, either through exile or apprehension as there was (and still is) no one Iraqi figure qualified to bring the warring factions together.

Answer 6

Brilliant

Wonder how the zealots will spin this one.

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Damn!! I spoke too soon, looks like they spun this right into justifying $500 billion dollars and rising. Just think, that would have bought, what for the USA? Health care? Oh ssshit, thats off the table. Better schools? Nope, we need religious schools, right? Environment? Al Gore is the inventor of the internet and Polar Bears too.

Makes me want to vomit.
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Peace

Jim

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Answer 7

"W"aste Product's "decision factors" e book proceeds could a minimum of be used to pay for his prosecution on conflict and financial crimes against the U. S. first! Paying $a million Billion damages for Baghdad is as preposterous as "W"aste Product's conflict, searching for the incorrect guy interior the incorrect united states of america became interior the 1st place, getting Saddam Hussein for Daddy Bush's lack of ability to previously, whilst Osama bin encumbered, the real terrorist in charge for the attack on the U. S. on 9/11/01, in the time of "Waste Product's watch, remained and regrettably maintains to be at large! "W"aste Product became not even guy sufficient to get US out of the mess he have been given us into in the time of his awful 8-year debacle of an administration!

Answer 8

I would have preferred it if they left Iraq alone. Saddam clearly ran it better than the US and Britain have.

I would have preferred it even more if the whole misguided country of Iraq had not been created by the British in the first place.

Answer 9

YES.

We would of saved 700 billion in war costs, and thousands of American lives.

The USA has done this before.

Answer 10

Wyh pay so much when I could have done the job for about 50million