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How and when President Bush chose war

 

How and when President Bush chose war to prevent Saddam from going into exile
                                                                                                                                                    
Dates, places and key players in the ditching of the only practical peaceful alternative to war in Iraq, through a review of the actions of the international community and the “Free Iraq” campaign launched by the Nonviolent Radical Party
 
Before 19 January 2003
 
Settember 1995 – Initial rumours of meetings concerning the exile of Saddam Hussein begin to circulate
Is Saddam packing his bags? According to intelligence sources from the Saharan nation of Mauritania, the Iraqi dictator had begun to negotiate possible political asylum for himself and for members of his entourage. The sources affirmed that Shabib al-Maliki, Saddam Hussein’s Minister of Justice, had flown to the Mauritanian capital in mid-July 1995 to meet President Maaouya Ould Sini Ahmed Taya and present to him Saddam Hussein’s request for safe exile, should he be forced to relinquish power. It is alleged that the leader of Mauritania, the extremist government of which was one of Saddam’s last remaining allies, had responded positively. (Source: US News & World Report).
 
23 July 2002 - Bush wanted to go to war using the link between terrorism and weapons of mass destruction as justification
 
From a Downing Street memo by David Manning (Blair’s diplomatic adviser at the time):
 
Blair ‘reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction (WMD). But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record.
(...)
The Defence Secretary said that the US had already begun "spikes of activity" to put pressure on the regime. No decisions had been taken, but he thought the most likely timing in US minds for military action to begin was January, with the timeline beginning 30 days before the US Congressional elections.
 
The Foreign Secretary said he would discuss this with Colin Powell this week. It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force.
(...)
The Foreign Secretary [editor’s note: of GB] thought the US would not go ahead with a military plan unless convinced that it was a winning strategy. On this, US and UK interests converged. But on the political strategy, there could be US/UK differences. Despite US resistance, we should explore discreetly the ultimatum. Saddam would continue to play hard-ball with the UN.’
 
26 August 2002 - Qatar negotiates exile
The foreign minister of Qatar goes to Baghdad to begin diplomatic talks in which, as will later emerge (27 September 2007), the option of going into exile is also discussed. (Source: Arabic News)
 
27 September 2002 - the US and Arab states work towards exile
‘The United States and some of its Arab allies have begun a quiet effort to defuse the Iraq crisis by persuading Saddam Hussein to yield power and go into exile. (...)
Floating the exile idea is attractive to Washington because it might reduce Saddam's sense of desperation’, thereby preventing him from unleashing ‘a chemical or biological attack if he believed his regime faced imminent destruction by U.S. forces’. (Source: USA Today, by John Diamond)
 
16 November 2002 - Saddam’s plan: exile for 3.5 billion dollars
Saddam has allegedly made secret plans for his family and leading members of his regime to be given political asylum in Libya (at the price of $3.5 billion to be paid to Tripoli). (Source: Timesonline)
 
2 January 2003 - A coalition of Arab states plans to send Saddam into exile
Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Oman, Arab Emirates and Saudia Arabia are trying to avoid war by offering the Iraqi leader safe passage to a safe haven, in Algeria or Belarus, together with his family and the considerable wealth he has accumulated. (Source: Il Riformista)
 
7 January 2003 - Turkey announces a plan (for exile?)
The Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul declares that Turkey, together with Jordan, Egypt and Syria, is attempting to draw up a joint plan for the diplomatic settlement of the Iraqi crisis. (Source: New York Times)
 
9 January 2003 - Papandreou’s mission for a diplomatic solution
Papandreou, the Greek foreign minister, has announced an EU mission to Saudia Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian Territories to seek a diplomatic solution to the Iraqi crisis. (Source: La Repubblica)
 
 
14 January 2003 - Saddam hints at possible exile
Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, has let it be known for the first time that he is open to the option of going into exile. The message was passed on by Arab diplomatic sources to the online US daily WorldTribune.com. According to those sources, Saddam had sent to Cairo, Egypt, one of the elder members of the Iraqi Revolutionary Council: Ali Hassan Al Majid, otherwise known as ‘Chemical Ali’ (since he was accused of ordering the population of several Kurdish villages to be gassed in the 1980s). Al Majid was to inform the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, of Saddam’s willingness to relinquish his offices and country in exchange for a golden, protected exile in an Arab country for himself, his family and aides. The same sources state that Mubarak will be forced to submit this proposal to Washington for approval before it can become operational. Saddam is apparently also requesting immunity from any international court, also for his family and friends. (Ap.Biscom)
 
18 January 2003 - Saddam’s first conditions. Bush’s first refusal?
According to ‘Der Spiegel’, Saddam Hussein has sent directly to Bush his conditions for going into exile: a guarantee that neither he nor his family, once abroad, will be tried; the withdrawal of US soldiers from the Gulf; the halting of UN inspections and sanctions in Iraq, and an end to the Israeli production of weapons of mass destruction. Bush has apparently already rejected these conditions. (Source: La Repubblica)
 
18 January 2003 - Saudia Arabia’s exile plan
Rumours are growing in London about a plan in the pipeline to resolve the Iraqi crisis by sending dictator Saddam Hussein into exile: the Saudi Government is working on this option behind the scenes and could ask for a meeting of the Arab League to implement it. The Saudi plan, according to the British daily, the Guardian, will give Saddam a last chance to avert war if the United Nations Security Council passes a new resolution authorising military action against Iraq. Under the plan, Saudi Arabia would ask for a meeting of the Arab League to nominate a delegation to go to Baghdad and urge Hussein to leave the country. Arab diplomats consulted by the Guardian say they have ‘little hope’ that Saddam will agree to go into exile, but stress that they should at least try. (Ansa - London)
 
 
The exile option is increasingly possible.
From the appeal to the motion adopted by the majority of the Italian Parliament: the first month of the Radical campaign
 
19 January - Pannella launches an appeal - ‘A free Iraq, sole alternative to war’
‘(...) We call on the international community, and on the United Nations in particular, to give full credence and backing to the statements confirming that if the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein were to go into exile then this would eliminate the need for war for the United States itself and would be a starting point for a political solution to the Iraqi question.
 
We call on the Security Council to decide - on the premise of the departure of Saddam and on the basis of the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations - to place Iraq under international administration (a "democratic government"), charging a respected statesman to establish the conditions, within two years, for the full exercise of rights and liberties by all the Iraqi people, as the UN Charter of Fundamental Rights demands (...)’.
 
19 January -     Libya says it is willing to shelter Saddam
While Arab diplomacy, led by Egypt and backed by Europe, has mobilised to persuade Saddam to go into exile and avert a disaster, the Saudis are aiming to overthrow Saddam by force – either through a coup or by forcing him to go into exile – the aim being to win over tribes, local chiefs and local leading figures. Libya, in particular, has declared its willingness to accommodate Saddam.
 
20 January -     ‘The United States approve Saddam exile plan’
The Bush administration has approved the plan drawn up by Arab countries to persuade Saddam to go into exile in order to prevent the breaking out of another Gulf War.
(Article by Tim Reid, Philip Webster and Michael Evans, published in “The Times’)
 
20 January -     Immunity to Saddam in exchange for exile, London confirms
Great Britain would be willing to guarantee immunity to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein if he were to agree to go into exile. This was confirmed by British foreign minister Jack Straw after a meeting at the United Nations with the representatives of Security Council member states. ‘I think it would be worth offering Saddam some kind of immunity if that would allow the crisis to be resolved peacefully’, said Straw, ‘and the Iraqi people (could have) a better regime which, in due course, could become a democratic government’. Straw also said that, for now, there were no signs that the Iraqi president was willing to agree to exile but, he added, Saddam generally took ‘more sensible’ decisions when enough pressure was put on him. (Ansa - AFP)
 
 
 
29 January - Wrangling continues in the EP over Saddam’s exile, even between Pannella and Watson (Chair of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe)
Watson (ELDR): ‘(...) So let us forget talk of allowing Saddam Hussein to slip off quietly into the night for a comfortable exile in a third country. He is a war criminal and he must be brought before the International Criminal Court.’ Pannella: ‘What will Europe propose? The alternative to the destruction we call war – how do we, how do you see it? There is an alternative, and it is not peace: peace is what we have at the moment. (...). We radicals have presented a proposal. (...) We have the chance to choose what the European Union wants, to choose whether it wants war or not, whether it wants Saddam Hussein to (...) have safe conduct as far as his place of exile (...). But what we can and must do is realise that the UN and the Security Council have a duty to act. It is not a question of changing the dictator but of changing the regime.
 
29 January - Pannella: diplomacy at work to secure exile
‘As well as us, the Saudis, Egyptians, Jordanians and leading representatives of other countries have certainly been working towards this goal for weeks. Now, vast, powerful, religious circles have also joined forces, and I am not talking about the Catholic Church’.
 
29 January - Italian foreign minister, Franco Frattini, lets the cat out of the bag and reveals: ‘This proposal has gradually become impracticable’
Speaking on Radical Radio, Mr Frattini said: ‘This proposal has gradually become impracticable. Clearly, it would be a possible solution to meet these two conditions (...), but personally I am not convinced that this can happen; I don’t see why this dictatorship, which announced this morning through one of its spokesmen that it would attack the first country to cooperate in any military action, should be allowed to go into exile.’
 
29 January - Colin Powell: the US could help Saddam find a place of exile
The United States are willing to help Saddam Hussein and his family find a country in which to go into exile. Secretary of State Colin Powell has for the first time expressed the Bush administration’s willingness to materially assist the Iraqi president in abandoning his country if this might allow war to be averted. ‘If Saddam Hussein wants to leave Iraq with some members of his family and other members of the governing elite’, said Powell in response to a question from a journalist on the possible exile of the Iraqi president, ‘we could certainly try to help find a place for him to go’.
‘This could certainly be a way to avoid war’, added Colin Powell. As regards the issue of immunity for Saddam Hussein, Powell stressed that the problem did not concern the United States alone. ‘It is not up to the United States alone to offer this type of protection’, said the Secretary of State. ‘Only a much wider forum could look at this issue in the future’. (Ansa - Washington)
 
30 January - Bush speaks favourably of exile  
Bush speaks favourably of exile in a press conference during Berlusconi’s official visit to the White House. ‘Hopefully the pressure of the free world will convince Mr. Saddam Hussein to relinquish power. And should he choose to leave the country, along with a lot of the other henchmen who have tortured the Iraqi people, we would welcome that, of course.
I will tell my friend, Silvio’, said Bush to journalists after his meeting with Prime Minister Berlusconi, ‘that the use of military troops is my last choice, not my first’. (Source: www.whitehouse.gov)
 
30 January - Pannella writes to the British media and Bonino to Nobel prize-winners and European mayors
‘We must shout ‘yes’ – yes to rights, democracy and freedom in Iraq.’
 
 
 
 
31 January - According to British informal memo, Bush has already opted for war, due to start on 10 March
(Extract from ‘January 2003 memo’, written by David Manning, Tony Blair’s diplomatic adviser, recording all the points made in the two-hour meeting held in the Oval Office on 31 January).
 
‘Mr. Bush was accompanied at the meeting by Condoleezza Rice, who was then the national security adviser; Dan Fried, a senior aide to Ms. Rice; and Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff. Along with Mr. Manning, Mr. Blair was joined by two other senior aides: Jonathan Powell, his chief of staff, and Matthew Rycroft, a foreign policy aide and the author of the Downing Street memo.’
 
‘The start date for the military campaign was now pencilled in for 10 March’, wrote Manning, quoting the president. ‘This was when the bombing would begin.’
The memo also shows that the president and the prime minister acknowledged that no weapons of mass destruction had been found inside Iraq. Faced with the possibility of not finding any before the planned invasion, Bush talked about several ways to provoke a confrontation, including a proposal to paint a United States surveillance plane in the colours of the United Nations in the hope of drawing fire, or assassinating Mr. Hussein.
(...)
Some senior British officials had been concerned that the United States was determined to invade Iraq, and that the ‘intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy’ by the Bush administration to fit its desire to go to war.
(...)
At their meeting, Bush and Blair candidly expressed their doubts that chemical, biological or nuclear weapons would be found in Iraq in the coming weeks, the memo said. The president spoke as if an invasion was unavoidable. The two leaders discussed a timetable for the war, details of the military campaign and plans for the aftermath of the war.
(...)
‘The US was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours,’ the memo says, attributing the idea to Bush. ‘If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach.’
 
It also described the president as saying, ‘The US might be able to bring out a defector who could give a public presentation about Saddam's WMD,’ referring to weapons of mass destruction.
(...)
A brief clause in the memo refers to a third possibility, mentioned by Bush: a proposal to assassinate Saddam Hussein. The memo does not indicate how Mr Blair responded to the idea.
‘(...)
If a second UN resolution failed, military action would follow.’
(…)
‘the air campaign would probably last four days, during which some 1 500 targets would be hit. Great care would be taken to avoid hitting innocent civilians. Bush thought that the impact of the air onslaught would ensure the early collapse of Saddam’s regime. Given this military timetable, we needed to go for a second resolution as soon as possible. This probably meant after Blix’s next report to the Security Council in mid-February.’
The document concludes with Mr Manning still holding out a last-minute hope of inspectors finding weapons in Iraq or even Mr Hussein voluntarily leaving Iraq. However, Mr Manning wrote that he was concerned this could not be accomplished, given Mr Bush’s timeline for war.
‘This makes things very tight’, he wrote.
 
1 February – Increasing support to ‘Free Iraq!’
Bill Emmott, André Glucksmann and Adriano Sofri back the initiative.
 
2 February – Berlusconi: ‘We are doing all we can to avoid war’
Berlusconi declares: ‘We are right to believe that behind Al Qaeda there is Iraq: we are all against the war, but sometimes military action is necessary when dangers threaten everyone. We are doing all we can to avoid it’ (Il Giornale).
 
4 February – Berlusconi: ‘Either let inspectors in or accept exile and immunity’
For Berlusconi, Saddam still has a choice: ‘Let inspectors enter or accept exile and guaranteed immunity from a further UN resolution’ (Ansa). 
 
5 February – Speech from Republican Leach at the Congress on the strategies for Saddam’s exile: the only scenario to avoid war is exile
‘At this stage the only scenario which seems to have the potential of creating a win-win situation for everyone - America, the Iraqi people and world community - is for Saddam Hussein, his family and his group to relinquish power and accept exile from Iraq.’
 
5 February – Powell’s report to the UN on Iraq’s violations of the resolution
In a detailed report, documented with telephone calls transcripts and satellite photographs, Colin Powell attempts to highlight to the Security Council the way in which Iraq is violating UN Resolution 1441. China, Russia and France are holding back. This chapter will be remembered by Powell as the ‘black mark’ on his career.
 
5 February – De Villepin’s proposals to the UN Security Council
‘Let us double, let us triple the number of inspectors and let us open more regional offices’.
The number of UNMOVIC personnel in Iraq reaches a total of 202 staff from 60 countries. UNMOVIC air operations are carried out by one aeroplane and eight helicopters, with a total of 57 air staff (Twelfth Quarterly Report of the Executive Chairman of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) – Security Council, 28 February 2003).
With regard to the number of inspections, between November 2002 and mid-March 2003 the inspectors carry out 750 inspections in 550 sites (CBS News).
 
5 February – Leader of the opposition Constitutional Monarchy Movement, Saddam will go into exile
Sharif Ali bin Hussein, one of Saddam Hussein’s possible successors, is convinced that the Iraqi dictator will attempt to flee. ‘The question is not whether he will go into exile, but when.’ (ANSA)
 
 
 
7 February – Berlusconi urges international pressure for exile
Berlusconi highlights the need for concerted pressure on Saddam in order to avoid war: ‘Only international pressure will convince Saddam Hussein to go into exile’ (Agi). Together with his allies, the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wonders whether ‘it will be worth meeting Aziz’. Berlusconi has asked Gaddafi to mediate with Iraq and ‘he is awaiting a reply’.Italy is in favour of Saddam Hussein’s exile for an ‘Iraqi Karzai’ in Baghdad.
 
8 February - Berlusconi sends a memorandum on the exile proposition to Gaddafi in Tripoli
Berlusconi sends a classified memorandum to Tripoli ‘mentioning a resolution which Saddam Hussein could accept’. There is some talk of a site in Libya where the Rais could find refuge. Gaddafi has taken it upon himself to discuss this with the person concerned despite not having had a response up until now. In fact, if no response comes from Tripoli, he has it in mind to approach a more direct speaker: Tareq Aziz. Igor Man in La Stampa: ‘The Prime Minister [Berlusconi], reveals that he is in the middle of a significant diplomatic operation: Berlusconi has asked Gaddafi if he would be prepared to be the “intermediary”. In truth, it would be a question of putting pressure on Saddam Hussein until the dictator succumbs to (a golden exile) so that the innocent Iraqi people who swear (on the Koran) to love him more than he loves himself (and someone perhaps believes them) can be saved. Apparently Gaddafi would be “prepared”, in as much as he would send his Foreign Minister (the poet and diplomat who has already been a warmly welcomed ambassador to Rome) to the Prime Minister’s working headquarters in via del Plebiscito. Our Prime Minister would entrust Shalgam with a type of memorandum to deliver urgently to the Colonel. Could nothing be done by fax or e-mail or in coded message? No: email is now an open book; it would be better to turn to the communication methods used during the times of Lawrence of Arabia. It was said that the initiative came from Gaddafi. At the African Summit in Addis Ababa, the Colonel, replied to the unfaltering CNN’s questioning that he was prepared to be the mediator. “I would like to save international peace” , he said. Our Prime Minister immediately jumped on the chance to speak to Al Qaeda to whom, let’s say, he warmed during the last state visit to Tripoli. [...] If Saddam decides to go into exile at the last minute there is always the palace Gaddafi had built in Tripoli? We will find out soon’.
 
 
13 February – Colin Powell continues to work on the solution of offering Saddam exile. In the hearing in the House of Representatives he describes the activities for this eventuality
He is examining ‘where, with which protection and exactly how to enforce this operation’. It is the first time that the White House, at the top level, is not only ‘encouraging’ the Rais to leave the country to avoid war but that it is actively developing the strategy for his exile. ‘We are now just discussing it; we are in contact with a number of countries who have demonstrated that they are prepared to communicate this message to the Iraqi regime’.
 
16 February – Pannella: De Villepin, ‘Let’s quintuple or quadruple the number of inspectors’. The ‘Free Iraq!’ proposal can reunify the EU’s position, which is already divided. Postpone military intervention
‘Tomorrow at the European Council we will be able to reunite with our proposal because, for me, France’s position, which states “let’s quintuple or quadruple the number of inspectors and let’s accompany it with a UN armed forced as an escort and not as an army of occupation and we will give this small army of inspectors the time they need to do their job”, works well but we need to see 1) if Saddam accepts 2) if he accepts the ridiculous US policy.’
 
16 February – Powell turns to the exile proposal at the Azores Summit between the US, Great Britain and Spain
Powell reiterates that the war can still be avoided if Saddam Hussein and his main collaborators relinquish power and go into exile.
 
16 February – Meeting of the Arab League Ministerial Council with the European Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten, and the President-in-Office of the EU Council, Giorgos Papandreou
[...] The Arab League Ministerial Council meeting in Cairo is having difficulty agreeing on a date for the extraordinary summit on the Iraq crisis, urged by Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, and, at least in theory, unanimously accepted. The proposal is that the Heads of the Arab States will meet on 27 and 28 February for an extraordinary session in Sharm El Sheikh to discuss Iraq and on 1 March the Annual Summit will focus on the other problems in the region. [...] There was another alarm bell which could have broken up the united efforts: the sudden ousting of the Saudi Foreign Minister, Saud Al Faysal, following a heated exchange of views with his colleagues from Qatar and Iraq. He was already on his way back to the airport in his car when the Arab League Secretary General, Amr Mussa, managed to get him to turn around. A small drama unfolded before a dozen journalists from various countries waiting in the courtyard of the Arab League Headquarters, in the centre of Cairo, when at the same time the final draft resolution proposal for the meeting had just been issued. [...] It was unusual to see the presence of certain guests during the first part of the meeting: the European Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten, and the Greek Foreign Minister and now the President-in-Office of the EU Council, Giorgos Papandreou, who already had contact with the Arab governments during a visit in the area two weeks previously. The Secretary General of the Arab League had evidently invited these two people with the aim of highlighting the possibility of Arab-European cooperation in order to defuse the military action announced by the US and Great Britain. [...] In the weeks leading up to this, there was talk of diplomatic Arab action to offer safe exile for the Baghdad Rais (Cairo could be at the top of the list). However, there was no reference to this in the final draft document [...] and it was not even touched on at the preliminary meeting in the evening, from what Naji Sabri, Head of Iraqi diplomacy said. (ANSA – Il Cairo, Remigio Benni).
 
17 February – The extraordinary European Council in Brussels: ‘Force should be used only as a last resort’. However, no reference to exile
‘The Union’s objective for Iraq remains the full and effective disarmament in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions, in particular Resolution 1441. We want to achieve this peacefully. It is clear that this is what the people of Europe want. War is not inevitable. Force should be used only as a last resort. It is for the Iraqi regime to end this crisis by complying with the demands of the Security Council’.
 
18 February – A group of representatives from the American and Anglican churches meet Blair and the Secretary of State, Clare Short: the objective is to remove Saddam
Possible courses of action that emerge from the discussions: remove Hussein and the Ba’ath party from power; pursue a coercive disarmament and bring democracy to Iraq; put together a solid effort to provide immediate support to the Iraqi population (Washington Post).
 
19 February – Berlusconi in Parliament: ‘We are working to convince Saddam to accept exile’.
Prime Minister: ‘We are working towards and we have been committed to this resolution; not only to this resolution but also to finding a way of being able to offer suitable guarantees from international bodies which can then be maintained, for those who choose to go down the exile route. We have worked on certain disarmament systems for weapons and armoury, which have not yet been highlighted. We are working, and have worked. on convincing the dictator to provide specific guarantees to the international community, for example, giving the opposition some space for three months, guaranteeing free elections for a given period of time, guaranteeing civil and human rights. We are carrying all of this out with discretion – which is our duty – not only in an Arab country, which is open to mediation, but with other countries, who constantly keep updated with the US Administration and the President of the Council of the European Union, Costas Simitis’.
 
19 February – Foreign Minister Franco Frattini against the motion for exile
‘We have tried to force Saddam into exile’, states the Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, ‘but we have received a decisively negative response. I would like the motion to be retracted’.
 
19 February – The Italian Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies second the ‘Free Iraq!’ motion.
The text:
‘Whereas the starting point for a political resolution to the Iraqi issue would result in Saddam Hussein being exiled;
Urges the Government to support the eventuality of exiling the Iraqi dictator before all of the international organisations, primarily the UN Security Council, given the powers vested in it by the UN Charter, to set up a temporary government that would restore rights and fundamental liberties to all Iraqi people’.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Excerpts from the conversation between President Bush and Premier Aznar in Texas on the commitment of the Arab countries in the Middle East Summits, sabotaged by Qaddafi
 
22 February – Bush to Aznar: ‘Gaddafi told Berlusconi that Saddam wishes to leave'
Four weeks before the invasion of Iraq, President George Bush meets the then Spanish President, José María Aznar, at his ranch in Crawford, Texas and informs him that the time has come to attack Iraq. (From the transcript revealed and published by El País in 2007.)
Bush: ‘The Egyptians are talking to Saddam Hussein. It seems that he has indicated that he is willing to go into exile if he can take a billion dollars with him and all the information that he wants on weapons of mass destruction. Gaddafi told Berlusconi that Saddam Hussein wants to leave.’
Aznar: ‘Is it certain that there is the possibility of Saddam Hussein going into exile?’.
Bush: ‘The possibility exists as does the possibility that he will be assassinated’.
Aznar: ‘Exile with a guarantee?’.
Bush: ‘No guarantee. He is a thief, a terrorist, a war criminal. Compared with Saddam, Milošević would be Mother Teresa. When we go in we are going to discover many more crimes and we will take him to the International Court of Justice. Saddam Hussein thinks that he has already escaped. He thinks that France and Germany have stopped fulfilling their responsibilities. He also thinks that the demonstrations of the last week (Saturday, 15 February) will protect him. And he thinks that I am very weak. But the people around him know that that is not the way things are. They know that his future is in exile or in a coffin.
Aznar: ‘In fact the best solution would be to win the game without firing a single shot and entering Baghdad’.
Bush: ‘For me it would be the perfect solution. I do not want war. I know what wars are. I know the destruction and the death that they bring with them. I am the one who has to console the mothers and widows of the dead. For us, that would certainly be the best solution. In addition, it would save US $50 billion.’
 
22 February – Pannella: Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia work towards exile.
Warning: ‘Be careful not to be deceived by creating peace through Qaddafi’
 
23 February – Primakov visits Saddam, Putin informs Blair
According to Radio Echo Moskvi, after a ‘confidential’ face to face with the Iraqi Rais, Saddam Hussein, in Baghdad, which lasted only a few hours, the former Prime Minister Ievghieni Primakov has already returned to Moscow. There are not yet any leaks about the content or the outcome of the meeting, stated the radio station, which also states that Primakov is maintaining the utmost discretion. [...] On the same day Putin has a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Tony Blair on the issues in Iraq. According to the Russian press, Putin informs Blair of Russia’s individual and shared efforts with other countries in an attempt to favour a political and diplomatic solution to the crisis’. (ANSA)
 
 
 
24 February – The General Affairs and External Relations Council. League of Arab Emirates present.
During lunch Ministers discussed the Middle East as well as Iraq at the presence of the President of the Arab League, Mr Hammoud, and the Secretary General of the League of Emirates, Amr Mussa.
 
24 February – Iraq issues a request to the League of Arab Emirates to postpone the Summit until after 14 March
Yesterday Iraq issued a request to the League of Arab Emirates asking for a postponement of the summit until after 14 March, according to the Al-Jazeera television channel, which quotes Hicham Yussef, spokesperson for the League of Arab Emirates. (AP)
 
26 February – Saddam speaks to CBS, denies links with Al Qaeda
In an interview with the CBS, the Iraqi President denies having any links with Al Qaeda and say that he is not considering going into exile in order to avert an attack from the United States on Iraq. In a three-hour interview with the Evening News Reporter Dan Rather, Saddam says that ‘Iraq has never had any relationship with Mr Osama bin Laden and Iraq has never had any relationship with Al Qaeda’. When talking about exile, the Iraqi leader says: ‘We will die here. We will die in this country and we will maintain our honour’. (ANSA – New York).
 
 
 
27 February – Putin sends possible message from Saddam to Bush
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, [...] today agrees to work together with George W. Bush in the Security Council towards an ‘action plan’ to which everyone agrees. No one knows yet if this will be possible but the telephone call between the two Presidents led to a visit by Aleksandr Voloshin, head of the President’s administration, to the United States, where he is likely to deliver a message from the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, to Bush, sent by Putin’s representative in Baghdad, Evgeny Primakov. Voloshin arrived in the United States on Monday, immediately after Primakov, a former Russian Prime Minister and old friend of Saddam Hussein, returned to Moscow. The ultimate goal of this visit was to persuade Baghdad to destroy its weapons of mass destruction as requested by the inspectors, but exile was also discussed. In Washington Voloshin met with Bush, the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, Vice-President Dick Cheney and the US National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice. He was also to meet, though this was not confirmed, with the CIA Director, George Tenet. [...] (ANSA - Moscow)
 
1 March – Speech by President Papandreou representing the European Union at the Arab League Summit in Sharm El Sheik: support for the initiatives in the Arab world for a peaceful resolution.
‘War is not inevitable’. Papandreou reiterates the need for Saddam Hussein’s full compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1441 and expresses support for the initiatives of the Arab world aimed at a peaceful resolution of the Iraq crisis. Conveying the climate during his recent visit to the United States, he emphasises the need for Iraq to disarm, saying that otherwise ‘war will be certain’.
1 March - Qaddafi wrecks the Arab Summit. The United Arab Emirates had worked on a document suggested, and accepted, by Saddam
The Arab league Summit, which took place in Sharm el Sheik without much enthusiasm, ended with a declaration of the Secretary General Amr Moussa stating a “clear refusal of an attack on Iraq” and the “refusal to take part in any military action” against a brother State. An unexpected event averted a discussion on a topic put forward by the leader of the United Arab Emirates, who dared proposing what many of his colleagues were declaring only in private, i.e. Saddam had to leave the country “for the Iraqi people and in the name of peace”. In that document, it is sad that Saddam Hussein had “two weeks to decide”, with the impunity granted for him, his family and his entourage, and with a clear commitment for a general amnesty under the control of the Arab League and the United Nations, which would set up a provisional body to supervise of the process of liberation. However, the moment the plan got leaked to the press, criticism against and pressures on Emirates grew to withdraw such a proposal. At that point, only an extraordinary event would have made it possible to avoid the discussion. This event was created by Colonel Qaddafi, who had already occupied the scene that same morning arriving at the Summit with two additional cars than the one originally allowed. (...) Qadaffi started to speak saying he wanted to imitate “his son, President Bashar”, causing the resentment of the young Syrian leader. He also attacked the Saudi leadership, accusing them of being at the service of the United States of America. (...) No official document was eventually elaborated, only the declaration read by Amr Moussa. (Corriere della Sera, Antonio Ferrari) 
The Arab Emirates had reached an agreement with Saddam after four visits to Bagdad
Muhammad bin Zayed al-Nahyan; Prince of Abu Dhabi and son of the late President Sheik Zayed al Nahyan explained in an interview on the pan-Arab information channel Al Arabiya, that his brother had received consent from Saddam Hussein to accept the exile offer before the invasion of the country in return for amnesty and protection. The sheik revelation is the first official declaration that states that Saddam Hussein was considering the possibility to give up his power, as it was requested during the meeting of the Arab League urgently organized in Sharm el Skeik in March 2003, before the military invasion of Iraq. The proposal put forward during the meeting wanted to avoid the conflict. “We have obtained the definitive consent of the different parties, of the main international actors and of the interested person: Saddam Hussein”. An official from the Emirates, speaking in anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss this issue, has declared that a delegation of his country had met with Saddam Hussein on four occasions. He also declared that Saddam seamed worried for the crisis in act and that had asked the Arab League to support the offer. The official also declared: “Saddam has accepted the possibility [...] Until the last minute, the idea had been accepted”. Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Information and culture Minister of the United Arab Emirates, also declared that Saddam “would have accepted positively our proposal”. (New York Times 2 November 2005) 
 
 
2 March – Marco Pannella once again stressed the need for French proposals in order to delay the start of the war
‘France’s position could have gone exactly the way we pointed out, especially now that the successes and failures of the decision to display Anglo-American military action are clear’.
 
3 March – ‘The Gulf Cooperation Council endorsed Saddam’s exile but awaited the go-ahead from the Arab League’
The Gulf Cooperation Council, a large organisation of the alliance of Persian Gulf States, rejected the proposition from the United Arab Emirates to persuade Saddam and his government to go into exile in order to avoid war. In fact, despite the positive opinion from countries such as Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, the Council confirmed that the proposition could only be approved with agreement from the Arab League.
 
5 March – United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain took the proposal to the Summit in Qatar
Insults were also traded at the Summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, which took place over a week in Doha, Qatar and was the third high-level meeting between Arab and Muslim countries to try and avoid conflict in Iraq. [...] 57 members of the OIC (not all with direct interests in the region, but united by a common religion, included Turkish laicité) were divided on the possibility of achieving peace by keeping Saddam Hussein in power. This was in fact the preferred solution for the majority, including many regional governments, who preferred the President to an empty power that could generate serious political and economic uncertainties. However, the grouping that supported the proposal for Saddam’s exile seemed to have extended: even Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were in favour of ousting the President, with specific guarantees in terms of his international impunity. [...] All references to Saddam’s exile disappeared from the document, according to the proposal drawn up by the United Arab Emirates, which envisaged his voluntary surrender and exile two weeks from when the decision was adopted. This received full backing from Kuwait and Bahrain. The impossibility of discussing this with the Iraqi delegates became clear just a few minutes after the start of the speech by Izzat Ibrahim, the second in command of Iraq’s Revolutionary Command Council. ‘Shut up, you dog’, the Kuwaiti representatives started to shout as the Iraqi began to criticise Kuwait’s role, when 150 000 American and British soldiers were deployed for a possible attack on Iraq. ‘Shut up, minion, you US agents, you monkeys’, Ibrahim retorted. ‘Liar’, retorted Ahmed Fahd al Sabah, Kuwait’s Minister of Information, who was standing up waving a small national flag. At that moment, Kuwait’s Foreign Minister, Sabah al Ahmed, also interrupted; only minutes before he had invited the Iraqi leadership to stand downand agree to exile, the region’s only way out of a damaging conflict. [...] The Iraqi delegation left Doha with a resounding feeling that the proposal from the United Arab Emirates had been supported. (Adnkronos)
 
5 March – Aznar heard the Arabs out. On exile?
Spain could support a peace plan for Saddam Hussein’s exile. According to the daily newspaper El Mundo, Ana Palacio, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, said: ‘It is an idea which we should examine more closely’. On the days leading up to this, the Spanish Prime Minister, José Maria Aznar, who during the Iraqi crisis backed the hard line of the United States and Britain, had a series of telephone calls with various leaders from the Arab countries, including Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Syria, Egypt, Libya and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. (Adnkronos/Dpa)
 
5 March – Blair: war can be prevented through full disarmament or Saddam’s exile
‘War can still be avoided’: with this opening statement, which underlined just how close we were to the inevitable, Tony Blair presented a case study to Parliament on how the Iraqi crisis could be a peaceful epilogue to the Iraqi crisis. The Prime Minister explained that there were two options: Saddam could either comply unreservedly with the UN Resolution or he could relinquish power. (AP)
 
6 March – President Bush was heading towards war
In a press conference it was announced that time was running out for the UN inspections process and for Saddam Hussein.
 
 
 
 
 
Last-ditch attempts to avoid war through exile
 
6 March – The Arab League Delegation left for New York
A delegation of Foreign Ministers from the Arab League, led by the head of Bahrain’s diplomatic corps, Mohammed bin Mubarak, left for New York for a meeting with the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, and Hans Blix, the Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC. The delegation was made up of Ministers from Syria, Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, accompanied by Amr Moussa, the Arab League’s Secretary-General. (AP)
 
7 March – Foreign Ministers from Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Syria and the Arab League went to Baghdad to ask Saddam to leave the country to avoid war
Official Arab sources reported that the Foreign Ministers from Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Syria and the Arab League were to go to Baghdad to ask Saddam to leave to prevent war. The United States confirmed that Saddam was the only one who could avoid conflict by accepting the conditions laid down: disarming or going into exile. The UN Ambassador from Pakistan, Muir Akram, also confirmed that the likely proposal for Saddam’s exile should also contain guarantees for his immunity from any war crime accusations.
 
12 March – Appeal signed by 37 important figures, including five former ministers, for Saddam’s exile and for a UN-supervised interim administration
The following was included in the report from the Institute for War and Peace Reporting on the activities of the Iraqi exile group:
A group of non-aligned Iraqi exiles who were opposed to the American plans to occupy their country were stepping up their efforts to gather support for a UN-supervised interim administration that would pave the way for a new, Iraqi democracy, free from American control. The exiles, known as the Iraqi Group made their first appearance the previous month when they launched an appeal to Saddam Hussein to voluntarily abandon power in order to save Iraq from war and from its ‘disastrous consequences’. The appeal was signed by 37 important figures in exile, including five former ministers – among them the former minister Adnan Pachachi – teachers and journalists. Their request for a non-violent ousting of Saddam was also backed by Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates, who was one of the most influential figures in the Arab world.
 
12 March – Berlusconi: efforts moving forward
According to Berlusconi, the efforts to convince Saddam to go into exile were making progress and Bush was the first to want to avoid war at all costs (Agency news).
 
13 March – Interview with Franco Frattini (Italy’s Foreign Minister) by Bruno Vespa: ‘The plan doesn’t exist’.
Bruno Vespa: ‘And what about the idea of a UN authority operating in Iraq?’
Franco Frattini: ‘Has the Iraqi Government decided to open its doors to a UN protectorate? Has anyone asked for Saddam’s signature on this? (...) Still, the problem is (…) that the plan doesn’t exist. It is wrong to make public opinion believe that there are options of foreign or military policy that actually have no basis (...). The left (...) asked for a parliamentary debate and a vote on the French-German plan that none of us have seen. That example alone is enough to demonstrate the consequences of artificially created news. Given the circumstances, how could we go before the Chamber of Deputies?’ (Panorama).
 
13 March – Arab League’s diplomatic mission to Baghdad postponed
The visit to Baghdad by a delegation of Foreign Ministers from the Arab League was postponed. The diplomats were due to meet King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa in Bahrain and then head for the Iraqi capital, but the Syrian and Libyan representatives were not available. Previously, the Syrian President Bashir Assad had criticised the diplomatic initiative, defining it as a ‘way of justifying the forthcoming war’. (AP)
 
 
14 March – For the first and last time, the censorship against Pannella came to an end on Italian evening television so that he could discuss Iraq
In the studio Magdi Allam agreed with the campaign but pointed out that the time was up and that ‘exile would have been the only alternative to war’.
 
 
 
14 March – Vatican: The apostolic nunciature in Baghdad to remain open
While the ambassadors from various countries were organising the exodus from Baghdad, the Holy See announced that the apostolic nunciature in Baghdad was to remain open even in the event of conflict. The observers listened to the announcement and its official nature with a certain anxiety: in a written statement the Vatican spokesperson, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, reported that the Vatican’s diplomatic office in Baghdad, the apostolic nunciature, ‘will remain open even in the case of an eventual armed intervention in the country’ given that ‘it is the Holy See’s long-standing tradition that its diplomatic representatives remain close to the peoples, to whom they are envoys even in situations of extreme danger’.
 
15 March – Round of talks between King Abdullah of Jordan and the Gulf Leader
King Abdullah II from Jordan left for talks with the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nayan, and with the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, to focus on the Iraqi crisis. The palace issued a statement on it. At the Arab Summit on 1 March, the UAE had circulated a proposal in which they offered the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, guarantees for his own safety and impunity if he chose to go into exile. The proposal, which was never officially discussed at the Summit, received backing from Saudi Arabia and the other petroleum monarchies in the Gulf. The UAE document reflected unofficial contacts between various Arab leaders, including King Abdullah, who had thought about formally asking Saddam Hussein to agree to relinquish power in order to avoid a US military attack against his country. Jordan did not agree to a second Gulf War, but did agree to the presence of thousands of American troops and special forces. (Ansa – Amman)
 
 
16 March – Powell still believed in the possibility of exile. Bush instead signed the directive to put post-Saddam Iraq into the hands of the Iraqi authorities from all religious groups
At the Azores Summit between the United States, Great Britain and Spain, Bush signed a directive for an interim authority made up of Iraqis from all religious groups, who were to be responsible for some of the government functions after the fall of Saddam. Powell confirmed that war could still be avoided if Saddam Hussein and his main allies were to relinquish power and go into exile.
 
 
 
17-18 March – Revolt against Blair intensified as British Cabinet Ministers resign
High-profile resignations from the British Cabinet: Minister Robin Cook, Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Hunt, the Health Minister, John Denham, the Home Office Minister and Claire Short, the International Development Secretary.
 
17 March – President Bush explained his final ultimatum
‘Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict commenced at a time of our choosing.’
 
17 March – Saddam’s reply
Saddam Hussein said that he hoped that there would be no conflict, but that in the event of an attack he promised a US defeat. After having met with Habib Ben Yahia, the Tunisian Foreign Minister, he was quoted by State television as saying ‘we hope that the war will not take place, please God, because we do not need to test the resistance and courage of our people. But we are ready’, he added, ‘to sacrifice our souls, our children and our families not to give up Iraq. We say this so no-one will think that America is capable of breaking the will of the Iraqis with its weapons. If the war were to come’, said the President, ‘we would be victorious’. (Ansa – Beirut/Baghdad)
 
18 March – Gallup Poll released figures in the US from a survey conducted on 23 January
62% agreed that Saddam should have gone into exile without persecution to avoid war.
 
18 March – Saddam refused the ultimatum; Uday: no exile, battle will be bloody
At the end of a meeting chaired by Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi officials refused the US ultimatum, which forced the President and his two sons to choose between voluntary exile and war, according to the Iraqi television channel al-Shabab. Saddam’s position was announced in a release by State television, which reported that, during a Revolutionary Command Council meeting (large decision-making body in the country, chaired by Saddam himself), it was confirmed that Iraq ‘does not choose its path on the orders of a foreigner and does not choose its leaders according to decrees from Washington, London or Tel Aviv, but through the will of the great Iraqi people’. The statement also confirmed that ‘Iraq and all its children are ready to confront the invading aggressors and push them back’, and showed images of Saddam Hussein chairing the meeting in military uniform. The TV channel al Shabab, live with Uday Hussein, the President’s eldest son, reported that Uday had given orders to the Saddam Fedayeen Saddam, a paramilitary organisation loyal to Saddam’s government, to assemble at its barracks. Prior to that, Uday Hussein had already let people know that Baghdad was rejecting all ideas of exile of the President. In a press release Uday also confirmed that the exile proposal came from ‘someone who isn’t fully himself....the proposal should be for Bush and his family to leave office in America’. He also warned that ‘the wives and mothers of the Americans who fight us will cry tears of blood’. (AP)
 
18 March – US: American troops in Iraq in any case
The White House declared that American troops and their allies ‘will enter Iraq in any case’, with force or peacefully. The Administration’s main spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said that even if Saddam Hussein were to go into exile, American troops would enter Iraq peacefully. Fleischer clarified that the coalition forces would enter Iraq peacefully to destroy the weapons of mass destruction, even if Saddam decided to go into exile. (Ansa)
 
19 March – Bonino and Pannella wrote to Bush and Blair repeating the need to postpone the launch of military operations
‘Saddam’s infamous regime is in decline. His fall and the liberation of Iraq are more or less certain. Postpone under the terms of the ultimatum! Without corpses and without massacre, which only Saddam wants, democracy, life and peace will triumph’.
 
19 March – Saudi Arabia officially announces Saddam’s exile proposal
Just 20 hours before the expiry of the Anglo-American ultimatum to Saddam Hussein, Saudi Arabia stated officially that the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, could go into exile in an extreme attempt to prevent war. A Saudi source announced this to Reuters. According to the source, ‘the King, and other parties, are doing as much as they can to prevent a devastating war. They suggested the idea of exile to Saddam…….and his family’.
[...] Moreover, in the days leading up to it, the Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal highlighted that Riyadh had already offered refuge to ‘a number of people’, among them the former Saudi Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, and the former Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin. (Ansa-Reuters – Riyadh)
 
19 March – Bahrain offered asylum to Saddam Hussein
Bahrain offered asylum to the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, if he chose to go into exile. This was the first public offer from one of the Gulf countries after the US President George W. Bush launched his ultimatum. According to Bahrain’s official press agency, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa reported that ‘he is ready to host Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, should he wish to live here in all dignity and respect without in any way undermining Iraq’s capacities and status’. (AP)
                                                            
19 March – Either Tarek Aziz flees or Saddam goes into exile. Both were possible scenarios even after the initial bombing
‘Something will happen, perhaps after the initial bombings’: that is the opinion of Alexandre Adler, the former director of the Courier International, who explained in an interview with Ansa that ‘the moderate monarchies in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, want Saddam to go away, and among their diplomats there is considerable action. This provokes fierce divisions in Saddam’s entourage, even among his children: Qusay would like to stay until the bitter end; Uday recommends taking all of their wealth and leaving. Among Saddam’s relations there is a battle going on and it should not be forgotten that the President is suffering from cancer and on strong medication that leaves him bed-ridden. Everyone is scared to tell him the truth, as they fear retribution. I would say that the atmosphere is “Shakespearean”’. With rumours of Tariq Aziz fleeing, Adler recalled that the son of the former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister ‘was arrested one year ago for corruption, a way of blackmailing his guilty father for having taken moderate diplomatic initiatives with Saudi Arabia after 11 September. Given that Saddam lives in Stalin’s legacy, he imitates him by using collaborators that he can have in the palm of his hand thanks to family blackmail’ [...]. (Ansa - from Tullio Giannotti)
 
19 March – Extreme attempts from the Arab diplomats
The Jordanian Prime Minister, Ali Abul-Ragheb, went to Saudi Arabia for talks with Crown Prince Abdullah, reported the Jordanian news agency Petra. (AP)
 
20 March – Several hours before the expiry of the ultimatum, a bomb aimed to kill Saddam. His daughter’s house was hit
Several hours before the expiry of Washington’s ultimatum, there was a sudden change of plan: the CIA Director, George Tenet, received intelligence on Saddam Hussein’s whereabouts that night. During a meeting with President Bush and the national security team, it was decided that a surprise attack would be launched at dawn, bringing the expiry of the ultimatum forward with the aim of killing Saddam. The previous plan to launch air attacks on places key to the Iraqi leadership was abandoned.
Stealth bombers and Cruise missiles hit the target: Dora Farms, where Saddam’s daughters were living. However, the intelligence was incorrect: Saddam was not there.
Operation Iraqi Freedom began a few hours later. (PBS)
 
20 March – Pannella in the European Parliament: War is a gift from Vichy’s Europe as opposed to Ventotene’s Europe.
‘The war is a present to us from law-abiding Europe, your Europe. (...) You are as law-abiding as Vichy! We are acting as unlawfully as the Iraqi resistance, as unlawfully as the European resistance. We tell you now that we are going to throw ourselves into battle without delay and fight for peace founded on freedom and the rule of law. Cowardly Europe, Vichy’s Europe! It is not the Europe of those who suffered fighting fascism, the Europe of Altiero Spinelli, the Europe of Ernesto Rossi, the Europe of those who genuinely gave us the right to look the heirs of Lafayette in the eye too, which you are failing to do with your outdated fascist, communist, papist contempt for the world of international liberal and religious reform!’
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Attempts to start the war and put an end to Saddam Hussein
 
21 March – The campaign did not end when the war started: Pannella launched an appeal to the Italian Government and to the President of the EU Council of Ministers, George Papandreou, in agreement with Egyptian President Mubarak to once again propose exile to Saddam
‘(…) we are making a formal request to the Italian Government to suggest to Papandreou, the President of the EU Council of Ministers, and most probably with the approval of Egyptian President Mubarak and the Middle East and Islamic states that had already asked him to come back, to offer Saddam Hussein and his family the immediate possibility of exile, which would naturally guarantee safety (not freedom, which is theoretically impossible)’.
 
23 March,1.59 p.m. – News from Cairo: The British Ambassador delivered a letter from Blair to Mubarak, a major player in the talks on Saddam’s exile
The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, sent the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, a message on the Iraqi crisis through his Ambassador in Cairo, John Sawers, who subsequently delivered it to the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Ahme Maher. Following the talks, Sawers said to the journalists that Britain ‘regrets that the situation in Iraq has come to this. The aim of the operation is to establish the conditions that allow Iraq to reunite and be part of the international community that respects the UN resolutions’. ‘The coalition members’, the diplomat added, ‘wanted to achieve this goal with minimal loss of lives and destruction in Iraq, in such a way that the natural wealth was handed back to the people’. (Ansa)
 
23 March, 7.41 p.m. – Bush: too late for Saddam to think about going free and letting go of power
President George Bush expressed his gratitude for the fact that ‘the enemy did not use’ weapons of mass destruction. Responding to questions from journalists at the White House, having returned from Camp David, Bush added that it was ‘too late’ for Saddam to think about getting off scot-free and relinquishing power: ‘He had the opportunity to go into exile’, he pointed out. (Ansa)
 
24 March – Leaders of the Arab World had still not totally abandoned the idea of exile
Taken from a declaration from the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, Saud Al Faisal, published on 23 March on the website www.daralhayat.com, entitled ‘Let’s let diplomacy do its job’.
‘Saddam Hussein now knows exactly what his country is up against... and if he is asking his people for sacrifices to defend his country, then he should perhaps think about what sacrifices he could make to defend his country’. Faisal added that the US President, George Bush, should have initiated negotiations with the Iraqi leaders and ‘offered them the possibility of peace’.
According to Al Faisal, Saudi Arabia would obviously not have offered asylum to Saddam but it could have guaranteed his ‘safe journey’. ‘There are other Arab countries that are better placed’ to host Saddam. Bahrain renewed its proposal to host Saddam Hussein if he were to decide on exile, incorporating what was formulated, although never officially, by the President of the United Arab Emirates on 1 March at the Arab Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, discussion of which had been officially excluded from any other Arab meeting. The previous day, the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, made a statement in which he referred back to the idea of ‘a necessary political solution’ to the Iraqi crisis, stating that the war should end soon, as Bush had said when he called immediately after the launch of the attack on Iraq on 20 March.
 
25 March – Frattini: Saddam’s stamp of approval was missing
Radio Radicale interviewed Franco Frattini, the Foreign Minister, on Marco Pannella’s ‘Free Iraq!’ proposal: ‘It is a wise and intelligent proposal and all that is missing is Saddam’s stamp of approval. The role of the Arab League could be instrumental in achieving this goal’. Massimo D'Alema, leader of the main opposition party, the Democratic Party of the Left, agreed on the last point, but emphasised the importance of the second part of the appeal: UN management of the post-Saddam reconstruction.
 
22 July – Saddam’s sons targeted and killed
Both of Saddam Hussein’s sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed by American soldiers in a raid on a house in Mosul in northern Iraq. The bloody gun battle to take out Uday and Qusay lasted around six hours. A tip-off came partly from the owner of the house who received 30 million dollars for the pair. He was Sheik Nawaf Mohamed Zidan Al-Nassiri Al-Tikriti, second cousin of ‘his’ victims and part of the same tribe, Saddam Hussein’s tribe. The tip-off led 200 troops of the 101st Airborne Division to enter the building where they believed the two were hiding. After the battle, in which a passing boy, four civilians and an American soldier were injured, the house went up in flames. Inside, the American soldiers found four bodies, which witnesses described as partially burnt and in ‘a sorry state’. Later, the bodies were identified. They were Uday, his younger brother Qusay, Qusay’s 14-year-old son and their bodyguard.
During his visit to Basra, Gerard Russell, a spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, confirmed that the Anglo-American coalition wanted Uday and Qusay to stand trial, rather than being killed. ‘We wanted them to stand trial but this happened’, said Russell, who spoke in Arabic, a language with which he is very familiar.
Sources from the White House said that on hearing that Uday and Qusay had been killed President George W. Bush deemed it to be ‘good news’.
The media in the Middle East published photos of the bodies of the two brothers on 24 July 2003. (Ansa)
 
14 December 2003 – Saddam captured; there was no need to fire a single shot
‘It was 10 a.m. in Italy when an intelligence officer informed the commanders that Saddam had been found hiding in an area with two farmhouses in the town of Al-Dwar, 15 kilometres south of Tikrit, in the heart of the “Sunni triangle”, birthplace of the overthrown President and stronghold of the Arab guerrillas. The first person to indicate his whereabouts was a member of a family close to the dictator [...]. General John Abizaid, commander of the Iraqi troops was nicknamed the “Mad Arab”, a name coined during the Panama invasion to oust Manuel Noriega, himself known as “Pineapple Face”. He wanted to be prepared for any eventuality and assigned Operation Red Dawn to a task force of 600 men. [...] In the smallest farm, surrounded by a crumbling steel structure and a mud hut, two men tried to walk away and were blocked in, the soldiers then noticed a tube sticking out of the ground (used to allow air into the hiding place). According to General Raymond Odierno’s reconstruction, it was 8.26 p.m. when one of the soldiers moved a clump of leaves, bricks and debris a few metres from a sheep pen. Underneath was a man with a long beard, dirty clothes, untidy hair and dark eyes who said: “Don’t shoot”. The former President resembled a tramp and was not immediately recognisable, although the special troops were able to recognise his facial expressions. [...] Saddam was standing in a hole in the ground that measured two or barely three metres, just wide enough to enter and with the only comfort of an internal air vent that allowed him to breath. He had his gun by his side but did not use it; he said something, he did not resist and he gave himself up. To the soldiers, he appeared frightened, almost incapable of reacting, with the look of a tired fugitive who had lasted 9 months: from 9 April that year when his statue had been demolished in the centre of Baghdad. While the task force took hold of him, two men, possibly his bodyguards, came out of the larger of the two farms. They were captured without any resistance, having abandoned their Kalashnikovs in a room. Not far from the ‘spider hole’, as General Ricardo Sanchez called it, 750 000 dollars in hundred dollar bills was found, part of the 132 million still missing at that time from the 1 billion dollars withdrawn from the National Bank of Baghdad’s treasure chests by his son Qusay before the American-led attack on 20 March. [...] His story [came to an end] when he was forced to board an American helicopter at 9.15 p.m. local time.’ (La Stampa, Maurizio Molinari) 
 
30 December 2006 – Saddam Hussein killed
The former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, was executed. Arab and American press agencies made the announcement. His execution, which was decided by an Iraqi court on 5 November and then confirmed at the Court of Appeal, took place outside Baghdad at around 4.05 a.m. Italian time (6.05 a.m. in Iraq). He was executed by hanging rather than by firing squad. The former President had, however, asked to be killed by firing squad to ‘avoid being killed like a bandit’, preferring ‘death like a soldier’. The last few moments of Saddam’s life were filmed.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Post-war reconstructions
 
2 April 2003 – Pierre-Jean Luizard’s reconstruction of the negotiations, Saddam’s biography
‘I know from reliable sources that such negotiations did actually exist. They did not go well because Saddam Hussein wanted to save the majority of his clan. He was asking for a laissez-passez for around 50 people, while the Americans had left the door open for only nine including himself, with the guarantee that they would be able to flee in accordance with international justice and that they could enjoy part of the nest egg that the regime had managed to cover up abroad’.
 
11 August 2003 – Revelations and indiscretions: Saddam had agreed to exile. His daughters were in Jordan with US agreement and the leaders of the Ba’ath party were in Sana’a.
Why did Saddam Hussein’s daughters come out of hiding all of a sudden the previous week to then appear in Amman, Jordan, and why did King Abdullah of Jordan welcome them? Jordanian sources close to the family of the former dictator confirmed that in the weeks leading up to the death of their brothers Uday and Qusay in Mosul, Raghdad and Rana Hussein were to invite several people to sound out a number of Arab capitals, but the tragic deaths of their brothers had convinced the sisters to step up their search for safe asylum.
With its long-standing and close links with Saddam’s regime, Jordan was a logical choice. However, according to sources, King Abdullah hesitated as he tried first of all to obtain US acceptance for any kind of agreement on exile. The King offered hospitality and protection to the sisters only after approval from Washington. (…) The sisters’ presence in Jordan was also approved by the Bush Administration. The Americans knew that they could count on Abdullah’s intelligence service, the Mukhabarat, to keep an eye on Raghdad and Rana. ‘It could have been worse’, explains a State Department official. ‘They could have gone to Libya or Syria, where we wouldn’t have had any way of keeping track of them (…)’. (The Times)
 
26 September 2007 –El País published the transcript of the Crawford interview between Bush and Aznar
The publication by El País on 26 September 2007of the conversation between Aznar and Bush on 22 February 2003 at his ranch in Crawford received mixed reactions in the press in both countries. For several days El País continued with the story and published articles by Ernesto Ekaizer (an Argentinian columnist who left El País after a disagreement with the editor in January 2008 and who now writes for Público) that dealt partly with the exile issue too.
The controversy in the American press also reached the press conference by the White House spokesperson, Dana Perino. Many journalists asked about it and about the exile issue. The passages of the text in question were mentioned. She did not say anything but de facto confirmed that the text was accurate. The US articles from that time (26 September-15 October 2007) highlighted the link between the text in El País and the text from another two important documents that were unveiled: the Downing Street memo published on 1 May 2005 in The Sunday Times (which provided the results of a high-level meeting held on 23 July 2002 between Tony Blair, government ministers and members of the British intelligence service) and the January 2003 memo published on 27 March 2006 in the NY Times (a confidential memorandum written by David Manning – Tony Blair’s foreign policy advisor at that time – listing all the points of the two-hour meeting that had taken place on 31 January in the Oval Office).
 
27 September 2007 – Bush’s spokesperson did not deny the events published in El País
‘Question: There's a transcript in the Spanish newspaper, El País, that was said to be from a meeting between the President and the Spanish Prime Minister back in February 2003, in which, according to the tapes of this transcript of the conversations, Saddam Hussein offered to step down and go into exile one month before the invasion, and the President seemed to think that that was a realistic possibility at that time. Do you believe that this is an accurate transcript?
Reply: Well, without commenting on the details or talking about a private conversation between two world leaders [Bush and Aznar] and whether or not that [Saddam’s exile] happened, if you think back to that time, there were a lot of rumours. There were a lot of people floating ideas around about what may or may not happen. Unfortunately, Saddam Hussein decided to defy the international community. All diplomatic measures ran their course. And what we are focused on now is making sure that Iraq can be a government that can sustain and defend itself and make sure it's an ally in the war on terror for that region.
Question: And one more thing on this. The President is quoted in this transcript saying, “No matter what happens, we'll be in Baghdad by the end of March”. Three days after that meeting, Ari Fleischer [the White House spokesperson at the time] was at a podium in this room, saying, “The President has not come to the conclusion that the inspections have reached a dead end”.
Reply: I wasn't there for the private meeting that the President had with President Aznar. I don't know what Ari said. I do know where we are now, which is in a position of trying to make sure that the Iraqis have what they need in order to be a democratic force in the Middle East region.
(…)
Question: Is there a reluctance to talk about what happened in 2003?
Reply: The President’s record is very clear, but also look at Saddam Hussein’s record: somebody who tortured his own people, killed children, tore apart families. Even Human Rights Watch said that this was a brutal dictator who had killed up to a million of his own people. And I think that the President followed every diplomatic measure. He went to the United Nations, made a very strong case and now we are where we are, and we have to focus on making sure that we can improve the situation, which we are doing.’
 
4 October 2007 – ‘Zapatero rummaging through the dustbin of history’: even Aznar did not deny it
ELPAIS.com, Madrid: The former Prime Minister, José Maria Aznar, spoke about the publication in El País of the conversation he had had with Bush in Crawford in 2003. ‘The current policy of accommodation is an external policy whose successes can be measured by the length of the formal greetings’. This is what Aznar said in reference to the brief words exchanged between the Spanish President, Mr Zapatero, and the President of the United States at the last United Nations General Assembly in New York. ‘That’s what happens when, instead of thinking about Spain’s interests, you spend your time rummaging through the “dustbin” of history – or even better the “dustbin” of an office – in an attempt to justify insults and slander’, he added.