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Saddam: 'I Was Born in Iraq and I Will Die in Iraq'
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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - When Russian envoy Yevgeny Primakov met Iraqi President Saddam Hussein last month, he tactfully asked about reports that he might consider exile to avert a U.S. invasion.
The answer was calm and sharp: "I was born in Iraq and I will die in Iraq."
Contrary to reports suggesting Saddam is isolated and out of touch, Primakov said the Iraqi strongman knows war is coming and is awaiting his destiny. He said Saddam was well informed, aware of the threat and prepared to face it.
"Saddam will not go anywhere and will fight till the end," a Baghdad-based Western envoy quoted the former Russian prime minister, a long-time friend of Saddam, as telling him after his encounter.
"Saddam always had a vision of himself as the Arab hero of the Umma (nation) fighting the imperialist invaders. He wants to be the last defender of the nation. He wants to preserve the image of hero imprinted in people's minds," the diplomat said.
Known to admire former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, Saddam is no ideologue but readily appeals to Arab nationalism, Islam or Iraqi patriotism to cement his personal power and that of his ruling Baath Party.
Born in 1937, Saddam grew up under a monarchy imposed on Iraq by Britain, which fostered ties with a land-owning elite drawn mainly from the Sunni Muslim minority that also supplied the bulk of an increasingly politicized officer corps.
Riding a wave of Arab nationalism, Iraqi "free officers" overthrew the monarchy in 1958, murdering the royal family and the leading pro-British politician of the day, Nuri al-Said.
The next two decades saw Saddam gradually rise to the apex of political power, becoming president in 1979.
Saddam, whose name means "collider," has become the face of Iraq, ruling it with an iron grip for 24 years. His personality cult pervades the country.
EXILE CALLED UNTHINKABLE
Timid calls for Saddam to quit to spare lives have come from various quarters. A church envoy urged Saddam recently "to put the interest of the Iraqi people before anything else."
"The president listened carefully, but as you know, he sees the interests of the Iraqi people differently," one European diplomat said.
The tantalizing idea that Saddam might accept exile as an alternative to war has been dismissed by all who know him.
They point to his refusal to withdraw from Kuwait under a deadline to avoid war in 1990, and his taste for brinkmanship since then with U.S. and British forces that periodically bomb his country.
While capable of startling tactical concessions under pressure, Saddam remains a risk-taker.
Exile would be an intolerable humiliation for a man who sees his own survival in power and place in history as inextricably bound up with that of Baathist rule and Iraq's regional role.
Analysts say Saddam will need all his street-fighting instincts to emerge alive, let alone in power, if Washington invades to rid Iraq of alleged banned weapons -- and the man who sought them to further his quest for regional dominance.
But for someone likely to face the mightiest army in the world, Saddam remains a calm and composed man, Gennady Seleznev of the Russian Duma who met Saddam this week, told diplomats.
"Saddam knows America will attack. He believes the U.S. invasion won't be a promenade. He concedes America maintains firepower supremacy but thinks that fighting on the ground will determine the outcome because the Iraqi people will fight."
Diplomats nevertheless say Saddam's belief that ordinary people stand ready to defend him may well be an illusion. Even if they are willing to fight, they say, Iraqis are poorly armed in comparison to the military machine they are likely to face.
"On that level, he is not well informed. All the people he meets tell him they will fight and die for him. Nobody dares tell him that this does not seem to be the case," a diplomat said. "The Iraqi people won't receive the Americans as liberators and won't go to the streets fighting them either."
The answer was calm and sharp: "I was born in Iraq and I will die in Iraq."
Contrary to reports suggesting Saddam is isolated and out of touch, Primakov said the Iraqi strongman knows war is coming and is awaiting his destiny. He said Saddam was well informed, aware of the threat and prepared to face it.
"Saddam will not go anywhere and will fight till the end," a Baghdad-based Western envoy quoted the former Russian prime minister, a long-time friend of Saddam, as telling him after his encounter.
"Saddam always had a vision of himself as the Arab hero of the Umma (nation) fighting the imperialist invaders. He wants to be the last defender of the nation. He wants to preserve the image of hero imprinted in people's minds," the diplomat said.
Known to admire former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, Saddam is no ideologue but readily appeals to Arab nationalism, Islam or Iraqi patriotism to cement his personal power and that of his ruling Baath Party.
Born in 1937, Saddam grew up under a monarchy imposed on Iraq by Britain, which fostered ties with a land-owning elite drawn mainly from the Sunni Muslim minority that also supplied the bulk of an increasingly politicized officer corps.
Riding a wave of Arab nationalism, Iraqi "free officers" overthrew the monarchy in 1958, murdering the royal family and the leading pro-British politician of the day, Nuri al-Said.
The next two decades saw Saddam gradually rise to the apex of political power, becoming president in 1979.
Saddam, whose name means "collider," has become the face of Iraq, ruling it with an iron grip for 24 years. His personality cult pervades the country.
EXILE CALLED UNTHINKABLE
Timid calls for Saddam to quit to spare lives have come from various quarters. A church envoy urged Saddam recently "to put the interest of the Iraqi people before anything else."
"The president listened carefully, but as you know, he sees the interests of the Iraqi people differently," one European diplomat said.
The tantalizing idea that Saddam might accept exile as an alternative to war has been dismissed by all who know him.
They point to his refusal to withdraw from Kuwait under a deadline to avoid war in 1990, and his taste for brinkmanship since then with U.S. and British forces that periodically bomb his country.
While capable of startling tactical concessions under pressure, Saddam remains a risk-taker.
Exile would be an intolerable humiliation for a man who sees his own survival in power and place in history as inextricably bound up with that of Baathist rule and Iraq's regional role.
Analysts say Saddam will need all his street-fighting instincts to emerge alive, let alone in power, if Washington invades to rid Iraq of alleged banned weapons -- and the man who sought them to further his quest for regional dominance.
But for someone likely to face the mightiest army in the world, Saddam remains a calm and composed man, Gennady Seleznev of the Russian Duma who met Saddam this week, told diplomats.
"Saddam knows America will attack. He believes the U.S. invasion won't be a promenade. He concedes America maintains firepower supremacy but thinks that fighting on the ground will determine the outcome because the Iraqi people will fight."
Diplomats nevertheless say Saddam's belief that ordinary people stand ready to defend him may well be an illusion. Even if they are willing to fight, they say, Iraqis are poorly armed in comparison to the military machine they are likely to face.
"On that level, he is not well informed. All the people he meets tell him they will fight and die for him. Nobody dares tell him that this does not seem to be the case," a diplomat said. "The Iraqi people won't receive the Americans as liberators and won't go to the streets fighting them either."
