On Tue, 13 Nov 2001, Steve Grube wrote:
> Last night on Frontline (Gunning for Saddam) they mentioned the
> supposed assassination attempt by Saddam on ex-pres. Bush in '93. I
> thought this attempt was already discredited as PR and was just an
> opportunity for new pres. Clinton to "make his bones" by flying a few
> cruise missiles into Iraq.
ICBWB my impression is that this was a real attempt. It is certainly still treated as real by the WSJ and the NYT. But AFAIK, this was Saddam's only terrorist act by State Department definition. And since the US and Iraq were (and are) still technically at war, this could conceivably be legally justified as a commando action that was completely equivalent to our current attempts to kill Mullah Omar. Or to kill Saddam, for that matter.
AFAIK, the only two things that are used to justify Iraq's inclusion on the list of terrorist states was this attack and the fact that Saddam is giving shelter to Abu Nidal. And the latter is also something of a ruse, since Nidal has been clearly neutered and Saddam would hand him over in a in a sack if we wanted to deal. Basically Iraq is included on the list because he's the US's designated hittee. The country went on the list after it invaded Kuwait and has been there ever since. All during the 80s he wasn't on the list, including during the period when he was gassing the Kurds and sending support to the first intifada.
Michael
__________________________________________________________________________ Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak at panix.com