(Guardian) Israel Had Plot to Kill Saddam Hussein

[salin]

Israel Had Plot to Kill Saddam Hussein

Tuesday December 16, 2003 9:01 PM


By KARIN LAUB

Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - The revelation that Israel plotted to kill Saddam Hussein at the funeral of a beloved uncle resolved an enduring mystery and infuriated current military chiefs who worry loose talk is harming Israel's security.

``Operation Bramble Bush,'' the plot to assassinate Saddam with a missile attack, was shelved in 1992 after five elite commandos were killed training for the mission.

Rumors had circulated for years that the training accident was linked to plans to kill Saddam, but military censors suppressed publication until Tuesday, three days after U.S. forces captured the former dictator.

Israeli security officials were furious about the revelation.

more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3514117,00.html

[Jacobin]

1. Who did they plan to blame it on??? the U.S. no doubt

Well, we've done their bidding for them, and in a very messy, bloody, expensieve way.

[Knoxville_Bob]

6. Actually, no

According to the report, they decided against doing it with hidden bombs or covert actions. They were going to go for a flashy kill, with a television guided missile, to make sure everyone knew who did it.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

2. Operation Bramble Bush?

boy there's a name ripe for interpretation.

On a serious note- Israel was right to pursue his killing since he was responsible for a direct attack on their civilians.

[wuushew]

4. Evidence? Links?

I hope you are not refering to the Saddam Hussein widow fund, which in any case would not be direct support by any stretch of the imagination.

(On Edit) I realized you meant scud attacks, sorry

[loudnclear]

3. What is all this. Does Israel exist merely to wage war?

There is nothing coming out of Israel except weapons, plots, assassinations, black-bag operations, incursions, and bombing of its neighbors. You tell me who is the greatest threat to peace? It sure isn't the Palestinians and it sure isn't Saddam. Pretty soon, after the capture of Osama we will be down to few choices for "evil leaders."

[Toronto Ron]

5. That's just what you choose to pay attention to,

for whatever reason. Never mind their unusual (for their size) output in the sciences (esp. food, medicine, agricultural) and fine arts. Anyway, don't they have a right to self-defense/retaliation? The plot was hatched shortly after several dozen Scuds rained down on Israel, courtesy of Saddam.

[sistersofmercy]

7. And uh, blowing up the nuclear power plant in Iraq in 79 was in response

to what now? Just as the power plant had been finished but was not up and running, cost billions of dollars to build, the Israeli government bombed it by disguising a bomber as a commercial airliner. Which is interesting since they 1) had not too long before this had a whistleblower, Mordeccai Venunu, reveal they were secretly manufacturing nukes and 2) had blown up a Libyan airliner that had flown into their air space because of bad weather. The pilot had radioed well in advance.