US Army To Stay in Iraq

It seems that Saddam is haunting the Pentagon

American soldiers fired at the column of Iraqi vehicles in the west of Iraq last week. There is nothing surprising about the incident: the war is over, but the situation is still tense. More importantly, there could be Saddam Hussein or one of his sons, Uday, in one of those vehicles. This is what Pentagon officials believe. Yet, it is not ruled out that Americans simply found an excuse for their actions: if such incidents occur in the future, they will just say that Saddam could be there in a car.

American newspapers reported that a column of vehicles had been destroyed after an Iraqi man (Saddam Hussein, maybe) decided to use his cellular phone. The signal was intercepted and American planes bombed the column. This reminds the story with former Chechen President Jokhar Dudayev, who also died as a result of his wish to talk.

The remnants of the killed Iraqi people have been sent for an examination. With the help of the DNA analysis, Americans hope to find out, if Saddam Hussein was in the column of vehicles. Pentagon officials are very careful with their comments this time: they remember how the US Army "destroyed" Saddam in his bunker at first, and then "killed" him in a Baghdad restaurant.

It is hard to believe that the former Iraqi dictator, who is suspicious and careful about everything and everyone, knew nothing about modern telephone interception. The story with the column needs more convincing evidence. In fact, Saddam Hussein's fate is more important from the psychological point of view, rather than from the political one.  It has not been proved that it was Saddam, who organized attacks on US forces in Iraq. In addition to it, one may say that he is done as an independent political figure that has power and influence.

It seems that the American administration is determined to leave troops in Iraq for a long period of time. A delegation of American senators left for Iraq on Monday. The delegation includes US Republican Senator, Richard Lugar, Democratic Senator Joseph Biden, Republican Senator Charles Hagel. Lugar has already said that before - the US Army is supposed to stay in Iraq for five years, at least. Hagel said that Lugar was right in spite of the fact that the American army would suffer losses during a certain period of time.