The desert winds called hamis are blowing now, and with them Baghdad seems enveloped in a surreal haze: diplomats drop out of the sky to plead with Saddam Hussein for a solution before it is too late; hostages lounge by the pool and pin their hopes on each new arrival; ministers hint of divisions within the government; reporters interview the most recent terrorists to take up residence here; the Muzak in the state-owned hotel plays Hava Nagila.
Increasingly there is talk that Saddam may not survive the winter, that before an American-led military offensive occurs, his own generals may move against...