Iraq: Wanted: a Strong Leader for a Broken Land (Not You, Saddam)

The allies would love to replace the Iraqi dictator, but a suitable successor is nowhere to be found

They gathered to demonstrate their unity to the world. Yet in the breaks between their formal sessions of solidarity posing at Beirut's Bristol Hotel last week, the disparate members of the Iraqi opposition could not resist heaping scorn on one another. Someone noted that before Youssef al-Durrah joined the Democratic Movement, he served as Saddam Hussein's press director. A rival pointed out that Hassan Alawi of the Arab Independents once worked as Saddam's speechwriter. And that communist, Naziha Doulaimi? Well, a critic readily volunteered, she had once been a full member of Saddam's Cabinet!

Given their zestful animosities, it was no...

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