The Whites Of His Eyes

Just hours ahead of a punishing air attack, Saddam Hussein blinked and an exhausted White House declared victory. For now

All day National Security Adviser Sandy Berger had been rushing around, thinking detail. Checking off extra bombing options. Tweaking instructions to the U.N. envoys. Fine-tuning the perfect strike against the Iraqi leader who has bedeviled the U.S. for eight long years.

But always, at the back of his mind, lay the big question: What happens the day after? Ever since Oct. 31, Berger told TIME in a brief moment of calm Friday night, when Saddam Hussein abruptly tossed out all the U.N. inspectors who monitor his post-defeat disarmament, the most flagrant violation of cease-fire terms yet, the White House aide...

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