The Gulf: Are Saddam's Days Numbered?

Hints of a new U.S. effort to get rid of the Iraqi leader seem to be aimed more at American voters than at Baghdad. Good thing too: it's an idea likely to fail -- and to raise havoc even if it succeed

SADDAM HUSSEIN STILL HAS HIS JOB. DO YOU?

Sightings of that bumper sticker in California and New Hampshire probably go farther than any deep-think analysis to unravel a Washington mystery. Why is the Bush Administration starting to leak hints of a new scheme to dethrone the Iraqi strongman, despite the derision of virtually everyone who knows anything about the Middle East?

In its most extreme version, the operation would begin with covert CIA stimulation of a new revolt by Saddam's Kurdish and Shi'ite opponents and proceed to very overt bombing of the forces the Iraqi dictator sent to smash the rebellion....

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