American intelligence analysts now believe that Saddam Hussein is much more likely to be alive than dead, a view that has been strengthened in recent weeks by intercepted communications among fugitive members of the Saddam Fedayeen and the Iraqi intelligence service, according to United States government officials.
The officials said the recently obtained intelligence had re-intensified the search for Mr. Hussein along with his sons, Uday and Qusay. The search is being led by Task Force 20, a secret military organization that includes members of the Army’s highly specialized Delta Force and of the Navy’s elite counterterrorism squads, with support from the Central Intelligence Agency.
Intercepts of credible communications indicating that he is alive and must be protected have fueled this speculation. It is felt that if alive he would likely stay in Iraq rather than attempt to flee. Chalabi said more than a week ago that Saddam is in a loyalist area of Iraq with a remnant of his private fortune, offering bounties on American soldiers’ heads, but this was largely laughed off at the time. Could the continued loss of an average of one American soldier a day be contributing to a reevaluation of this intel, along with the inability to find any definitive physican evidence of his demise in the sites of our attempted assassinations?
Related: Captured Official Is Said to Tell U.S. Hussein Survived: ” top lieutenant to Saddam Hussein has also told American interrogators that he had fled to Syria with Saddam Hussein’s sons after the conflict.” NY Times
