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russ
Uday and Qusay dead; victims of a family dispute over money? Mark Unseen   Jul 22 21:25 UTC 2003

NPR has been reporting this afternoon that Uday and Qusay Hussein,
the eldest sons of Saddam Hussein, are confirmed dead after a
3-hour firefight in the Iraqi city of Mosul.

The house in which they were killed is said to be owned by a tribal
leader who is also a cousin of Saddam; the owner was reported to
have been seen talking with US soldiers after the battle, leading
to suspicion that he turned in the two for the $15 million/head
reward.
122 responses total.
tod
response 1 of 122: Mark Unseen   Jul 22 21:37 UTC 2003

This response has been erased.

twenex
response 2 of 122: Mark Unseen   Jul 22 21:59 UTC 2003

Let that be a lesson to Muslim clerics who think capitalism is Anti-Islamic.
Hopefully this'll shut up all those ingrates who think they can have democracy
and home rule in a day; don't they realise if it was that easy they'd have
brought it in as soon as they gained independence from the UK?
other
response 3 of 122: Mark Unseen   Jul 22 22:09 UTC 2003

What the FUCK are we doing giving away $30 million dollars to some 
schmuck backstabber just for letting us kill his cousins for him?
scott
response 4 of 122: Mark Unseen   Jul 22 22:16 UTC 2003

Don't worry, there's plenty of money in the budget thanks to Bush's excellent
fiscal policies. 
</SARCASM>
tod
response 5 of 122: Mark Unseen   Jul 22 22:52 UTC 2003

This response has been erased.

bru
response 6 of 122: Mark Unseen   Jul 23 00:13 UTC 2003

nad it was a 6 hout firefight...
jor
response 7 of 122: Mark Unseen   Jul 23 00:47 UTC 2003

        200 against 4
jep
response 8 of 122: Mark Unseen   Jul 23 02:24 UTC 2003

re resp:3: Given that we're not packing up and leaving Iraq to be re-
taken over by Baathists led by Saddam and/or his family... you'd have 
rather used another method of digging out these people, such as maybe 
occupation for another 10 years?

While I have a lot more misgivings over the invasion of Iraq than I 
did at the start of the war, I'd still say that

1) The Hussein sons were part of the problem we invaded Iraq to solve;

2) While they lived, they were very likely to be a continuing problem;

3) It was a whole lot cheaper to get someone to sell them out than to 
find and arrest and/or kill them

4) Even so, I bet $15 or $30 million in reward money was a drop in the 
bucket of the money we spent in trying to find these people.

We're spending a few billion per month or thereabouts in fighting in 
Iraq, as well as more American soldiers' lives every day.  This was 
not a big expense.  It was probably money pretty well spent.
lk
response 9 of 122: Mark Unseen   Jul 23 05:44 UTC 2003

Yes, but in the bazaar westerners frequently overpay and walk away
thinking they got the deal of the century. 

I suspect that a $3 million reward would have been just as effective.
(What's that in worthless Iraqi currency?)
janc
response 10 of 122: Mark Unseen   Jul 23 06:06 UTC 2003

Irrelevant.  The rewards had to sound big to Americans, because they need to
convince Americans that Bush is tough on Sadam.
pvn
response 11 of 122: Mark Unseen   Jul 23 06:14 UTC 2003

re#8: Damn well spent.  Plus US full faith and credit redemption bonds
(US dollar) are going to circulate and incentivize the exchange of goods
and services which helps motivate the iraqi people as well.  What good
was money if you don't know if you are going to be around to spend it,
and why buy things if the government figures might just take it from you
on a whim.  Now under the current regime things are a lot different
thanks be to allah.  (Kalifornia could learn from this)

re#9: Ah, youd.  It is indeed odd the barbarian habit of telegraphing
interest and price.  Perhaps they should do the same and offer a gift in
return for a gift of WMD?

re#10:  I would think that when the Americans spend dozens of billions
of dollars a few millions would be seen as the price of a couple of
helicopters or tanks.  The perceived value to the Iraqis - who gripe
about paying 50 cents for a gallon of gas - the bounty would seem
incalculably large.
janc
response 12 of 122: Mark Unseen   Jul 23 13:46 UTC 2003

Actually, any Iraqi who collects the bounty on Saddam or his sons is very
likely to become the biggest assassination target in Iraq.  I expect the first
dollar spent will be on a plane ticket to Switzerland.  So don't bet on a lot
of this money circulating in Iraq.
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