Tariq Aziz speaks

The Washington Post has a carefully written story detailing the results of our interrogation of former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz: “Hussein was sure of own survival.” After reading Rocket Man’s exposition of the unreliability of Post reporter Barton Gellman in reporting a related story, I think it would be wise to take this story with a grain of salt, but it is of interest.
HINDROCKET adds: The Post seems most interested in the “missing WMDs” angle, but to me, this is the most interesting point: “Aziz has told interrogators that French and Russian intermediaries repeatedly assured Hussein during late 2002 and early this year that they would block a U.S.-led war through delays and vetoes at the U.N. Security Council. Later, according to Aziz, Hussein concluded after private talks with French and Russian contacts that the United States would probably wage a long air war first, as it had done in previous conflicts. By hunkering down and putting up a stiff defense, he might buy enough time to win a cease-fire brokered by Paris and Moscow.”

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