A few points. What’s most striking about this war so far is the extremely heavy reliance on multifaceted psychological warfare and propaganda. Every war uses psywar as one of its elements, but seldom I think has it been so integral to the effort. This whole effort about the fate of Saddam is of course a key point. For the US, if he’s dead, great. If the US can get the word out that he might be dead, also great — since it spreads doubt about the power of the regime. If the US can coax Saddam out into the open to prove he’s alive, that’s still good — since it gets him out in the open for the US to take another hit at him.
A similar logic applies to all this talk about on-going surrender negotiations with elements of the Iraqi army.
Tony Karon at Time.com has a nice, short piece on this issue.
Now, some more from the TPM archives. Last year when I was 
reporting the article on Iraq that I wrote in the Washington Monthly, I interviewed General Najib al-Salhi, head of the Iraqi Free Officers Movement, an exile who now lives in Washington DC. In one portion of our interview, from last May, he argued that Saddam had actually been able to convince many around him that US, privately, actually wanted him to stay in power. The mix of my transcription of the interview, combined with the fact that Salhi was speaking through a translator, makes the text a bit choppy. But I think the gist comes through …
They are waiting for a chance from outside so they can revolt against him. Saddam also makes propaganda with his own republican guard. “Don’t worry about what you see on TV” [he tells them] “I have a special relationship with the US. I am very strong with them. They want me to stay as leader of Iraq, don’t pay attention to all of this, this is just propaganda. Even today America wants me to stay as leader, I have a special relationship, quietly.” People really believed in that ⦠[But] after a few of those statements President Bush [made], people started doubting if there is that special relationship. That is the crack. [But they did believe he had that special relationship with the US] ⦠“I’m here to protect the US interests in the region. The Arabian countries and Iran ⦠I have been told to attack other Arab countries and to put them in their place. I am here as the protector of the US interests in the region. Just ignore what you see on TV and in the media.” [Then others in Saddam’s circle say] “We’ve heard this for the past ten or twelve years. When they got him out of Kuwait, they didn’t do anything. Don’t waste your time. He’s gonna stay there until such time until the interests of the US is finished with him.”
More soon.
