Over the weekend Haaretz reported:
Saddam Hussein's intelligence service collected information on dozens of sites in Israel, including airports, other transportation centers, as well as scientific and religious centers that were thought to be potential targets for attacks....
This information emerged following the release of documents captured during the American invasion in 2003 and made available as part of a West Point program to evaluate the lessons of the war in Iraq.
In addition to the detailed collection of intelligence on potential Israeli targets, the documents also show that Saddam's intelligence was following closely the links between Iran and Hezbollah and the potential that such ties could provide Iran to operate in the territories and in North Africa.
One wonders what organizations, exactly, Saddam was planning to collaborate with in North Africa, since nearly all of them are affiliated to some degree with al Qaeda. Joscelyn has posted a lot of material on the connections that were developed. And then there's this:
A video recording of a meeting between Saddam and Yasser Arafat on April 19, 1990, showed Saddam threatening to assassinate then president George Bush. "We may not be able to reach Washington, but we could send someone with an explosives belt to Washington," Saddam told Arafat, three months before the invasion of Kuwait.
Apparently Saddam was hip to suicide vests long before they became the must-have Middle East fashion accessory, and he wanted to use them on American targets. Was Saddam all bluster? He did subsequently attempt to kill Bush 41. The report also notes that Saddam said he "possessed chemical weapons" and "would not hesitate" to use them against Israel.
