Was Saddam rescued by the US Army?

The Israeli-based military/intelligence site DEBKAfile seems to thinks so.

"A number of questions are raised by the incredibly bedraggled, tired and crushed condition of this once savage, dapper and pampered ruler who was discovered in a hole in the ground on Saturday, December 13:

1. The length and state of his hair indicated he had not seen a barber or even had a shampoo for several weeks.

2. The wild state of his beard indicated he had not shaved for the same period

3. The hole dug in the floor of a cellar in a farm compound near Tikrit was primitive indeed: 6ft across and 8ft across with minimal sanitary arrangements - a far cry from his opulent palaces.

4. Saddam looked beaten and hungry.

5. Detained trying to escape were two unidentified men. Left with him were two AK-47 assault guns and a pistol, none of which were used.

6. The hole had only one opening. It was not only camouflaged with mud and bricks; it was blocked. He could not have climbed out without someone on the outside removing the covering.

7. And most important, $750,000 in 100-dollar notes were found with him (a pittance for his captors who expected a $25m reward), but no communications equipment of any kind, whether cell phone or even a carrier pigeon for contacting the outside world.

According to DEBKAfile analysts, these seven anomalies point to one conclusion: Saddam Hussein was not in hiding; he was a prisoner. "

The article goes on to claim that PUK leader (leading party of the Kurds in Northern Iraq) Jalal Talabani (not related to the Taliban in Afghanistan, but his family tribal name) was negotiating to get the $25 bounty on Hussein's head.

In other bits of bad news, DEBKAfile claims "the notorious Lebanese terrorist and hostage-taker Imad Mughniyeh, who figures on the most wanted list of 22 men published by the FBI after 9/11, had arrived in southern Iraq and was organizing a new anti-US terror campaign to be launched in March-April 2004, marking the first year of the American invasion. "

During the War in Iraq, DEBKAfile had some of the best intelligence on what was actually happening on the ground, although it is definitely an unfiltered intell-dump. Way back in the spring, they had sources that claimed that Saddam was in Minsk.

Where are the WMD? DEBKAfile says Dr. David Kay knows: "The search has narrowed down to a section of the Syrian Desert known as Dayr Az-Zawr in Syria?s 600 sq. mile Al Jazirah province, which is wedged between the Turkish and Iraqi borders. The missing weapons systems are thought to be buried somewhere under these desert sands. "

All of this points a disturbing picture, one that makes US Rep. Jim McDermott (Dean supporter from WA) seem correct "I'm sure they could have found him a long time ago if they wanted to." He added: "There's too much by happenstance for it to be just a coincidental thing" Remember this is the same guy that went to Iraq just before the war and critiqued Bush there-- and a favorite whipping boy of the Right Wing.

Could we find the WMD's, Osama Bin Laden all in time for November 2004? Maybe, but if it happens in September or October, Mr. McDermott will prove to be a wise sage after all.