Since George W. Bush seems intent on ridding the world of Saddam Hussein, I offer this foolproof plan for cheaply eliminating the dictator while at the same time winning kudos from Arab nations and Europeans for killing him.
The problems with going to war with Iraq are numerous. First, waging war is very expensive, likely to kill many innocent Iraqi civilians, and proving unpopular with Arab and European countries. Even though Hussein is spending millions of dollars to fund Palestinian suicide bombers, many of the United States’ erstwhile allies have reasons to oppose an all out war against him.
Fine. The United States should offer $250 million to the individual(s) who can kill Hussein, which will also be payable to the families of that individual(s) should the attackers die in the process. If Hussein can promise $25,000 to the families of suicide bombers killing Israeli civilians, why can’t the United States promise $250 million the families of any suicide bomber who manages to kill Hussein? (And maybe a lesser finders fee of say $10 million to people who try but for one reason or another fail to kill the Iraqi dictator).
This plan may seem extreme but it has an additional advantage — it will, of course, meet with resounding approval from Arabs and Europeans. If I read the Arab and European mindset correctly, when a country like Israel goes to war by traditional means, trying to target terrorists and eliminate the infrastructure used by those terrorists, it is horribly wrongheaded. But when Palestinians send suicide bombers to target civilians at religious ceremonies, they are acting in an understandable and defensible way.
So once the U.S. version of the suicide bomber compensation program is offered, we should expect a cascade of compliments from the Arab world and Europe for rejoining the civilized world and dealing with our problems like the progressive, peace loving society we aspire to.
It’s a win-win proposition on all sides (except for Hussein’s).