- WASHINGTON - Commenting on
the cost of a war in Iraq, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Tuesday
it would be cheaper if President Saddam Hussein simply were assassinated.
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- Fleischer was asked about a Congressional Budget Office
estimate that fighting a full-scale war with Iraq would cost the United
States as much as $9 billion a month.
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- "The president has not made any decisions about
military action and what military option he might pursue," Fleischer
said. "And so, I think it's impossible to speculate."
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- He also seemed to suggest that Saddam could go into exile,
another cheaper option than military action.
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- "I can only say that the cost of a one-way ticket
is substantially less than that," Fleischer said. "The cost of
one bullet, if the Iraqi people take it on themselves, is substantially
less than that."
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- Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld has suggested
at least three times in the last 1 1/2 weeks that Saddam might be allowed
to go into exile with his family.
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- Pentagon officials said it sounded as if Rumsfeld might
have been trying to send a signal to Saddam, or simply to allies who want
the United States to try harder at nonwar options. Two defense officials
said Saddam's profile suggests that he is not the type of ruler who would
be likely to surrender power and accept voluntary exile.
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- Rumsfeld also has suggested that Iraqis could help hasten
the end of Saddam's tenure. Asked last week how long a war in Iraq might
take, Rumsfeld said that depends on how long it takes the Iraqi people
to realize they have a chance to be liberated.
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- Fleischer's comments were the bluntest so far about options
for accomplishing the Bush administration policy of "regime change"
in Iraq without a war.
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- "There are many options that the president hopes
the world and people of Iraq will exercise themselves of, that get rid
of the threat," Fleischer said. "The Iraqi people can help resolve
this matter as well, and the Iraqi military."
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- He said there are many options that "the United
States is prepared to see, and the president has said the military option
is not his first choice."
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- Asked if the administration hopes Saddam will end up
dead, Fleischer said:
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- "Regime change is the policy, in whatever form it
takes."
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