The New York Times and Newsweek are reporting that the Bush administration rebuffed a last minute deal from Saddam Hussein to stop the invasion of Iraq. According to the reports, Iraqi representatives offered to give the U.S. rights to Iraqi oil, to hold elections in Iraq, to allow for an intensive search for weapons of mass destruction and to hand over an Iraqi man who was connected to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Iraq also agreed to support the U.S. so-called war on terrorism and back any U.S.-written Middle East peace proposal. The offer came about through back-channel negotiations between a Lebanese-American businessman, Pentagon advisor Richard Perle and the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. Perle told the New York Times that he met with the Lebanese-businessman but the CIA refused to pursue the negotiations further.
Reports: CIA Rebuffed Iraq Efforts To Stop Invasion
HeadlineNov 06, 2003