Iraq Said to Have Tried to Reach Last-Minute Deal to Avert War: "Hassan al-Obeidi, chief of foreign operations of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, arrived in Mr. Hage's Beirut office.
But within minutes, Mr. Hage said, Mr. Obeidi collapsed, and a doctor was called to treat him. 'He came to my office, sat down, and in five minutes fell ill,' recalled Mr. Hage. 'He looked like a man under enormous stress.'
After being treated, Mr. Obeidi explained that the Iraqis wanted to cooperate with the Americans and could not understand why the Americans were focused on Iraq rather than on countries, like Iran, that have long supported terrorists, Mr. Hage said.
... "He said, if this is about oil, we will talk about U.S. oil concessions," Mr. Hage recalled. "If it is about the peace process, then we can talk. If this is about weapons of mass destruction, let the Americans send over their people. There are no weapons of mass destruction."
Mr. Obeidi said the "Americans could send 2,000 F.B.I. agents to look wherever they wanted," Mr. Hage recalled.
He said that when he told Mr. Obeidi that the United States seemed adamant that Saddam Hussein give up power, Mr. Obeidi bristled, saying that would be capitulation. But later, Mr. Hage recounted, Mr. Obeidi said Iraq could agree to hold elections within the next two years."

This shows that Bush could have removed Saddam without war. As I wrote before the war, he should have accepted the concessions of Iraq as a victory and allowed the process to unfold without war. Sadly, for all those who have been killed and injured and for those who will have to pay in other ways for this unneccesary war, Bush chose war."
- posted by geoff @ #