“DESPERATE SADDAM OFFERS AMERICANS DEAL:” I don’t know if this is true, (it’s from London’s Mirror, a tabloid) but if so it certainly undermines the “quagmire” theory, doesn’t it? I hope, though, that true or not this story is being widely circulated in Iraq:

It is believed the US authorities will simply string Saddam along, aiming to track the go-betweens until they know exactly where to find the rogue leader.

“There’s no doubt the net is closing, and that his supporters’ efforts to get the Americans to pull out of Iraq are not succeeding,” said the source.

“They can cause disruption and problems, but this does not bring Saddam any nearer to coming back to power, and he now knows it. The negotiators will try to keep the line of communication open as long as possible, but the word from Washington is: ‘No deal’.”

Quick, somebody load a C-17 with copies and fly ’em to Baghdad!

UPDATE: The U.S. military says this story isn’t true. Heck, that’s all the more reason to spread copies all over Baghdad.

UPDATE: Jonathan Gewirtz emails:

The idea of using phony stories to weaken his hold on his followers is most plausible: great bang for our buck if it works, costs little if it doesn’t. However, I don’t think Saddam is likely to allow himself to be strung along or drawn out, because I think he’s likely to assume that any overture from us is a trap.

It would be nice to be able to fast-forward a few decades and learn which of these stories are based on real psy-ops and which are mere rumors.

Yeah. It would.