U.S. Hit Planes Near Baghdad to Foil Possible Hussein Escape

In the final days of the Gulf War, American bombers destroyed a large number of Iraqi planes that suddenly appeared on airfields in and around Baghdad, perhaps to allow Saddam Hussein to escape, a senior Bush Administration official said Thursday.

“There were aircraft that were reasonably accessible to him,” said the official. “A lot of planes were brought out. A lot of planes were hit.”

Before those aircraft were sighted, Iraq had been keeping most of its planes out of sight to safeguard them from allied bombers.

The appearance of the planes provides a tantalizing hint that as his military collapsed, the Iraqi leader may have contemplated fleeing his country, although officials caution they have no direct evidence of that.

“Saddam is clearly under pressure,” said one knowledgeable official, “but he is still in a position to hang in there for some time.”

U.S. officials have made no secret of their hope that the Iraqi people will at some point depose Hussein. “There has been a rather significant loss to Iraq,” the senior Administration official said. “We have had indications that over the last two or three days, the Iraqi people have had a good sense” of the debacle their country has suffered. As a result, he said, they may have become more restless about their leadership.

On the other hand, officials cautioned, Hussein still exercises firm control over his base of power--the secret police and other security services--and has spent years eliminating potential rivals.