While it may have gone over the top for "Saddam" to thank Zoners personally, there are a few facts to consider:

- There is currently no plausible mechanism to prevent Saddam Hussein from pursuing his ambitions: conquest, and the weapons to do so, without removing him from power.

- Despite all the dancing around, there is currently no plausible mechanism to remove Saddam from power other than through military force. Even the E.P. Grondine solution recently proposed by Europe ("massive deployment of U.N. troops") recognizes this.

- Anyone attempting to stop the process of removing Saddam by military force is working to keep Saddam in power, despite the fact that they might hate Saddam as much as the pro-war groups do. Saddam knows this.

When KGB documents were released after the Cold War, it was revealed that the KGB funded and ran the foundations of a lot of the Vietnam-era anti-war protests.

When Iraq falls, and their secrets are revealed, I would lay better than even odds that they find Iraqi and other Arab money is being funneled into certain portions of the current antiwar movement.

This makes innocent anti-war protestors dupes on two levels.

I'm sorry, but it is a fact that Saddam supports and admires these peace movements, at least politically if not with actual financial or other support. He has said as much in interviews:

Saddam: "First of all we admire the development of the peace movement around the world in the last few years. We pray to God to empower all those working against war and for the cause of peace and security based on just peace for all.