Reports say Baghdad officials sought dialogue ahead of war

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - Just days before U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq, officials claiming to speak for a frantic Iraqi regime made a last-ditch effort to avert the war, but U.S. officials rebuffed the overture, according to news reports.

An influential adviser to the Pentagon received a secret message from a Lebanese-American businessman indicating that Saddam Hussein wanted to make a deal, ABC News and The New York Times reported Wednesday evening.

The chief of the Iraqi Intelligence Service and other Iraqi officials had told the businessman that they wanted Washington to know that Iraq no longer had weapons of mass destruction and offered to let American troops and experts do an independent search, the Times said. The Iraqi officials also offered to hand over a man accused of being involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing who was being held in Baghdad.

Memo...

While combat deaths continue, this story appears to be gaining traction. The Bush administration has told us that just prior to the start of hostilities they did everything they could to avoid war. If there is any turth to this story, that would appear to have not been true. Imagine being a parent or a spouse of a soldier killed in Iraq, knowing that in addition to there being no "weapons of mass destruction," the Iraqis made an eleventh hour plea to avoid war.