BAGHDAD, Iraq – The capture of Saddam Hussein, eight months on the run and found hiding in a hole beneath a two-room mud house near his hometown, was unlikely to destroy the anti-U.S. guerrilla insurgency, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Sunday.
“We do not expect at this point in time that we will have a complete elimination of those attacks.” Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of the U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq, told reporters.
“I believe that those will continue for some time. But with the cooperation of all of the Iraqi people and our coalition I believe that we are now much closer to a safe and secure environment,” Sanchez said.
Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division troops that captured Hussein, said his forces found no telephones, radios or other communications devices in Hussein’s hideout, suggesting he had not been directing the insurgency as some had speculated.
“I believe he was there more for moral support,” Odierno said. “I don’t believe he was coordinating the effort because I don’t believe there’s any national coordination.”
Some observers had suggested the post-Hussein insurgency was drawn from Muslim insurgents who were fighting not to restore Hussein to power but to oust the Americans.
Capt. Joe Munger, an officer in the 4th Infantry Division that captured Hussein, joined those who did not believe the insurgency would die.
“I think they’ll lose some of their legitimacy, but I don’t think it’ll stop altogether,” he told reporters at the village where the former leader was caught.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, speaking on CNN, also said guerrilla attacks were likely to continue, but added that Hussein’s capture would have a “demoralizing effect” on loyalists.
Ahmad Chalabi, once the Pentagon favorite to take over the leadership of Iraq after Hussein’s fall, predicted a brighter future with Hussein in custody.
“I think things will be better now. I am not saying that attacks will stop immediately, but they will decrease with the passage of time,” he said.
“The dream of some people that the Baath Party will rule again is over now,” he told the television channel of the U.S.-led coalition.
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