[url]http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/021127/2002112707.html[/url]

[B]Russian plan to topple Saddam Hussein to prevent US occupation of Iraq[/B]
Iraq-Russia, Politics, 11/27/2002

The Paris- based al-Watan al-Arabi magazine said, according to well-informed sources, that the military and intelligence leadership in Moscow had prepared a plan to topple the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by a military coupe or an assassination operation in order to protect the Russian interests in Iraq and the region and to block plans of an American occupation of Iraq.

In its recent issue, the magazine said that the higher Russian leadership decided to pursue a new strategy that stems from the fact that Washington will topple Saddam Hussein, but the Russian interest require a plan that achieves this objective without leading to Russia losing of its historical influence and economic interests in Iraq.

A well- informed source stressed that the said plan was held in top secrecy and full seriousness and on the ground that the plan of the military coupe has no relation to the military coupe plans previously prepared by the CIA; A plan which is based on an experience of years of military and intelligence cooperation between Baghdad and Moscow and tons of the archive of the Russian intelligence.

The magazine said that the scenario of the successful Russian coupe will be carried out at the hands of persons which are very close to the Iraqi President and are able to have access to him, adding that the Russian national security council took a decision to topple Saddam Hussein in order to protect and ensure the Russian interests in Iraq and the region.

Would be nice but they don't have the juice anymore.

That would be very, very bad.  Russia controlling another 10% of the worlds oil would be bad.

hmmm we could have the cia knock him off and blame it on the Ruskis, then move in to 'restore order'

Sounds like Russia might be a tad worried about what we might find if we really had unfettered access.

Russia and France are both against us going in because they both have oil interests in Iraq. This is clear by how they voted in the U.N.