December 16, 2003

 Israel revealed that their armed forces had planned and trained for a mission to assassinate Saddam Hussein in 1992. This was in retaliation for the Iraqi Scud missile attacks on Israel in 1991. The mission was called off after five Israeli commandos were killed in a training accident. Israeli intelligence had discovered that Saddam was going to show up in person (and not send a double) for a relative's funeral. Such intelligence was essential for a hit on Saddam, who was rarely in a position for a successful assassination. This Israeli plan was kept secret because the Israeli armed forces never officially presented the plan to their government for approval, as the loss of the commandos makes it impossible to keep get the hit squad into Iraq in time.