How Not To Lose Saddam

By Matthew Cooper and Mark Thompson

What if the U.S. invades Iraq but can't find Saddam Hussein? Considering how strenuously the Bush Administration has tried to personalize the war--Colin Powell mentioned Saddam 72 times in one presentation to the U.N.--it would be a political blow, particularly after the escape in Afghanistan of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar. Says Senator John McCain: "It could be an embarrassment, just like bin Laden."

The fear is that Saddam could easily hide in a country that was all but built for his personal protection. Or he could slip through Iraq's porous borders with Syria, Iran or Jordan. Sad-dam has billions stashed away to finance a life in exile. To avoid this, the White House appears to be counting on the newly liberated Iraqis to turn him in. Sources tell TIME that the U.S. armed forces have developed pamphlets to be dropped over Iraq if a war begins, warning citizens not to let Saddam escape. "We're counting on the Ceausescu method," says a senior planner at Central Command, which would lead a war on Iraq. He's referring to Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, executed by his subjects after his regime fell in 1989. --By Matthew Cooper and Mark Thompson