Volume 1 - Iraq Watch

Annex AThe Quartet—Influence and DisharmonyAmong Saddam’s LieutenantsThe Quartet comprised four of Saddam Husayn’s most senior lieutenants in the last years of his rule andprovided high-level advice to Saddam on challenges facing Iraq. The four were as experienced, committedand loyal individuals as Saddam had available. Nonetheless, little of their advice was taken that did notconform to Saddam’s existing views. That a group as senior as the Quartet had so little influence on theRegime’s strategic policy indicates that the strategic intent of the Regime was Saddam’s alone. The Quartethad differing views on Iraq’s way forward on WMD, but the more cautious preferences within the group hadlittle influence over Saddam’s actions.Regime StrategicIntentThis portion of the Report is largely based on testimony from former Regime officials who were active inmany of Iraq’s former governing, economic, security and intelligence organizations. While they were criticalto our assessment of the former Regime’s WMD strategy, the detainees would often minimize their involvementor knowledge of sensitive issues. The placement of blame or knowledge with individuals, who were notin a position to contradict their statements, such as deceased or fled to another country, was also a commonoccurrence. Notwithstanding, most detainees were very cooperative and provided insight into the inter-workingsof the former Regime. Original documentation captured during Operation Iraqi Freedom has served toconfirm, supplement, and reinforce detainee statements.A Core of Lieutenants‘Ali ‘Izzat RamadanTariq ‘AzizIn 1996, Saddam Husayn formed a committee of senior Regime figures, known as the Committee of Four, orQuartet, to advise him on foreign policy and other national issues. For all but the last months of its existenceit was comprised of Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan Al Jizrawi, Revolutionary Command CouncilVice Chairman ‘Izzat Ibrahim Al Duri, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq ‘Aziz ‘Issa and ‘Ali Hasan Al Majid (akaChemical ‘Ali).The Quartet was not a uniform group. Ramadan, in an organizational sense, and ‘Aziz, philosophically, representedold-style Ba’thism. ‘Izzat Ibrahim was increasingly a tribalist as well as an advocate of a more religiouscomplexion for the Regime. ‘Ali Hasan was Saddam’s closest relative in the government before the appointmentof Qusay to the Ba’th leadership and he served as the family’s man in the Quartet.69