Word has finally gotten out that a few weeks ago the U.S. government put a $25 million bounty on Saddam’s head. The fellow who turned in Saddam’s sons last week, Nawaf al-Zaidan, stands to receive $30 million–$15 million per son. The man and his family are already in protective custody and have gotten an advance on the reward. “It’s important to pay these rewards quickly,” says a top Central Command official, explaining that show-me-the-money isn’t just an American concept.
Al-Zaidan will soon cash in on the biggest award the Rewards for Justice Program has ever paid. The State Department program has been offering “up to $5 million” for tips on terrorists for more than a decade. Until now, the U.S. government had doled out only $9.75 million among 24 informants. But after 9/11, the USA Patriot Act allowed the secretary of State to up the ante to as much as $25 million, which comes out of a supplemental State Department budget. Osama bin Laden was the first to wear that price tag.
In the next few weeks, the Defense Department will “nominate” al-Zaidan for the reward. Then, according to a State Department source familiar with the program, “An interagency committee will take a look at the information’s value, the risk factors and determine how much to award,” he says, adding wryly that given that Saddam’s sons are now dead, al-Zaidan’s “a very likely candidate” for the whole $30 million.
But that’s not all. The program–which advertises internationally on leaflets, posters, even matchbooks–offers would-be turncoats a new life. “You and your family may be relocated to a safe location, and have an opportunity to start a new life, pay for a home, and educate your children,” the program literature explains.
Al-Zaidan can even become an American. So far he, his wife and five children plan to initially live on a military base somewhere in the United States. They’ll get English lessons, financial advice, new identities and even an introduction to American culture, though al-Zaidan clearly already knows about opportunism.
Others who hope to follow al-Zaidan to the land of opportunity, however, may be disappointed. Most of the 55 Iraqis in the now infamous deck of cards don’t merit rewards. Just Saddam’s sons (Uday was the ace of hearts and Qusay the ace of clubs) and, of course, Saddam, who some thought should have been the joker.
The deck of cards–which started out as a public-relations gaffe for CENTCOM–has proven to be a successful score sheet. Nobody in the Pentagon had planned on telling the public, let alone the press, about the cards. But a freelancing general spilled the beans–on TV.
Initially the Pentagon was worried that the deck would become an irritating reminder that Saddam and his crew had gotten away. Instead, it’s aided would-be informants. So far, 38 out of the 55 have been captured or killed. There are now 25 million new reasons to take Saddam Hussein out of the deck.
