WASHINGTON: The thus-far fruitless hunt for deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the uncertainty surrounding the whereabouts of Al Qaeda chieftain Osama bin Laden are giving Washington a double headache as it battles worldwide terrorism and seeks stability in Iraq, experts say.

“The US is a very big, huge military machine and to find a single individual is always problematic,” said Judith Kipper, Middle East expert with the Council on Foreign Relations.

But she added: “Sooner or later, both Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein will be found.”

The administration of President George W. Bush makes no secret of the fact that Saddam’s capture is a top priority. Three months after the fall of Baghdad, Washington posted a 25-million-dollar reward on his head.

From wherever he is hiding, Saddam continues to thumb his nose at the US occupiers of his country, disseminating audio tapes — authenticated by the CIA — imploring Iraqis to rise up against the “infidels.”

The Iraqis know good and well that Saddam won’t return to power, said Kipper, but an irrational fear continues to loom.

They were “so terrorized, and for such a long time, that they can’t conceive of reconstruction and security as long as he’s out there,” she said.

“As long as he is alive, they will believe, there will be the perception, that he is behind all the troubles.”

Since the start of the war in Iraq, US military teams, primarily Special Forces commando squads, have been searching in vain for Saddam and his two sons, Uday and Qusay.

Of 55 officials of Saddam’s fallen regime named by US forces as the most wanted, 34 have been arrested, but the top prize, the “Lion of Baghdad,” remains at large.

For US Representative Curt Weldon, Pennsylvania Republican and vice-chairman of the House Armed Services committee, the job of finding the big three should fall to US intelligence.

“The military’s purpose was not to catch Saddam,” he said. “The military’s purpose was to remove him from power, remove the regime, and they did that. Now it’s time for those other resources we have, the intelligence community, to go in there and find Saddam and let us deal with him the way he should be dealt with.”

Daily television debates in the United States churn up the same question: Can the US win peace in Iraq with the deposed dictator at large?

“Not knowing whether Saddam Hussein is dead or not fuels the fires of the opposition,” said Raymond Tanter, National Security Council advisor to former president Ronald Reagan.

Paradoxically, it will probably be precisely at the time Saddam emerges to rally an anti-US resistance that he will be most vulnerable.

“This is the moment where we want to see this guy come up on the net,” said Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy. “We’d like to see him organize, we’d like to see him be more visible through these various apparatuses. That gives you a shot at him.”

But, cautioned Gaffney, don’t bet on it.

“This is a fellow who’s made a career out of survival,” he said. “And it’s entirely possible he will be able to stay underground or out of sight for the duration.

“We’ve got to work on contingency plans that allow us to operate there as effectively as we can, even if we can’t get him.”

Washington is experiencing the same frustration in the war on “terrorism”.

Although Afghanistan’s Taliban has been overthrown and the vise is tightening on several leaders of the Al Qaeda network, its top prize, Osama bin Laden, remains as elusive as a cloud.

“Osama stays alive metaphorically or physically, spiritually, if you will, by sending out tapes, video, audio,” said Tanter.

And, as the saying goes, imitation is the highest form of flattery.

“Saddam looks to take a page out of Osama bin Laden’s play book,” he said.—AFP