Saddam is getting visibly nervous about the loyalty of his key followers. A recent publicized meeting between Saddam and his senior officials had Saddam exhorting his men to fight to the death no matter what. The Iraqi secret police have been more active arresting government and army officials suspected of disloyalty and the number of executions has been increasing over the last few months (these are not publicized, but word gets out when people hear from the families affected.)

Recent meetings between British and American leaders indicate that a military attack has now been put off until 2003.