(via Drudge)   The UK telegraph has a story about some of the internal power politics in the leadership ranks in Iraq.

Saddam Hussein's power base is coming under extreme pressure, with members of his inner circle defecting to the opposition or making discreet offers of peace in the hope of being spared retribution if the Baghdad dictator is toppled, according to Iraqi exiles.

...They said members of the al-Majid clan, the pillar of Saddam's tribal power base, had made contact to seek assurances about their fate.

And of course, the conclusion that I'm VERY happy to see published in the press

...The reports will raise the hopes of British officials who have long maintained that a credible threat of overwhelming force to bring down Saddam's regime could destroy his reign of fear and prompt senior lieutenants to seize power and avert a devastating war.

Put simply, in situations like this, the louder and more credible the bark, the less bite you acutally need.