Can CIA Oust Saddam?

February 26, 1998 / 9:28 AM EST / CBS/AP

The CIA reportedly has drafted a plan to remove Saddam Hussein from power.

The New York Times says the plan includes enlisting Kurdish and Shiite agents from within Iraq to sabotage key economic and political targets.

An unidentified senior government official tells the paper that it's not a propaganda operation - it's a major campaign of sabotage.

The Times reports the CIA would target utility plants and government broadcast stations, and increase political pressure through propaganda programs like a Radio Free Iraq broadcast to Baghdad.

The report says many of Clinton's advisers are skeptical.

The CIA director reportedly has told President Clinton the plan is risky. National Security advisers doubt the agency can undermine Hussein.

It would be the CIA's fifth covert attempt to get rid of Saddam.