SADDAM’S REVENGE….This is a genuinely interesting article in the Washington Post:
The recent string of high-profile attacks on U.S. and allied forces in Iraq has appeared to be so methodical and well-crafted that some top U.S. commanders now fear this may be the war Saddam Hussein and his generals planned all along.
Knowing from the 1991 Persian Gulf War that they could not take on the U.S. military with conventional forces, these officers believe, the Baathist Party government cached weapons before the Americans invaded last spring and planned to employ guerrilla tactics.
It’s genuinely interesting, that is, because I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that this was exactly what was going on. Everything I’ve read about Saddam Hussein indicates that he’s frequently out of touch with reality, especially in military matters, but it’s quite possible that this time somebody finally pounded some sense into him: there was no way he could win against the U.S. military.
So instead, his troops “melted away” (remember that?) and prepared for the urban fighting that we were so afraid of back in April (remember that too?) but that never materialized. Now we’re finding out just where those troops melted away to.
Now, this is obviously bad news in one sense, but I wonder if there’s a sense in which it’s good news: at least we know who the enemy is, and we know their numbers are limited ? large, maybe, but still limited. I’d be interested to hear some analysis on this from knowledgable military types. If it’s true, what does it mean? And what should we expect?
