[katana]

This may be the one engagement most likely to result in the dispersal of chem or bio weapons, perhaps especially directed at the Kurdish forces accompanying our troops. Tikrit is the base for Saddam's tribal loyalists and they will have good reason to avoid capture at all costs. In Syria the Baath Party is similarly organized around the Alawi tribe, so the fate of Tikrit will not go unnoticed in Damascus.

The capture of Tikrit has probably been ear marked for the 4th ID since the start and has only been delayed by the need to move them and their equipment from the Mediterranean to the Gulf. I'm more certain than ever that our guys are prepared, but am still hoping they take over that reported WMD storage site asap.

Either way, there are going to be an awful lot of very dead Tikritis within the next week or two. This one will probably be bloody.

[Semper Paratus]

This may be the one engagement most likely to result in the dispersal of chem or bio weapons,

Tikrit would be the demonstration city for MOABs then.