[Sabertooth]

I'm certain loyalty is questionable among the Republican Guard, but we cant count on absolute disloyalty.

And then there are Uday and Qusay Hussein, who went from diapers to maniacal despots-in-waiting.

[hchutch]

You have a point.

Still, the ones who can't be "bought" probably can be intimidated. We treat chemical and biological weapons as if they were nuclear weapons. A lot of leaflets reminding them of that fact might have an effect.

As for Saddam's brats (the way I refer to Uday and Qusay), well, we need to take that whole family down. Or at least flush them out.

I've always felt that we should try NOT to fight in the cities, but instead merely secure the oilfields. At that point, Saddam will have no choice but to come out and fight (imagine the loyalty problems he will have to deal with should the paychecks for his troops start to bounce). A bunch of those folks dictators use as security guards are little more than "Sammy the Bull" Gravano in fancy uniforms. And if they think they're being sold out, one just might decide to cut a deal...

Ergo, Saddam would HAVE To send his troops to take back his oilfields and to regain his source of income. Once we get them into the open, and then we'll have the USAF deal with the Republican Guard - starting with the command posts to kill THOSE "go" signals before things start.