Will They Fight? Iraqi officers recount the "mother of all battles."

Opinion Journal (WSJ) ^ | Saturday, March 15, 2003 | STUART HERRINGTON

[aculeus]

Twelve years ago, I led a top secret team of interrogation specialists in a covert location "somewhere in the Middle East." Our mission was to interrogate Saddam Hussein's senior officers, whom we expected to capture as a result of the fierce ground offensive of U.S. and coalition forces. We were confident of a swift victory, in spite of the bombardment of prewar hype by defense and media pundits. We were told our coalition forces would face a million-man, battle-hardened Iraqi army whose soldiers were masters of defense. Had not Iraqi artillery harvested Iranians by the tens of thousands in the recently concluded Iran-Iraq War? Saddam's ruthlessness would mean chemical, biological, even nuclear weapons might rain down on coalition forces. Thirty thousand Americans might die. The Iraqi dictator would unleash the mailed fist of terrorism world-wide, and the world economy would be destabilized as oil prices skyrocketed to $200 a barrel. Israel could be drawn into the conflict, which would engulf the entire Middle East in a doomsday-like scenario.

[Libloather]

The depth of distrust and hatred for Saddam Hussein among these army officers astounded us. "He does not trust us," one general told me, "To him we were expendable. That's why he positioned the Republican Guard with an escape route, and left the regular army to be defeated."

Maybe we could enlist enemy troops to finish off Saddam...

[Liz]

Been tried.

[A CA Guy]

Bump!