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The general plan for attacking Iraq
involves psychological warfare, which has been going on for
most of 2002, to demoralize the military and civilian leadership
and convince most to switch sides before the fighting begins.
Iraqi exiles have been organized to form a post invasion government,
and the younger ones trained to work directly with coalition
troops as translators, scouts and negotiators.
The military invasion would begin with thousands of smart bombs
being dropped on anti-aircraft, air force and headquarters targets.
GPS guided JDAM and JSOW smart bombs allow this to be done in
any weather and, perhaps equally important, simultaneously.
All those bombs hitting in a short period of time (minutes,
in some cases) enhances the psychological effect. Simultaneous
strikes also increase enemy casualties, as there is less warning
to take cover. US heavy bombers (B-1, B-2 and B-52) can carry
up to 24 one ton bombs each.
While this is still going on, coalition ground forces would
start entering southern, northern and western Iraq. Some would
come in via helicopter, especially against isolated airfields
and bases in western Iraq. Some paratroopers would be dropped
on more distant targets. British and American marines and armor
units could quickly advance on southern Iraq's major city, Basra.
The Turks have been told not to enter northern Iraq, as the
Kurds there have said they would fight any Turks coming in.
The Kurdish militias in the north have placed themselves under
American command. There are US Special Forces in northern Iraq
to work with the Kurds, Turkomen and other minorities up there.
Western Iraq is mostly desert, where coalition Special Forces
and commandos have apparently been operating since late February.
The advance towards Baghdad would be up the Tigris-Euphrates
valley, which is where most Iraqis live. Deals, some already
in the works since 2002, to get Iraqi tribal, political and
military leaders and groups to switch sides would be brought
to a conclusion as coalition tanks moved to, and into, Baghdad.
If there is any significant resistance in Baghdad, special street
fighting equipment has been brought into Kuwait and thousands
of American troops have undergone intensive city fighting training.
The US Special Forces will play a crucial role in the campaign,
since they have the skills, and in some cases, contacts, to
work with the various armed factions in Iraq. There are armed
and militant Shia groups that could get feisty. While the Kurdish
militias are well organized, there are other groups with a militia
tradition (the Assyrians and Turkomen) are not. The Special
Forces will be doing most of the talking with these groups in
order to keep the peace.
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