Saddam Hussein seems to have set the all-time record among paranoid leaders for employing body doubles to obscure his whereabouts. He’s up to 16 now by one count.
Though the battle in Iraq may ebb and flow for a while, there’s no doubt that U.S. forces will be in Baghdad before too long.
This raises the interesting question of what we would do with Saddam if we’re successful in finding the right one.
Many may prefer the Gen. George Patton option: just shoot him. Author Joshua Greene cautions against this because it violates the ideals the U.S. stands for. He offers some other options.
Thanks Vladimir
Those Kornet anti-tank missiles that the U.S. asserts Russia has sold to Iraq? Here’s what they look like.
And they're as dangerous as they look. They have a range of about three miles and can penetrate 120 mm (about 5 inches) of armor, making both the front and side armor of U.S. M1A1 Abrams tanks vulnerable.
No WMDs yet, but plenty of gas masks
One of the big unknowns is whether Saddam will authorize the use of chemical or biological weapons against coalition troops.
So far we haven’t found definitive evidence that those weapons exist. However, British troops in the Basra area found a number of gas masks abandoned by fleeing Iraqi troops. Then U.S. Marines at An Nasariyah found 3,000 chemical suits with masks, containers of atropine, an antidote for nerve gas, plus Iraqi munitions. At the airport there, U.S. forces sealed off 36 bunkers as possible sites of chemical weapons. No word yet on what was found.
The U.S. command says it believes Saddam may have drawn a “red line” around the city and authorized his commanders to use banned weapons when coalition forces cross it.
Jihad volunteers flocking to Iraq?
In a little-noticed development, volunteers – many of them suicide volunteers – are flowing into Iraq to help the regime’s “holy war” against coalition troops.
Their numbers are not significant enough to affect the war in any material way. But they could cause a lot of mischief behind the lines.
The jihadis are said to include 2,500 Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon and 700 Algerians.
The U.S. -- perhaps with an assist from Israeli intelligence -- seems to be on to this. See yesterday's posting on how that "stray" missile that blasted a Syrian bus near the border with Iraq may have been intentional.
Washington war links
On the other side of the state, our colleagues at the Spokane Spokesman-Review are doing some good war blogging.
When I started this blog, I made special mention of a military wife named Michelle, whose writing I found particularly interesting. She’s still posting daily.
U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, a Democrat who represents the state’s 9th District, which includes Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base, has set up an Iraq information page for constituents.
Could this be a contrary indicator?
The French are convinced the war, which they refer to as the “Anglo-Saxon” conflict, is going badly for the coalition. They couldn’t possibly be wrong, could they?
What it takes to supply an army
Military folks talk a lot about lines of communication and logistical support, terms that make civilian eyes glaze. What they mean is getting fuel, food, water, ammunition and all the other stuff it takes to keep troops war-worthy to those who need it. And it does take a lot of stuff: 20 to 30 gallons of fuel per soldier per day plus 100 to 200 pounds of supplies (most of the weight is ammunition).
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