Securing peace for Iraqis is goal
The bully on the Mideast block is getting his bluff called. Saddam Hussein’s response to the U.S. ultimatum was typical and, as usual, not particularly wise. Events are moving at such a rapid pace that by the time this commentary is published, the situation in Iraq could be totally changed. Depending on the developments in the Mideast overnight, the political landscape could be drastically different. Or, the status quo of a tinhorn dictator holding on to a cliff with his fingertips could still be the case.
One thing is certain. Whatever decisions Saddam makes will not be in the best interest of his countrymen. He’s not demonstrated that he has the mental capacity to project the outcome of events, based on his track record through his previous judgments on issues affecting the welfare and safety of his countrymen.
What he lacks in mental abilities he has more than compensated for with raw brutality. Cruelty and murderous tactics have been the trademarks of his administration. No one, not even members of his family, are exempt from being thrown in front of an Iraqi firing squad.
In typical bully fashion, however, it is obvious that Saddam doesn’t understand, nor does he care, about the future of his homeland. His own personal agenda, greed and lust for power, clearly stand as priorities for running the country.
Supporters of the military action against Iraq have more insight into the thinking of Saddam than the dictator has himself. They know he responds to only one thing — raw power. Diplomacy, negotiations and prolonged discussions are not seen by Saddam as legitimate measures to be used in controlling a country or even a war.
Based on his actions in brutalizing his own people for more than a decade, Saddam is convinced that the only effective method for controlling a country is at the end of a gun. He’s never been effective in the use of propaganda, mainly because he’s never really needed it inside the borders of his own country.
Now the Iraqi bully is reaping the whirlwind. Just like all bullies around the world, he’s finally encountered someone bigger, stronger and more determined than he is. In typical bully style, he will make loud noises, issue big threats, and project the tough man image as much and as long as possible.
Yet, even Saddam knows, based on the reality check he received in the Gulf War, that a confrontation with the U.S. and British military power is a contest he cannot win. The superiority of military technology of the U.S. is so overwhelming that even the slowest of the Iraqi military thinkers know the battle is lost even before it begun.
There is no question that the Iraqi military is outgunned, can be outsmarted and has virtually no chance of prevailing in any type of a confrontation. The Iraqi air force is almost nonexistent. This means U.S. and British aircraft will control the skies over Baghdad once again, in what could be almost a replay of the events during the Gulf War.
Drone aircraft guided by remote electronics can be used to drop bombs down ventilation shafts on buildings. Guided missiles can rain down by the dozens on Iraqi forces.
Even now, among the earliest reports available Wednesday night, there were confirmed cases of Iraqi military personnel surrendering, rather than face the power of the West.
It hasn’t been that many years ago when the Gulf War allied forces rained horrible firepower down from the skies over Iraq. The vaunted Republican Guard proved to offer almost no resistance in the face of the high altitude bombing from aircraft they never saw nor ever heard.
Those Iraqi veterans of the weeks when their army was pounded nightly by the allied aircraft, almost to the point of being wiped out, will well remember the horrors of that confrontation.
It would not be unreasonable to expect Iraqi soldiers to abandon their posts by the thousands once again.
You can be assured that once Saddam’s house of cards begins to collapse, the walls will fall from all sides in rapid order. When brutal power is the only ingredient holding a nation’s populace together, in a controlled dictatorship, the people’s loyalty to a brutal, cruel leader is paper thin, and easily lost.
Americans can pray that the losses, on both sides, will be few. And that the confrontation will be only as long as is required to oust the bully of Baghdad, and restore order and peace for the Iraqi people.