Actually, we'll be doing both. And we'll be starting before the election. Phase I will be the insertion of a large force of elite troops, led by the SAS, of course, and the Deltas. Don't be surprised if overall command of the Special Warfare section of this operation passes to an experienced SAS officer.
The object of the exercise will be to conduct a large scale guerrilla/sabotage operation using mobile Special warfare troops. This phase of the operation will be designed to keep Saddam and the Republican Guard off balance, chasing phantoms with armored brigades.
But it will be a hard go for the Iraqis even though they will have overwhelming superiority in armor during the opening month of the war. That's because the U.S., British, Turkish, and Israeli Air Forces will be operating a ground attack/air superiority role throughout the first phase of the campaign. The air campaign will focus on traditional targets-SAMs, SCUDs, WMD plants and stores, C3I assets (command, control, and communications), the new Chinese fiber optic system that controls the national SAM network (which will be uncovered and cut to ribbons by the SW guys), and Saddam's Winnebago, in which the Iraqi Fuhrer will be hightailing it from one side of Iraq to the other.
This phase is designed to keep Iraq's collective head down while the Main Force units build up in Turkey and Kuwait.
Phase II will open up with an armored drive through Kurdistan on Baghdad itself. Blandishments and bribes will be given to Iraqi commanders who surrender, and Iraqi regulars will be treated with courtesy and respect, so that other units might get the idea that surrender is a viable option. Those Iraqi commanders who back the right horse will have a place in the new Federal Republic of Iraq. The present contents of their Swiss bank accounts will be guaranteed by the CIA and the U.S. Treasury. Cooperative Repblican Guard commanders and members of the Inner Circle who turn traitor on Saddam will be given new identities and money so that they don't have to get hauled up before some War Crimes kangaroo court.
Meanwhile, the armored spearhead will advance in two directions: through Kurdistan and a Marine expeditionary force will advance up the Tigris/Euphrates valley. Basra will be invested rather quickly as the local Shia rise up in rebellion. Mosul and other cities in Kurdistan will fall as whole Iraqi divisions surrender en masse.
The loyalist troops will hunker down around Baghdad awaiting the final stand. During this period, some ambitious young officer will put a bullet in Saddam's brain.
And all will agree that it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. And once the secret files of the Mukhabarat are opened, we shall see just how wrapped up Iraq and the Al Qaeda were with each other.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
