The Hindu : Psychological warfare on

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 20, 2003

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Psychological warfare on

By Atul Aneja

Manama MARCH 19. The U.S. has begun psychological operations aimed at sapping the will of the Iraqi troops. A U.S. warship has been broadcasting messages on the procedure that Iraqi soldiers, seeking to surrender, should follow. For instance, Iraqis wishing to lay down their arms should turn their tank turrets downwards and park their vehicles in a single direction. There has also been sustained talk about the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, fleeing to Kurdistan and a similar action having been taken by the Iraqi Vice-President, Taha Yassin Ramadan, who has not been seen in public in the last three days. (Mr. Aziz, however, turned up before the media, scotching rumours office defection.)

The U.S. military commanders in Kuwait, meanwhile, expressed apprehensions about the Iraqi soldiers deployed in southern Iraq using chemical weapons against the advancing U.S. and British troops. Lt. Gen. David D. McKiernan warned against any such tactics and said it would be a hugely bad choice on the part of any Iraqi leader or commander to employ chemical weapons.

Responding to the 48-hour ultimatum issued by Mr. Bush to Mr. Hussein, and his two sons to leave the country, the Iraqi Parliament went in for an extraordinary session on Wednesday. The Speaker, Saadoon Hammadi, rejected the idea of Mr. Hussein going into exile as "absolutely unthinkable".

The Information Minister, Muhammed Said Kazim al Sahhaf, told presspersons that the U.S. troops were "fooling themselves" if they thought invading Iraq would be "like a picnic".

"Any aggression against our country or our people will be met with resistance," he said. A parliamentary member advised Mr. Bush to "stay away from Iraq if he wanted to save his skin".

Inside Baghdad, there were clear signs that a war was round the corner. Baghdad has been fortified by trenches and sandbags. Some of these trenches have reportedly been filled with oil. Once ignited, the burning oil could form a smokescreen that could impede targeting by U.S. fighter jets and bombers. The tactic, however, may not work against the satellite-guided bombs, that the US air force might deliver in larger numbers during the war.

Keen to open a second front, the U.S., has continued to mount sustained pressure on Turkey to open its bases to U.S. planes and missiles, as well as permit its forces to transit into northern Iraq. Relenting somewhat to the U.S. exhortations, the Turkish Government said it would ask its Parliament to let the U.S. use Turkish airspace in the event of war but would not immediately ask its lawmakers to approve the entry of American troops.

In case the Turkish lawmakers approve this proposal, it would greatly add to the formidable U.S. firepower.

The U.S. warships based in the Mediterranean Sea would also be in a position to join the multi-directional assault on Iraqi targets with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

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