On Monday, U.S. troops opened fire on a car which failed to stop at a checkpoint in the desert near the city of Najaf, only to find it was full of Iraqi women and children.I have no trouble imagining Iraqi authorities deliberately setting this in motion. They would have told the driver not to stop no matter what, either by deception or threats or both. Made sure it was a checkpoint with media coverage, and voila. Suddenly the world's media is full of reports of US soldiers indiscriminately shooting up women and children in Iraq - good for Iraq at home and abroad.
Saddam's entire war plan seems to revolve around removing the will of the American people to continue the war, and the loss of a few women and children is small price (in his mind) to pay for priceless coverage like this.
I can just imagine his cabinet sitting down and saying - OK they've only lost once before; how was that done? The images coming out of Iraq seem eerily like some of the most emotive footage from villages and rice paddies in the TV in the 70s. Even the way US POWs are being handled seems familiar to then...
Russell C.
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