I seem to remember that in 1990-91 many people agreed that Saddam was a bad man who should be removed from power. I also seem to remember that some pundits at the time were calling for coalition forces to go ahead and drive to Baghdad to forcibly remove Saddam from power. Maybe they were right. However, because of the wording of the 1991 U.N. resolution, the coalition forces stopped after removing Iraqi forces from Kuwait It was hoped that Iraqis would rise up and topple Saddam, but that didn’t happen. Now, in 2003, we’re paying the price for not dealing with Saddam back then. Would it have been less costly to have removed Saddam from power in 1991? I don’t know. I have a hunch that it would have been, considering all the trouble Saddam’s been over the past twelve years. Now in 2003, we’re driving to Baghdad from Kuwait and removing him from power just like we could have done twelve years ago. (more…)

I’ve been reading that U.S. forces, in their drive toward Baghdad, have bypassed some Iraqi Army divisions near the border with Iran. This *New York Times article seems to verify that claim and provides another example of why the Iraqi Army is such a feared fighting force. (more…)

I could tell right away … this is not Saddam.

It appears the mother of all surrenders is underway as described in this article from Reuters. Here’s an excerpt:

Reporting from central Iraq, south of Baghdad with the 1st Marine Division, [ABC correspondent Mike] Cerre said U.S. support aircraft had counted more than 60 buses filled with Iraqis fleeing Baghdad.

“What is stopping us now is the flood of deserters and civilians, on buses, trucks, taxicabs and whatever they can catch a ride on, trying to make their way south to their families or American forces to surrender” he said.

The Iraq war has been filled with examples of the Iraqi regime’s desperation. Surrendering soldiers who then shoot , fighters hiding in mosques, “death-squads forcing soldiers to fight at gunpoint, and suicide bombers. But a sure sign that the regime is collapsing has to be when you kick out the oh-so-sympathetic Al Jazerra. This is an excerpt of an article from CNN’s web site. (more…)

Gregg Easterbrook (who is a great writer) points out today that it’s been a while since Saddam has been verified alive by anyone outside Iraq: (more…)