It was the colonel who answered. "Yes, sir, I know. To be fair about it, that's how I was taught, too. The difference is the equipment we have now. The stuff we have now, it's like science fiction! I had a platoon of M-1s back in the Gulf War, and when we hit the Iraqis at 73 Easting we never knew they were there until we rolled in on them. We were just better than them, with better equipment and training. Now ... sir, our training and equipment is even better, and we know where they all are! We have recon drones all over the front, with cameras and laser designators and GPS. Sir, before I came to this assignment, I had a training battalion out at Fort Knox, where we developed the doctrine and tactics for this. Since then we have been spreading the training out. When we go over the ridge and into a Republican Guard area, they won't know we're coming, but we will know where every one of their vehicles is! We'll be able to blow them away before they even know we are coming at them! We can do this, and do it now!"
I looked at the other officers and they were all nodding in agreement. I was suddenly hit with a wry observation. "You know what they say about military intelligence, Colonel? We bet your life?" He bristled at the implication. "Settle down, Colonel. It's nothing personal. From my point of view, I'm the one you want to bet their lives. So what do we do if this doesn't work, hmmm? What happens if the Republican Guard doesn't just sit there and act like targets?"
The colonel hit a button on his computer and showed two different variations on the ops plan, to allow for disengagement and containment moves, to keep the Republican Guard in a killbox (his word, not mine) and either reduce them slowly or hold long enough for further forces to arrive. My biggest concern was the 101st, stranded between the Republican Guard to the north and the regular Iraqi army to the south. What if they were assaulted from both sides?
"Sir, this is not going to be the Battle of the Bulge, where the 101st got stuck in Bastogne and surrounded. The Iraqis simply don't have the firepower, and they will be getting hammered by close air support. Additionally, we have no intelligence at all that indicates that regular army units are involved in this. They aren't even moving.", I was told. "I've been in contact with the G-3 of the 101st, and he concurs with this plan. This is what they are there for, deep insertion and strategic control."
"When are you going to be ready to do this?", asked Frank Stouffer. "When does the President need to decide by?"
I nodded at Frank. It was a fair question, and I turned to face the officers.
"The units can be in place for kickoff 2200 local time Tuesday April 11. We will need a go/no-go decision as soon as possible to make sure everything is finalized, today if possible. If we delay, sooner or later even Saddam Hussein is going to realize the mess he's in and try backing out. Once that happens, we lose any chance of completely destroying them.", said the Chief of Staff.
I glanced at Frank, who gave a subtle shrug. I looked at the officers and said, "Give me a few minutes, please." Everybody filed out, leaving me sitting there, staring at the screens. They simply stared back.
I knew what my answer was going to be even before they left, but it scared me. I remembered the movie Patton, in which Patton, played by George C. Scott, argues with Omar Bradley, played by Karl Malden. Patton was pushing for greater speed in the conquest of Sicily, pushing his men to the breaking point and beyond, and arguing that the faster they moved, the better it was. They would face higher casualties now, but the war would end sooner, and ultimately there would be far fewer casualties overall. It was a heartbreaking calculus, but it was also absolutely true.
It was entirely possible that at some point Saddam Hussein would wake up and realize he had stuck his dick into a grinder, and it might be a good idea to stop turning the crank and pull out. That would leave us back where we started from, with no resolution and a lot of dead Americans I would need to avenge somehow. That was unacceptable. I wanted to destroy Saddam Hussein, and to do that, we would first need to destroy the Republican Guard.
I called the others back in. I didn't bother sitting down; this was going to be a very short conversation. "The operation is approved, as planned. General, tell the boys, from me, 'Good hunting!' What's the name of this thing, anyway?"
"We're calling it Kurdish Dragon, sir."
Kurdish Dragon? Where the hell do they come up with these names? I nodded and left.
Tuesday was full of routine meetings and photo ops, and I stayed away from the war. I was simply informed that preparations were nominal, whatever that meant, and that the planned assault was still on. I couldn't bear to stay up late and kibitz from the Situation Room, and Marilyn wasn't about to let me drink anything stronger than iced tea, so I stayed up to watch Stewart and Colbert and then went to bed. The next morning, before my regular staff meeting, I was told during my Brief that the attack was 'nominal' and proceeding. I took that to be good, and simply asked for a quick briefing that afternoon. I was informed they would have a briefing in the Situation Room at 4:00 PM, and that it would be a good idea to bring everybody who needed to learn what was happening. I wasn't quite sure how to take that, but I thanked him and promised to be there.
I went down to the Situation Room at 4:00, accompanied by John McCain, Frank Stouffer, and Will Brucis. Tom Ridge was already there and waiting for us, and I could tell that he had been chatting with the briefing officer, who I noticed was the same Colonel Buford who had presented the plan to us two days ago. "Colonel Buford, it's been two days now since you showed us your plan, and about one day into it. How is it going so far?", I asked.
"Mister President, thank you for coming. Phase One of Operation Kurdish Dragon took place the other night. There were no losses, although we did have a few mechanical problems. The 101st was airlifted to their landing zones and have taken control of the road network south of Kurdistan. They are now in fortified positions with good supply. Phase Two, the assault phase, began this morning at 0600 local time, or 2200 last night Washington time. Right now it is midnight local time in Kurdistan, and operations are slowing for the night. Beginning this morning, the British 7th Armored began by departing their go line and moving south from a position just west of Sulaymaniyah. They skirted the eastern edge of the Republican Guard positions and have now maneuvered into a position where they can begin turning west, assaulting the Iraqi right flank. They destroyed roughly half a brigade of the 7th Adnan Infantry during this maneuver, mostly screening units." As he said this, a computerized map of Kurdistan was thrown up on the big screen, and a blue arrow began to grow and move on the right hand side of the map, marking a giant curve around the Iraqi units designated in red.
"Part of our thinking was that by having the Brits move first, it would attract their attention, and perhaps get them to focus in a direction opposite from where we would be attacking. That occurred two hours later, when the 1st Brigade and the 2nd Strykers attacked, here, just west of Azwya." A second blue arrow began moving south on the map to the west of Kirkuk, only this one was headed directly towards the westernmost Guard position, rather than trying to maneuver around it.
"How did that go, Colonel?", I asked.
"Quite well, sir. The 1st Brigade took direct aim at the 1st Hammurabi Armored Division, using the 2nd Strykers as a reserve. By the end of the day, the Hammurabi Division had been destroyed completely, and the 1st Brigade was resupplying and preparing for the assault on the 6th Nebuchadnezzar Mechanized.", he answered.