Lessons From the Killing of Uday and Qusay
By Amr Mohammed Al-Faisal
Last week, US forces surrounded and
killed the sons of president Saddam
Hussein.
I have never been a supporter of Saddam
Hussein or his regime. Nor do I wish them
well today. However, the way that Uday
and Qusay were killed needs to be
examined carefully so as to derive useful
lessons.
Let me briefly recap the events that led to
their death.
US forces, based on a tip-off from a friend
of the Hussein family (in return for a $30
million reward), surrounded a house in
Mosul in which Uday, Qusay, his
14-year-old son Mustafa, and one of their
supporters had hidden. Some 200 US
soldiers backed by helicopter gunships,
missiles and mortar shells, attacked the
house. After a battle, which lasted six
hours, the three men and boy were dead.
I was appalled.
I have said it before (not in this
publication) and I say it again: Western,
and especially US, military doctrine is
incapable of achieving victory.
It took a 50:1 ratio (I am ignoring the
helicopters, etc.) of crack (at least that’s
what the Americans call them) troops five
hours to kill the three men and a boy who
were hiding not in a heavily fortified bunker
but in a simple villa.
What a disgrace!
Continues.........
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