From an article that's been on the web since February 10

Saddam convinces thousands of hard core supporters to fight to the death.

So eminently possible that it ought be taken as a given for planning purposes. If we are not prepared to deal with the aftermath of this state of affairs, someone has been criminally irresponsible.

On February 7 Jim Dunnigan outlined (with one minor change - lack of Turkish support) pretty much exactly what has been happening in the last week. Too long to quote in full, go read it.

Excerpts:

..an initial bombing campaign of only a few hours might be sufficient to paralyze the Iraqis. Right after that, the ground attack could start.
...

Depending on how many Iraqi units could be convinced to surrender ahead of time, the first phase of the ground war would end in a few days, with most of the Iraqi armed forces either bombed or prisoners. The second phase would concentrate on the Republican Guard, and any other units still loyal to Saddam, and Baghdad. The bombing would be going on around the clock, and Special Forces, commandos and CIA teams on the ground would be searching out new targets (like SCUD launchers and chemical weapons units)
..
More realistically, in order to minimize American casualties, the campaign would more likely be fought over a longer period of time.

No battle plan survives contact with the enemy of course, but this comes closer than most.

Posted By Alan E Brain at March 27, 2003 07:29 AM | TrackBack