HISTORY 241 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Marine Expeditionary Force, Cruise Missile, Decapitation Strike
Document Summary
Debates over iraqi wmd ( a bureaucratic solution ) Bush administration said they would try diplomacy to avoid war, just not true. By mid-march the bush team abandoned diplomacy. March 17: bush gave an ultimatum: leave iraq in 48 hours. Saddam was planning to leave, but he wanted a guarantee that the us would not come after him. Bush said nah, we"re not gonna guarantee that, you should just leave. 101st airborne were still unloading in kuwait. 31 us teams (300 persons) from special ops join cia teams already in iraq. Cruise missile strikes on command centers and regime targets in baghdad, mosul. Special ops forces take iraqi airfields in western desert, forestall any attack on israel. Move northeats, seize rumaila fields so baathists couldn"t commit sabatoge. March 21: massive bombing, targeted command and control. Sunday evening march 23: 3rd infantry bypassed najaf and was 100 miles from.
