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Iraqi officer reveals army chaos
A colonel in Iraq's Republican Guard says he received few orders from the country's leaders during the war. Speaking from his home in a prosperous area of Baghdad, he told the BBC's Andrew Gilligan that the coalition bombardment of Iraq badly affected troop morale, with soldiers wanting to desert every day. In one of the first insights into how the elite Republican Guard has acted during the war, he said Iraq's military leaders only agreed to fight the war in the first place because, if they had refused, they would have been killed. The colonel, whose unit was initially placed in the desert but then withdraw to defend the Iraqi capital, deserted about a week before Baghdad was taken.The colonel, who commanded a force of about 600 men, said he had initially been told to stay in his position and "hide from the bombs". But it appears that once fighting started he was completely out of contact with Iraq's senior military leaders. "I didn't receive any order from the beginning," he said, adding that he was told that if the airport was still open, Iraq was still in the war. The coalition bombing sapped the morale of his soldiers - some of whom had not seen that kind of bombardment before. "From the beginning, I think that the balance of the air power is not equal. Something hit us. The aircraft... destroyed our tanks and equipment," he said. He said he did not force anyone to stay with the unit. "Every day, one, two, three. Every day one, two, three. Everyone he want to go, leave his gun and go away," he said. Speaking of the fear of Saddam Hussein he said in faltering English: "If they say to him we (do) not have power to face this army, it is not a good war, he maybe will kill him so they said 'yes' we will fight." He revealed that Iraqi soldiers had not wanted to fight in the streets of Baghdad because it was their city and home to their families. He added that in the Koran, God said soldiers had to win or die. "But when we see no one command us and tell us what's the planning, for what I will fight? I stay at home is better," he said. In the end, he said, the officers gathered round a fire and decided it was not worth fighting. The unit's troops changed into civilian clothes which they had with them, and went home. Our correspondent says he increasingly believes Iraqi officers followed orders, but did not really want Saddam Hussein to win and so did not make any serious attempts to defend Iraq. THAT SAYS IT ALL Posted by: George 2003-04-12 |
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