U.S. forces dropped a total of 240,000 leaflets to foment dissent among Iraqi soldiers

WASHINGTON, December 31 (News Agencies) - The United States has begun a psychological operation in Iraq, dropping mountains of leaflets and broadcasting messages to foment dissent among Iraqi soldiers and undermine support for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"Soldiers of Iraq. Since the beginning of time, there has been no profession more honorable than that of a soldier...," a voice booms. "Saddam has tarnished this legacy. Saddam uses the soldiers of Iraq ... as his own personal bodyguards," the message continues.

"Do not let Saddam tarnish the reputation of soldiers any longer. Saddam uses the military to persecute those who don't agree with his unjust agenda. Make the decision," it said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The message in Arabic is broadcast from C-130 aircraft or transmitted from neighboring countries such as Kuwait, the U.S. Central Command said.

The U.S. propaganda effort is in line with the Bush administration's policy of encouraging the Iraqi soldiers to topple Saddam themselves or at least lay down their arms when the U.S. war machine starts rolling in.

"The messages are broadcast daily," Pete Mitchell, a Centcom spokesman told AFP. Iraqi soldiers are referred to the radio frequencies by leaflets.

"The intent of the broadcast is to inform the Iraqi people of what the U.S. is doing. The U.S. intent is to try to counter the propaganda that the Iraqis give to their own people," he said.

The U.S. has also pursued its psychological warfare through intense leaflet dropping campaigns over Southern Iraq.

The last leaflet drop – the 10th in the last three months – occurred early Tuesday, December 31, around Ad-Diwaniyah, approximately 75 miles (120 km) south of Baghdad, Ar-Rumaytha, approximately 200 miles (320 km) southeast of Baghdad and Qawam Al-Hamzah, approximately 240 miles southeast of Baghdad.

The coalition dropped a total of 240,000 leaflets over the three locations, the command said.

The leaflets, both in Arabic and English, explained the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441, the situation of U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq, and urged a peaceful outcome to the crisis.

Other leaflets have been more menacing, warning Iraqi forces that repairing the facilities destroyed by coalition aircraft could place Iraqi military lives at risk.

"Before you engage coalition aircraft, think about the consequences," warned one.

"Think about your family, do what you must to survive," another message warned, accompanied by a drawing of a soldier dying in an explosion and his devastated widow with her baby crying.

The broadcast messages try to be more persuasive, comparing Saddam Hussein to Stalin and telling the Iraqi people that the war is not a war against Islam.

"We do not fight a religion," U.S. President George W. Bush says in a rebroadcast of remarks he gave in talks with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.

"Our war against terror is a war against individuals whose hearts are full of hate," Bush continues.

The broadcast messages are punctuated with Arabic songs.

Afghan villagers read papers distributed by U.S. soldiers; the U.S. army's psychological operations carried out similar campaigns in Afghanistan

Among the messages broadcast is also the biography of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Egyptian Mohamed El-Bareidi, to show that prominent Arabs have also taken a stand against Iraq.

Another message accuses Saddam Hussein of starving his people, wisely not mentioning the trade embargo the U.N. slapped for 12 years now.

More than 10 million of Iraq's estimated 25-million population suffer from malnutrition, with the average daily consumption of calories having dropped to 2,033 from 3,581 before the embargo was imposed.

Meanwhile, U.S. and U.K. warplanes bombed Iraqi air defense communications facilities and a mobile air defense radar Monday, December 30, in the latest of a series of U.S.-British raids in southern Iraq, the U.S. military said.

"The coalition targeted the communications facilities after Iraqi forces flew military aircraft into the southern no-fly zone earlier today," the U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

"They struck the mobile radar after Iraqi forces moved it into the southern no-fly Zone today," it said, calling the radar's presence "a direct threat to coalition aircraft and crews."

The radar was near the southern town of Al-Kut, southeast of Baghdad, said Cheryl Irwin, a Pentagon spokesman.

The communications facilities struck in the raids were cable repeaters spaced between Al-Kut, the southern city of Basra and An-Nasiriyah, said Cheryl Irwin, a Pentagon spokeswoman. It was the second time in as many days that coalition aircraft have struck Iraqi air defenses.
 
In another development, U.S. defense officials said Monday that the U.S. is poised to ring in the New Year with a major military buildup in the Gulf, including deployments of thousands of combat troops as well as bombers and fighter aircraft.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed an order just before Christmas for a sequenced deployment of forces to the region in preparation for a possible war with Iraq, the officials said.

"It'll happen after the New Years," said a defense official who asked not to be identified. "I don't know how soon. It won't happen all at the same time." The full dimensions of the deployment remained unclear. Pentagon officials hoped to keep it as vague as possible by providing few details on timing, locations or specific units ordered to deploy.

Nonetheless, the air force confirmed that F-15 fighter, B-1 bomber and air search and rescue units received their deployment orders late last week.

The navy also has alerted two aircraft carrier battle groups to be prepared to deploy to the Gulf on short notice, another defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division based in Fort Stewart, Georgia is expected to deploy two armored brigades to the region to join one already in Kuwait, officials said. "You're going to see the big units go," said the first official.

The official said the initial round of deployments would likely fall short of the 50,000 troops that officials have slated to go.

The ultimate size of the move will depend on how it is sequenced and whether the Pentagon decides to go ahead with other deployment plans still under consideration, he said.

Pentagon officials say some 62,000 U.S. forces currently are in the region, including over 12,000 in Kuwait. U.S. war plans are reported to call for an intense and tightly compressed air and ground assault on Iraq from the south, north and west employing as many as 250,000 troops.

Pentagon officials have said it would take only a few weeks to deploy the needed ground forces, which would fall in on tanks and other armor already stockpiled in the region. The opening phase of a fight would be carried out by air from airbases and carriers throughout the region, possibly even before all ground troops are in place.

Despite mixed signals from Saudi Arabia, senior U.S. military officials are reported to have received Saudi assurances that the kingdom will allow the use of its air space and bases in the event of a war, reported AFP. "I think we'll have the access we need," a U.S. defense official told AFP.

An air force spokeswoman, meanwhile, said that deployment orders went out last week to the First Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, which has F-15C fighters, and the Fourth Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.

B-1 bombers from the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota also received deployment orders, said Erin Zagurski, a spokeswoman for the Air Combat Command. Also going are HH-60 combat search and rescue units and Predator reconnaissance drones from the 57th Wing at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and the HC-130 search and rescue aircraft from the 347th Rescue Wing at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, she said.

Still awaiting orders are F-117 stealth fighters and B-2 bombers, the aircraft of choice for opening night air raids on heavily defended targets around Baghdad. B-52 bombers already are stationed at the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.

As to the timing of the moves ordered so far, Zagurski said, "The only sense we have is it will be after the first of the year."

In another outward sign of preparations for combat, the USNS Comfort, a hospital ship, was loading supplies in Baltimore, Maryland for deployment "in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and to prepare for any contingency," said Marge Holtz, spokeswoman for the U.S. Military Sealift Command.

With 1,000 beds, the Comfort is one of the largest trauma centers in the world. It is equipped to handle all kinds of medical emergencies, including chemical and biological weapons attacks.

"She'll probably leave late this week or early next week," said Holtz, who said it would take the ship three weeks to reach its destination.

Two aircraft carrier battle groups also were on notice that they may be called up. "The navy has asked to provide two carriers on short tether to deploy in support of a buildup for war," a defense official, said on condition of anonymity.

The navy would not identify the battle groups, but a navy official said the USS George Washington has been designated as the "ready carrier" on the U.S. east coast.