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The US-led military action against Iraq is unlikely to end soon as tactics such as the "decapitation strike," "shock and awe" operation and repeated bombardment do not seem to have worked after the war entered its sixth day Tuesday.
The tactics used by the coalition troops in Iraq fully demonstrate that the United States intends to combine political means and military actions in its effort to expel Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, to reduce hostility among the Iraqi people and minimize the cost of post-war reconstruction.
The United States launched the war without the authorization of the UN Security Council and against the will of the majority of countries in the world. Therefore, it must try to keep the casualties among coalition troops and Iraqi civilians at the minimum and show to the world that it treasures humanitarianism and that the war is not against humanity.
Due to these considerations, the air raids have been targeted at key Iraqi departments and places such as Saddam's residences, instead of ordinary military targets like barracks and military vehicles.
Thomas King, former British secretary of state for defense, said there is a pressure in modern war that it is a must to reduce the casualties to the minimum and the already-vulnerable military coalition would collapse if the military action resulted in heavy casualties among the coalition forces and Iraqi civilians.
Meanwhile, the United States still hopes that Iraqi President Saddam would leave Iraq and go into exile under the pressure of both the "decapitation strike" and "shock and awe" operation.
The United States believed such tactics would lead to the disintegration of the Iraqi leadership and to a military mutiny, thus bringing about the downfall of the Saddam regime at a minimum price.
"The US still hopes Saddam to leave Iraq," White House spokesman Ari Fleisher said on the very day when the war was declared.
The United States has so far striven to reduce the hostility of the Iraqi people so as to soften their resistance to the coalition forces and lay a solid foundation for installing a new leader and restoring order in post-war Iraq.
Many television shots show that US troops had broken the tradition of hoisting the American national flag, in a bid to avoid humiliating the Iraqi people.
While carrying out military strikes, the United States has also tried to minimize damage to Iraq, keeping in mind the huge costs which might be needed for the post-war reconstruction of the country.
Due to this consideration, US troops have so far avoided bombing bridges, highways, civil airports, power supply systems and telecommunications facilities in Iraq, while they went all out to occupy Iraqi oil fields and oil refineries swiftly.
As it launched the military action without UN authorization, the United States cannot count on many other countries to share the cost of the war and the post-war reconstruction. Thus, the selective bombardment is understandable.
Out of these intentions, the US troops pursued tactics different from those employed in their earlier military actions, like the Gulf War in 1991, the strike on Yugoslavia and the war in Afghanistan.
US President George W. Bush said last Saturday that the ongoing war in Iraq could be longer and more difficult than expected as the coalition forces met "unexpected resistance" in their push toward Baghdad.
Analysts hold that a US military victory in Iraq is conditional on a quick war and a small number of casualties. Otherwise, it would not yield significant results.
(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2003)
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