NORTH OF NAJAF, IRAQ - Twenty-four hours after the suicide car bombing that killed four US soldiers on Highway 9, some 30 kilometers north of Najaf, the air still reeks of the explosion.

The force of the plastic explosive blast not only completely destroyed the taxi cab used for the car bomb, it also charred a pickup truck and a passenger bus parked on the other side of the highway.

Cassette tapes, screwdrivers, and a woman's shawl were the only telltale signs left of the life that preceded the carnage. The similarity of the scene to the sights of suicide attacks in Israel was eerie and the comparison unavoidable.

Squad leader Sgt. Chad Urquhart lost four of his eight men in the blast. His description of the attack was deliberate and pained. 'Just as I put my radio microphone down there was this huge white blast,' he said. 'I ran to the guys - two were still breathing - I put my finger on the neck of my man to stop the blood. The medic came, looked at me, and said he was gone. The other man died 15-20 seconds later.'

Sunday afternoon, Urquhart told his commander that he decided to reenlist in the army for four more years.

Third Infantry Division commander Maj.-Gen. Buford Blount's blue eyes darted from debris pile to debris pile as he surveyed the scene. 'It is really sad,' he sighed. 'My condolences go out to the families. It is depressing to be here where our soldiers gave their lives for their country.'

Blount admitted that he has been surprised by the level of Iraqi resistance to the US offensive.

'The resistance is more than we had hoped we would have until now,' he said.

'We had hoped to keep casualties to a minimum. We had hoped that he [Saddam Hussein] would leave. But our soldiers are ready. We were prepared for both light and heavy contact.'

Blount said that, although he had expected the Iraqis to resort to terrorism, 'we thought we would encounter it closer to Baghdad. Not right here, right now.'

At the same time, the 3rd Infantry Division's commander claims that the swift emergence of the Iraqi terror threat to US forces has not caused the military to change its attack plans.

'We haven't changed our plans, although we have changed out tactics a little,' Blount said.

The main result of the change in tactics appears to be that Iraqi civilians in proximity to US forces will, as a result of Saturday's bombing, be more constricted in movement. Until the attack, some civilian traffic had continued along Highway 9, which connects Baghdad to Najaf. Since the attack, all civilian traffic is prohibited.

'We have been trying to let as many Iraqi citizens move as much as possible,' Blount said, 'but because of acts like this we'll have to restrict that a lot more.'

Blount pointedly explained that terrorist attacks against US forces will make the army less averse to causing collateral damage.

'We went into this hoping to keep collateral damage and casualties to a minimum, but they haven't let us do this,' he said.

For his part, 1st Brigade commander Col. William Grimsley expressed anger at reports that a suicide bomber was a noncommissioned officer in the Iraqi army who was posthumously decorated for his actions.

'If Saddam was to decorate terrorists it just shows what a terrorist he is,' he said. 'This will not impact our plans. What happened here is a tragedy, but it will have no influence on our actions. We won't get bogged down, we won't waste our time on reprisal operations, we will continue on.'

Bravo tank company commander Capt. James Lee, who commanded the soldiers who were killed, considered the challenge posed by a military force that has integrated terrorism into its fighting doctrine.

'Saddam obviously understands that the US Army has a hard time with terrorism,' he said. 'We left Vietnam, we left Lebanon, and [former president Bill] Clinton pulled us out of Somalia because of it. But we are here now because of terrorism. Our war here is part of our war on terrorism. So things are different now, we won't run away.'

In the meantime, the 3rd Infantry Division 2nd Brigade moved north toward Karbala on Sunday and forces from the 101st Airborne Division replaced troops from the 3rd Infantry Division 1st Brigade around Najaf and the village of Kifl.

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.

30 KM. NORTH OF NAJAF, IRAQ - 'Handling threats posed by civilians is a new situation for the US Army [in Iraq]. Precedents are being set today by the guys on the ground at the battalion level.'

So ruminated Lt.-Col Scott Rutter, commander of the 2-7 mechanized infantry battalion of the army's Third Infantry Division's First Brigade, hours after four of his men were killed by a car bomb at a roadblock at 10:30 Saturday morning in the first Iraqi suicide bombing of the war.

'It is important to bear in mind that these men were not sitting ducks. By manning our roadblocks, they kept these terrorists away from the brigade. They did their job defending the force and their country,' Rutter said.

News of the suicide car bombing was relayed to the battalion's operations tent immediately. The incident occurred at a manned checkpoint, or 'blocking position,' 30 km. north of Najaf, along Highway 9, which links Baghdad with Najaf.

Since last Monday, a platoon of soldiers has been manning this blocking position - the northernmost post for US forces in western Iraq - whose purpose is to prevent north-south traffic from Baghdad. The attack occurred just as another platoon had arrived to relieve the soldiers.

Some 10 minutes before the attack, an Iraqi civilian arrived at the scene complaining of a broken ankle and indicating to soldiers that he was waiting for a taxi. A taxi pulled up, the driver called out to the soldiers in English that he had come to pick up a passenger. The four soldiers approached the taxi to inspect the vehicle. When the driver opened his trunk, he detonated the bomb made of plastic explosive.

The terrorist, his accomplice, and the soldiers were killed instantly by the blast, which was so strong that it shook a Bradley fighting vehicle located some 150 meters away.

After the attack, officers explained that, for the previous five days, Iraqi drivers had been instructed to turn around before reaching the blocking position.

'The rules of engagement were vague. This is what enabled some civilians to get through after inspection,' Rutter said.

'The fact is we were so effective at keeping enemy forces away from the blocking position that they were forced to use terror tactics to harm us.'

In the past five days, some 20 vehicles have been engaged by the soldiers at the blocking position for attempting to evade the concertina-wired checkpoint. There is a sense among the soldiers that the main reason the attack occurred is because the forces at the checkpoint perform their duties as they would have in peace-keeping operations like in Kosovo.

'This is how we do roadblocks in Europe,' said Master-Sgt J.B. Bruening, the battalion's air force liaison officer. 'Unfortunately this isn't Europe.'

The reality of the situation in Iraq as clarified by the suicide bombing caused an immediate overhaul of the rules of engagement at the highway. No Iraqi vehicle will be allowed to pass through the battalion roadblock under any circumstance any longer.

'If a vehicle approaches a roadblock, the soldiers will count slowly to five. If, at the count of five, the vehicle has not turned around to leave, we will engage it,' explained Rutter.

The 3rd Infantry Division provided the First Brigade with new Arabic road signs instructing Iraqis to turn away or be shot. The battalion's psychological warfare team was deployed to the highway, where they broadcast orders to all civilians around the blocking positions to leave immediately. The Iraqis complied in short order.

'We are dealing with an enemy that is both an army and a terrorist force. Unless we are given an order to directly fire at civilians, incidents like this can happen. The problem for us is how do you define a threat in this environment? After what just happened, my men know that everyone moving south is to be considered hostile,' Rutter said.

For their part, the soldiers of the 2-7 Battalion reacted with sadness and anger to the attack. 'I cried when I heard about it,' said PFC Robert Herrera from New York City. 'This is our family. But after I cried, I just got mad.'

Sgt. Suchai Vongsirates, who leads the psychological operations (psyops) team, arrived at the highway shortly after the bombing. 'It really upset me. I guess it looked sort of like the bombing we see on TV, but it was different because you know it was your brothers who were killed,' he said.

Vongsirates said the taxi-bomb was reduced to chunks of metal strewn all over the place.

'There were bits of the red-checked keffiyehs stuck in the concertina wire and bits of uniform strewn around. It doesn't make me think differently about the war. We knew it would probably be like this. It just makes me really angry and more determined to get these dogs out of power,' Vongsirates said.

Barely repressing the furor in his voice, battalion executive officer Maj. Kevin Cooney said: 'Saddam Hussein says he's not a terrorist. If he's not a terrorist, it's remarkable, because he's using every terror tactic in the handbook.'

The battalion's Command Sgt-Maj. Michael Fox was in charge of removing the soldiers' bodies from the scene. 'It was very hard to see that. This is a whole different kind of war for the US Army. The Israelis already know all about this. We're just beginning, but we'll handle this.'

Terrorist tactics like Saturday's bombing make it clear to Fox that, 'We'll be here for a long time, and it won't end. There will always be people trying to shoot at us. There will always be someone trying to kill Americans for Allah. Obviously, not all Iraqis are bad people. But what our soldiers need to understand is that we need to look at them with suspicion.'

As the battalion forces began implementing their new rules of engagement at the highway, they engaged Iraqi forces throughout the evening. As a result of Iraqi shooting attacks, battalion engineers levelled the positions around the blocking position and bulldozed trees that provided cover to the enemy. To prevent infantrymen from being lured into an ambush as Iraqi gunmen shot at them from a distance of 1,200 feet, artillery batteries targeted the sources of fire, killing some gunmen and forcing others to flee.

In the battalion's operations tent, officers, NCOs, and soldiers at one table coordinated firing missions, while another group sat at a nearby table putting the finishing touches on their plans for future battles on the way to Baghdad.

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.

WITH THE 3RD INFANTRY DIVISION IN IRAQ - Specialist Julie Albrecht is the first woman I have spoken to (and the third I have seen) since joining up with this division's Third Brigade.

Albrecht, 19, from Joliet, Illinois, is a Humvee driver in a chemical weapons company. She joined the army to finance her college education, and she has had quite a ride.

'I thought I'd be in a laboratory doing experiments in the army. That is what the recruiter showed us in the videos, I never thought I would be here in Iraq.'

This is Julie's second deployment. Last year, she was in Pakistan as part of a support team for the US operations in Afghanistan.

'I didn't really understand why we came here. I suppose this man [Saddam Hussein] is oppressing his people and we are here to free them. And then there is the chemical threat. But I really do not understand this country, so, well, I mean I couldn't live like this, with the dust storms and the desert and the clay houses. I do not understand how they stand it.

'I guess that Saddam's people must be telling them, this is what they have to accept. I really can't imagine what will happen here once we leave. I guess we are trying to put in a new government like we are doing in Afghanistan, but it doesn't seem to be working that well there,' Julie said.

'It is important to keep September 11 in mind all the time to remind us that, even though we are so far away from home, that what happens here has an effect on our lives. We saw that day just how small this world really is.'

For the US soldiers here, what is happening around them is new and totally foreign. Saddam's terror tactics are their first experience in having to worry about suicide bombers, road snipers, terrorists disguised as soldiers, and the specter of chemical attacks. For Albrecht and her colleagues, Iraq is a million miles away from home. To understand the need to fight here, it is necessary to hold on tight to the memory of the September 11 attack. Why should these young men and women fight this regime, as evil as it may be, if doing so won't impact their lives and the lives of their families?

Coming from Jerusalem, my response to this is different. Since entering Iraq a week ago, I have seen graffiti everywhere that make this war personal.

At the suspected chemical weapons storage facility at Najaf, an entire wall of one of the administration buildings was painted with the Iraqi and Palestinian flags.

In the first town in which the 2-7 Battalion, in which I am embedded, was fired upon, the fire emanated from the headquarters of the Palestinian Liberation Army, which happened to be the Ba’ath party headquarters for the town of el-Khadir. Then, too, the main force that has engaged this battalion as we wait to move up to Baghdad to confront to the Republican Guard has been al-Quds (Jerusalem) Brigade, which is a vast militia force.

The precautions the soldiers are now taking to prevent terror attacks are familiar as well. For an Israeli, these threats are not something that may happen, but a terrible fact of life.

Last Saturday as our convoy stopped on the side of Highway 8 during the battle of el-Khader, a civilian pulled up in his car, parked next to the Humvee I was traveling in and started walking away. A soldier traveling with me, laughed at how scared the driver was. I interrupted him, told him that it could be a car bomb, and that he had to tell the man to take his car and go away.

Americans luckily still have a lot to learn about living in the shadow of terror.

And yet, until I arrived in Iraq, it never sank in how central hatred of Israel and support for Palestinian terrorism is to the legitimacy of Saddam's regime. Like the infamous Goldstein in George Orwell's novel 1984, Israel for Saddam is the external enemy the hating of which is necessary for excusing the terror the dictator uses against his own people.

The Iraq which the US and British forces have come to liberate is an unnecessarily failed state. It has all the natural advantages one could hope for, abundant land, a relatively small population, and, of course, vast oil reserves.

My battalion passed by the home of an Iraqi family with a green onion field. The onions are rich and fragrant, yet the desert patch is the only one around. This in spite of the fact that it is located only 10 kilometers from the Euphrates.

There is no irrigation infrastructure. Water is delivered by trucks, and electricity is supplied by generators in a country with the world's third largest oil reserves. Rather than concentrating on making their own lives better, Saddam has programmed these people to unify around his leadership for the cause of destroying Israel and hating America.

It would appear that the first thing that a new regime for this country should do is tell the Iraqis to concentrate on appreciating their own lives and their own country, rather than wishing for the destruction of a non- aggressive neighbor.

Yet, in the midst of the war, British Foreign Minister Jack Straw told the Iraqi people that the violent cause in whose name they now pledge allegiance to Saddam Hussein is a just one. In declaring this week that Israel like Iraq must be forced to implement UN resolutions, he told the Iraqis that the excuse that Saddam has used for his internal terror and external aggression is a legitimate one.

He told them that Saddam's Goldstein is a real and legitimate enemy. In so doing, Straw called into question one of the foundations on which the rationale for this war now rests.

How can Saddam be wholly illegitimate if Israel is a comparable outlaw? Then too, the New York Times' Tom Friedman wrote this week that, to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, the US must form a new Iraqi regime as dedicated to the annihilation of Israel as Saddam. That is, Friedman like Straw accepts without question that the Arabs have a right to seek Israel's destruction and to demand anything else of them is to act somehow unfairly.

There is no doubt that the US will win the battle against Saddam's regime. The soldiers are committed and well trained. Their arsenal is deadly and accurate. But to win the war for the hearts of the Iraqi people, the US can not use the logic of the British Foreign Office. This thinking is what guided British policy toward the Jews and Arabs in another pivotal war.

Then, in 1939, while fighting valiantly against a dictator, the British signed away Jewish national aspirations in total contravention of their legal responsibilities to the League of Nations mandate in Palestine. Blaming the Jews for Arab intransigence and violence, the British favored a Palestinian terrorist leader who collaborated with Hitler. Far from bringing stability to the Middle East or curbing Arab terrorism, the British approach encouraged instability and terrorism.

Julie Albrecht, like the tens of thousands of US soldiers in Iraq today, understands the connection between terror and tyranny and is willing to fight thousands of miles from home to prevent these diseases from once again threatening America. One can only hope that the government they serve is not swayed by diplomatic tradition and maintains its commitment to bringing about a transition to freedom for Iraq, rather than the formation of yet another regime that justifies tyranny and backwardness by hating Israel.

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.

NAJAF AMMUNITION STORAGE FACILITY - The winds and the sands of the Iraqi desert began swirling at around noon Tuesday but it didn't seem so bad. Two hours later, the storm was still passable as we set out for the suspected chemical weapons storage facility and the largest weapons storage facility in Najaf, Iraq, to meet the army weapons inspection team that arrived in the morning to survey the site that was taken by Bravo mechanized infantry company on Sunday without a fight.

By the time we arrived, navigation was reduced to following the arrows on a global positioning station. Our driver, Specialist Bobby Roberts whose vision puts eagles to shame, could see no further than the hood of the jeep.

Ten minutes after we arrived, the sky turned an eerie orange. It was not day, it was not night. It was an earthly light that soon turned red before the sun disappeared completely and the darkness that descended upon the swirling sand was as other-worldly as the light that preceded it.

There by flashlight, Bravo mech's infantry men surveyed the surroundings. Standing amidst row after row of AK47s, RPGs and bayonets, company executive officer Lt. Colin Hoyseth explained that the 70 Iraqi officers and soldiers who surrendered without a fight on Sunday 'were not expecting to see us here so quickly and not expecting us to come from the South like we did. All their guns were pointing towards the East.'

Looking over the officers' quarters Wednesday morning at first light and after the storm had somewhat abated, Sgt. Kettrel Baylor noted, 'They had all their stuff still organized here in their rooms. They clearly weren't expecting any company.'

It was a strange sensation standing in the personal quarters of an Iraqi colonel. On the one hand he was living the high life - especially when compared with the US troops' current harsh living conditions. His quarters were equipped with a living room, a refrigerator, stove, private bath and toilet, and a television set. He had a stack of fresh clean uniforms and boots and a large personal stash of tobacco.

On the other hand he had no computer. All of the records were kept in notebooks - some bizarrely covered in Mickey Mouse wrapping paper - and filed in cabinets.

The colonel had ledgers of troops and equipment but no computerized or even typewritten documents. On his desk he had glued a picture of himself with his hero, Saddam Hussein, standing outside his office.

The officers' quarters were far past a mess. Between the duststorm and the US troops' clearing operation to defend against booby traps, the rooms abandoned only three days earlier, look as though they hadn't been touched for forty years.

The soldiers of Bravo mech company were the ones who accepted the Iraqi troops' surrender on Sunday.

'All of these EPWs (enemy prisoners of war) tell us how much they love the US and hate Saddam. But then we go through their stuff and see Saddam's picture glued onto all of their notebooks. In one of the rooms we searched, for instance, this guy had carefully cut Saddam's picture out of a newspaper and taped it into his notebook and then drew all these curly cues around it in red marker. Why would they do that if they hated him? Obviously, they are lying to us,' says Pt. David Faulkner of Virginia, a 19-year-old infantryman from one of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle crews.

I spoke with Faulkner and his crew mates outside their Bradley as they fed six wild puppies Beef Teriyaki and Salsa Chicken from their combat rations on Wednesday morning.

The crew with Faulkner included David Youngston, 20, from South Carolina, Jason Shawn, 18, from Houston, Texas, Doug Glazer, 24, from Brooklyn, New York, Rickey Lewis, 23 and Ryan Bigley, 20, both from Virginia.

To describe the looks of these young men is to describe the faces of all young soldiers. They are beautiful even when the grime of the desert makes their faces black with dust. They are sweet even as they speak of war and killing. They are strong and tough and innocent. They are young men who have chosen to be warriors and guardians of their countrymen.

US GROUND forces entered Iraq last Friday morning. After a brief stop some 2 km inside the border, the entire First Brigade of the Army 3rd Infantry Division made a night journey through the desert. The 100 km. drive, in diamond formation was illuminated by the bright lights of the thousands of vehicles of war. The feeling was one of pure power. In all directions all one could see was this immense war machine, traveling unopposed through enemy territory, like a cavalry charge of old. Saturday afternoon the sensation of invincibility was reinforced as the forces met for the first time with civilian population lining the highway along the banks of the Euphrates, smiling and waving.

Just an hour later these civilians turn to combatants as they set an ambush for the same forces they were previously cheering.

Youngson: That first battle really reminded me of Somalia. There our troops went to help those people. We were on a peace-keeping mission. First they smiled and cheered us and then they started to kill our soldiers and drag them through the streets. It was like the Israelis in Lebanon.

Glazer: I think that the initial drive through the desert was like giving a big middle finger to the enemy. But we can't be cocky. They may hate Saddam, although they probably don't, but I assume that 90 percent of them hate us just as much. I don't trust any of these people. It is clear to me that they do what we tell them to do because we are pointing our guns at them. Many of the soldiers have been troubled by the cries of the EPWs and their families. One officer commented to me on Monday, 'We want them to like us. That's the American way. We're good people. The problem is that probably everything they tell us about how they feel about us is a lie and we have to get used to it.

Faulkner: Some of the Iraqis came to look for their families in the EPWs camp, a few begged to be allowed in and said they would be killed by the Iraqi army if they went back to An Najaf. They kept asking us to take them to America. It was hard to take until we saw all the pictures of Saddam in these guys' barracks. These men have been brainwashed to love that man and hate America for the past 12 years.

Glazer: I don't allow emotions to play a role in my actions as a soldier. I make a separation. There is home and there is here. No matter what you do for these people they are going to hate us because they are jealous of what we have. These people haven't made a decent contribution to humanity for over a thousand years. They hate us for our accomplishments.

Shawn: If you're soft on the EPWs you'll be killed or your buddy will be killed. I am here to fight a war. I am not here to make friends.

Glazer: And for all that look at how we treat our prisoners and look at how they treat us. We feed them our food, give them our water and let them sleep on our cots. Then they execute us and drag our bodies through the streets of Baghdad. How can anyone doubt who the good guys are in this war or who needs to win?

Bigley: The Iraqis are trying to mess with our minds and hurt our families.

Glazer: We will stop this soon enough. We just have to crush, to totally destroy his armies. Nothing can be retained.

Shawn: The EPWs we got who tell us they hate Saddam would no doubt be partying if the tables were turned. They'd be killing us.

CBG: The picture you guys paint doesn't lend itself to an easy or quick solution to this war. You really need to believe in what you're doing to persevere in the midst of the Iraqi hatred you described. Why do you think you are here fighting?

Youngson: A lot of people think this is a religious war but I'm a Christian and I don't believe that. The US army has soldiers from all religions fighting side by side. It isn't a religious issue. We're fighting here for the safety of our families back home. Who knows if we weren't here that our children or our brothers wouldn't get blown up on a public bus or a school field trip like they are in Israel? They are using terror and guerrilla tactics against us here. If we let this fester they'll do the same thing to us back home. So I'm here to protect myself and my family back home.

Shawn: It's our job. We chose to do it. But if we don't put a stop to Saddam and bin Laden, they will keep bombing our buildings. The more of these people we put away, the less terror there will be.

Lewis: I'm here to make the future terror-free for my baby daughter.

Faulkner: I am here to do this job so that I can go home.

Glazer: I'm here to start and finish a job that should have been done 12 years ago and make sure that incidents like September 11 never happen again.

Shawn: That's true for me too and also to make sure that my sons won't have to come back here in 10 years.

Glazer: I think we need to be here doing what we're doing for another reason, too. We have to show that you can't just bomb the US and get away with it. These guys are lucky we didn't come here a year ago, when we should have been here after they cheered the attacks on our cities. September 11 was worse than the Pearl Harbor attack.

CBG: Have you thought about the possibility that the US could lose this war?

Bigley: The US cannot lose this war. We will win this war. If worse comes to worst and we sustain mass casualties, we'll still do whatever it takes to win. The US can't lose. We have too much at stake and too much pride to ever accept defeat.

I asked the men what they think of the anti-war protesters.

Shawn: I expected it. Anytime there is a war you get those people out there screaming because they are afraid.

Bigley: These people refuse to understand what would happen if we let Saddam stay out on the loose. And the thing is that it is our families who are most afraid, who sacrifice the most and they understand why we are here.

Faulkner: I think that if they could see what we see, the nasty, underhanded way this enemy fights us then they would think differently about this war. I think the reports on the way they are treating our POWs can make it clear to a lot of protesters that this is an evil that must be defeated. I can't imagine that they could see what is happening to our guys and still believe that this isn't a necessary fight.

CBG: What do you guys think about the French and Russians opposing the US decision to go to war?

Glazer: Who are the French? We don't need the French. We fight for freedom and security. They only care about their money. What is really upsetting is that the US will probably end up paying the French and the Russians whatever the Iraqis owe them to buy their support for freedom.

Bigley: They don't seem to understand about terrorism in France. They don't seem to understand that terrorism must end. The Russians understand this and yet they are still selling these guys arms. That has to stop. The Russians have to start thinking about the consequences of their actions.

Glazer: Not that I care, but I assume that the UN will follow us eventually. The UN members are too scared to support us upfront, but everyone will join the bandwagon once we win.

CBG:How long do you think this war will last?

Shawn: I think we'll finish it fairly quickly but that we'll be here for a while.

Bigley: The US can't leave the public eye in Iraq, otherwise another Saddam will take power a few weeks after we leave. These people don't understand what freedom is. They need to understand freedom before they can begin to expect or demand it.

Youngson: It will be really hard though. I heard on the radio about all the different religious groups here. I know that whoever doesn't end up leading here will rebel against whoever is in charge. They did that to the Turks and they will do it again. It will be very hard.

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.

SOUTH OF BAGHDAD - In the midst of a sandstorm that turned the landscape into moonscape, day into night, and night into pure blackness, a US Army sensitive site team arrived at the ammunition storage facility at Najaf Tuesday to investigate suspicions the complex had been used for chemical weapons.

The team - Site Survey Team 4 - from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, conducted tests inside the complex's bunkers. Lt. Robert M. Naspaugh, who managed the two-hour inspection, said, 'We did not get indicators that there are weapons of mass destruction at the site right now. However we only saw a small part of the site.'

The team, assisted by soldiers from the 2-7 Mechanized Infantry Battalion that took over the complex two days ago, did find numerous ammunition stores as well as chemical warfare protective gear.

Naspaugh said he is unaware of any previous visits to the site by UN weapons inspectors. The officers and soldiers, led by Lt.-Col. James Johnson, were concerned by the large number of artillery shells found by the complex because, according to Naspaugh, the main means of deploying WMD is artillery shells.

'We gave our description of the complex to the higher-ups of the Fifth Corps and the 75th Exploration Task Force at Fort Sills,' Naspaugh said. 'We will make our assessment of the complex to higher-ups. They will decide whether to send in another team that will come and take samples back to a laboratory that will use a gold standard. The only person who will announce such a finding is the president or the prime minister.

'I can't confirm or deny if there are chemical weapons here. In the bunker, we looked at, we found protective gear,' Naspaugh said, referring to chemical-resistant masks, suits, and gloves.

In the meantime, the US ground forces around Najaf are beginning to continue their push westward to Baghdad. Staying in fixed positions, the troops must deal with constant attacks against their encampments. This in turn involves contending with civilians who live nearby, who may be collaborating with or in fact are members of the Iraqi forces.

To contain the threat, the 2-7 Mechanized Infantry Battalion placed a barrier to prevent enemy forces from approaching them. At the barrier the troops contend with several attempted attacks by Iraqi forces, as well as civilians seeking medical and other humanitarian assistance.

'The situation is very bad for the soldiers,' said Capt. Sam Donnelly. 'Manning checkpoints is the work of peacekeepers, and we must maintain our combat mentality.'

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.

150 KM. SOUTH OF BAGHDAD - US forces continued to secure the suspected chemical plant in Najaf on Monday, as 12 civilians were caught attempting to transport a truckload of AK-47 rifles to the site. The 12 were added to the 54 Iraqi officers and enlisted men - including one general - who surrendered to the 2-7 mechanized infantry battalion during Sunday's raid.

Senior army sources revealed to this reporter that the army is concerned with the sensitive status of the site. Specialists from an army 'exploitation team' will arrive at the complex Tuesday to conduct comprehensive inspections. In the meantime, the 2-7 battalion of the army's Third Infantry Division's First Brigade has concentrated its main effort on protecting against Iraqi militia forces from the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Brigade that have been conducting guerrilla warfare operations against them from Nasiriyah to Najaf. These forces are estimated to number between 600 and 1,200 soldiers in each of the Shi'ite cities of Karbala and Najaf.

American troops have been subjected to sniper fire as well as RPG and mortar attacks. The First Brigade has to date taken 247 Iraqi prisoners. Many captured Iraqis from the Al-Quds Brigade were holding thick wads of cash. Battalion commander Lt.-Col. Scott Rutter explained to his officers on Monday that the purpose of this money is to bribe townsmen and civilians to allow the militiamen to use their homes as launching grounds against US forces.

Because of this, psychological operation troops, or 'Psyops,' broadcast recorded messages on their loudspeakers ordering civilians around the US troop encampment to vacate their homes. By and large, the civilians complied.
 

Soldiers inspecting an onion field near an encampment found rifle mounts hidden among the crops.

The forces are feeding the Iraqi prisoners and providing them with water from their own rations.

On Monday night, a tank worked to prevent hostile forces from approaching US encampments. In one instance, soldiers shot at a vehicle attempting to drive past their roadblock on the highway. In another instance, the company engaged an armed individual attempting to crawl past the soldiers.

US forces are currently halted in their positions 150 km. south of Baghdad as the air force conducts air raids against Republican Guards deployed on the southern outskirts of Karbala. These ground forces, which just completed a three-day push from Kuwait, are often under fire and are positioned to continue their northward advance.

The reports of US POWs in Baghdad have frustrated and enraged US forces. These reports, together with the guerrilla tactics being used by Iraqis against US soldiers along the roads and in their encampments, have given the forces great impetus to continue forward.

'It is clear that we are fighting an enemy that shares none of our values. We don't expect to change them. We expect to defeat them,' Lt. Mark Schenk said.

'I guess we are the only ones who follow the Geneva Conventions. The way they treated our POWs doesn't surprise me. It just makes me want to get on with this,' said St.- Sgt. Patrick Taylor.

As for the road ahead, the American forces expect it will not be an easy ride. Capt. Sam Donnelly explained that the Iraqi tactics have shown him that these forces are 'smart.'

'In our two previous engagements, the Iraqis showed they know of our reluctance to go into cities, not because we cannot fight, but because of the high rate of casualties such engagements involve. Though I think that shoot-and- scoop, cut-and-run is something we will see a lot of as we approach cities and towns.'

'At the same time, I have no doubt we will win,' said Donnelly, as he quoted Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese military strategist.

'See yourself, see the enemy, see the terrain - you will not lose.'

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.

DUE WEST OF NAJAF, SOUTHERN IRAQ - Soldiers of the US 3rd Infantry Division Sunday captured in Najaf, some 250 kilometers south of Baghdad, the first Iraqi installation that is suspected of having produced chemical weapons. About 70 Iraqi troops, including a general, surrendered to US forces at the plant.

One soldier was lightly wounded when a booby-trap exploded as he was clearing the sheet metal-lined facility, which resembles the eerie images of scientific facilities in World War II concentration camps. He sustained burns to his hands when a door he touched detonated a bomb that exploded a building.

Asked about The Jerusalem Post report at a press briefing in Qatar, US Lt.-Gen. John Abizaid said, 'I'm not going to confirm that report. But we have one or two general officers who are providing us with that information.'

The 100-acre (400-dunam) complex is surrounded by an electrical fence. The surrounding barracks resemble an abandoned slum.

It wasn't immediately clear exactly what chemicals were being produced here, but clearly the Iraqis tried to camouflage the facility so it could not be photographed from the air, by swathing it in sand-cast walls to make it look like the surrounding desert.

The mostly abandoned buildings inside the complex are long cavernous structures built of blue corrugated metal that call to mind chicken coops.

Tank and Bradley fighting vehicle companies moved in on the suspected chemical plant, due west of Najaf, after an initial artillery barrage. Aside from several guard dogs, the plant appeared recently abandoned. And yet upon approaching the complex the psychological operations team broadcast surrender instructions to the Iraqi troops presumed to be hidden inside.

The team went from building to building. After some 35 minutes inside the compound, the first group of 10 soldiers and officers surrendered as instructed. They lay on the ground and put their hands above their heads.

Some 10 minutes later an additional group of 60 officers and soldiers surrendered. Initial interrogations by the troops in the field revealed that one of the officers was a general.

Documents written in Arabic, Cyrillic, and English script were found and confiscated. After registering the POWs, the soldiers left the area and moved on to the main encampment, some 50 kilometers south of Karbala.

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post

DUE WEST OF NAJAF, Southern Iraq - The First Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division conducted its first planned operation against an Iraqi target Sunday. Battalion forces were engaged twice by enemy forces along Highway 8, first in the village of al-Khadir just south of a-Samwah and later on the outskirts of a-Samwah itself.

In the first battle, Iraqi forces attacked twice. Initially small arms were fired at soldiers from Alpha Company from inside the town's water tower. The troops quickly neutralized the fire and the Iraqi forces surrendered. The job of the troops was to explode Iraqi munitions, which included RPGs, mortars, and AK-37 machine guns, as well as sorting the POWs. These tasks took a number of hours, particularly the former, as the soldiers needed to take the explosives away from the center of town to protect civilians gathered nearby.

After nightfall, the engineering company gathered the explosives, as a second volley of shots was fired at the troops, this time from the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Army. The US forces neutralized the fire.

A 25-millimeter machine-gun round killed two Iraqi soldiers. Soldiers also took an additional 20 prisoners. As Alpha Company secured the village the rest of the battalion continued north on Highway 8 toward a-Samwah.

On the outskirts of the city, a brigade reconnaissance team was ambushed and attacked by Iraqi forces that were stationed in bunkers above them. Two soldiers were shot and moderately wounded. A reconnaissance plane identified the enemy locations.

In the ensuing battle Iraqi forces fired RPGs at US tanks and the US soldiers responded with 120-millimeter rounds and high-explosive artillery rounds. After 20 minutes of battle the Iraqi bunker complex was destroyed, three Iraqis were killed, and 40 surrendered. 

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.

ON THE IRAQ-KUWAIT BORDER - The few Iraqi guards on the Kuwait border fled
on Thursday night in advance of US troops crossing into Iraq. At midnight,
soldiers saw that the roof of the building housing the guards had been blown
off and there was rubble all around, but there were no Iraqis; neither dead
nor wounded. They had all run away.

Pilots of US jets reported that Iraqi forces expected to engage in battle
had also dispersed.

Iraqi tanks began engaging US forces at approximately 9:30 p.m. Thursday
night, a half-hour after the US invasion began. Bravo mechanized infantry
company, with its 14 Bradley fighting vehicles, engaged one T-55 and two
tracked vehicles. After a protracted fire fight, the Iraqi tanks were
destroyed, one from a distance of 400 meters.

Additionally, reports of two to three Iraqi tanks were later proven false.
These tanks were 'dead' or 'out of service tanks' that have been located
adjacent to the Kuwaiti borders since the Gulf War.

Apparently, the Iraqis were utilizing these tanks as cover for those that
engaged the US forces. As of 11 p.m. Iraq time, US forces were located five
to 10 kilometers inside Iraq and continuing their advance as scheduled.

The first call 'gas, gas' telling the troops to put on their gas masks came
at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

In the operations tent of the 2-7 mechanized infantry battalion most of the
talk under the mask was muttering against the nearby Patriot missile battery
for unnecessarily troubling them. The alarm lasted only five minutes and
then it was back to business.

With just hours to go before the invasion of Iraq begins, the troops have no
time to fret. The definitive order to open a ground offense in Iraq Thursday
night came about an hour after the Iraqis launched their first missile
attack against Kuwait.

The first missile was targeted at US forces at Camp Virginia. The second was
aimed at Kuwait City. They were both intercepted.

An hour before the order was given, standing meters away from the Iraqi
border, armored personnel carrier driver Specialist Richard Freeman from
Indiana said that his feeling is 'no different from any other day.'

As Khaled, a Pakistani contractor, put the final touches on Lane 8, one of
several lanes through which forces from the army's 3rd Infantry Division
will cross the 'berms' - four-meter man-made sand dunes that separate Kuwait
from Iraq - Freeman's head poked out the hatch of his vehicle and peered
into the Iraqi expanse beyond.

Moments later word came over the radio of the first Iraqi missile attack.

The soldiers looked to their company commander, 29-year old Capt. Michael
Bliss from New York State for instructions. Should they put on their masks
and chemical weapons suits?

The 2-7 mechanized infantry battalion's operations tent called in the
coordinates of the missile trajectory and said they were out of range.

Everything was fine, but nothing was as it had been just moments before. 'So
this is it, no more delays, no more politics?' I asked.

'I guess not,' Bliss responded.

Just before the report of the second Iraqi missile launch came across the
radio, Bliss had reported to his battalion commander, Lt.-Col. Scott Rutter,
that the work 'busting the berms' was complete.

The south to north invasion route to Iraq passes over 15 kilometers of berms
as well as 20 meter deep trenches and a three layer electrical barbed wire
fence.

The seven kilometers of obstacles on the Kuwait side of the border were
breached on Wednesday and Thursday by Kuwait contractors and forces from the
army's V Corps 54th engineering battalion. Over the eight remaining
kilometers of berms on the Iraqi side, the engineers will work alone with
their bulldozers and 18 meter-long truck-mounted bridges.

In the assembly areas all along the Kuwait Iraq border, the awesome force of
the army's V Corps was on display Thursday afternoon. Its 3rd Infantry
Division, which will take the lead role in the ground offensive will be
moving into Kuwait with some 10,000 vehicles.

This number is larger than the total number of vehicles used by the US Army
in Europe throughout World War II.

Driving five kilometers through the desert up to the border, line after line
of tanks, artillery, Bradley fighting vehicles, multiple launch rocket
systems (MLRS), Patriot missile batteries, mortars, trucks, fuel tankers,
and anti aircraft guns were parked in columns ready to move with their guns
all pointed in one direction, north.

The Third Infantry Division is not expecting any serious Iraqi resistance in southern
Iraq as they begin their approach to Baghdad.

'Saddam will use his forces to defend important assets. The further east the
troops the larger the perceived threat. So the Marines, whose objective is
the port city of Basra, are projected to run into serious Iraqi resistance
first,' said Lt.-Col. Scott Rutter, commander of the 2-7 battalion and the
only Jewish combat battalion commander in the US Army.

'Across the breach [immediately over the Iraqi border] I expect minimal
resistance depending on the artillery attacks ahead of the advance, I figure
that people will probably be pretty shaken up,' he said.

Rutter's task force numbers 900 men and includes two Patriot missile
batteries. Against this force, in the initial hours of the offensive he
expects to be met by forces no larger than two to three soldiers at a time.

'There is almost no one here on the Iraqi side of the border. Just some
guard towers that we will destroy.' Two mechanized infantry platoons are set
to take on the main guard tower during the initial attack. 'We expect there
to be no more than 30 to 40 guards and they are more a police or
constabulary force than military forces,' he said. His projections were
accurate, and when his forces crossed the border, the Iraqis fled.

Rutter does not expect to engage in serious battle until his battalion nears
Baghdad and engages the Iraqi Republic Guard.

'I do not believe they will capitulate easily there; I expect a fight from
them. I think you can project that the Iraqi resistance will be less
threatening in the initial stages, ugly around Baghdad and then less
threatening in the later stages,' he says.

'Obviously, we will destroy any force that attempts to combat us on the
road.

We are concerned about attempts to conduct terror operations against our
troops, but again, we are prepared to defend ourselves against anything
coming our way.' Expectation of Iraqi forces destroying the oil fields
southwest of Basra caused the Marines to request permission to begin moving
as quickly as possible.

The repeated missile attacks Thursday caused the division to raise the
readiness level of the troops. Solders were instructed to don their chemical
warfare suits at nightfall.

While the Scud attacks work to focus the minds of the US forces as they
ready their gear for the attack, no one seemed overly anxious.

As they lined up for their combat rations for the next day of fighting -
three meals, three bottles of water - the only thing that interested them
was who gets a hamburger and avoids the beef and mushrooms.

At the same time commanders sat in the operations tent and went over attack
plans again and again as the day drew to a close and the hours of invasion
drew near.

Deputy battalion commander Maj. Kevin Cooney, a sunny-faced southern
gentleman who personified Teddy Roosevelt's adage, 'speak softly and carry a
big stick,' explains: 'The coming battle will involve enemy positions that
we will enter after they have been attacked by direct artillery barrages. I
expect that any surviving enemy forces will wish to capitulate.'

Addressing his forces over the radio for the last time before the start of
ground operations, Rutter said, 'This is personal. It started on September
11, 2001. We were all New Yorkers that day.

'Our task force is a liberation force, but more importantly it is a
destruction force designed to topple the Iraqi regime. I am honored to be
your commander. We will do well. Take care of your buddy. Nothing follows.
Out.'

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.

SOUTHERN IRAQ - I do not recall ever considering the country of Kuwait or
the Kuwaiti people for that matter with any particular emotion. To the best
of my knowledge, Kuwaiti forces never participated in the Arab world's wars
against Israel, nor have the Kuwaitis overtly funded terrorism against us
like the Saudis and the Iraqis.

If I had any feeling at all it came from the American in me. As an American
I felt satisfied that after the US-led forces liberated Kuwait twelve years,
the Kuwaitis retained the awareness of their vulnerability and have
therefore permitted, and even welcomed, the US to base their forces in this
country.

I never felt any strong emotion towards Kuwait or towards the Kuwaiti people
until I arrived in the country on Sunday, March 9, only to be greeted by
blistering, virulent hatred accompanied by a reign of quiet, relentless
discrimination. From the moment I arrived, the Kuwaiti government sought to
silence me as a writer, a journalist and an Israeli even as I was traveling
as a US citizen on a valid visa.

A few hours before I was set to depart for Kuwait on a flight from
Washington, DC, I began to realize that I would be in for a rough ride. I
read on the Internet that the Kuwaitis issued a statement telling the
international press corps in Kuwait that anyone transmitting reports to the
Israeli media would face criminal prosecution.

I began to panic. I was about to board a flight to Kuwait where my primary
objective would be to transmit reports of the war to the Israeli media.

In a telephone conversation a half an hour later with F. David Radler, the
co-owner of Hollinger Corp. which owns The Jerusalem Post, Radler assured me
that the company would back me. At any rate, Radler explained, I would be
covering the war for the Chicago Sun-Times, a sister paper to the Post also
owned by Hollinger.

Most importantly, Radler pointed out that I didn't need to go if I didn't
want to. Hearing that made me think about why I was going in the first
place. Two images entered my mind - Israeli children in gas masks and an
image of the Kuwaiti bureaucrat who wrote that directive. I was going.

On the face of it, the Kuwaitis could have easily passed over my name and
not bothered with me. I am an American citizen. I applied for my Kuwaiti
visa with a letter of accreditation from the Chicago Sun-Times. For the
Kuwaitis to go after me they would have to really want to.

On Monday, after the cab ride from the Crowne Plaza where I was staying by
the airport, to the Kuwait Hilton on the seacoast, I realized just how
determined the Kuwaitis were.

The drive from hotel to hotel lasted 25 minutes during which the taxi
traversed Kuwait City. The most remarkable aspect of Kuwait City is the
absence of Kuwaitis. They leave the work of running their kingdom to
foreigners - Filipinos, Indians, Pakistanis, Egyptians and Bangladeshis
mainly. You can't find any Palestinians in Kuwait anymore. All 250,000 of
them were deported in 1991 after the coalition forces liberated Kuwait.

Kuwait City looks like a run-down version of Afula or Beersheba with one
primary difference. There is nothing going on. No one is going anywhere or
doing anything in Kuwait City. Whereas Israeli cities teem with life and
energy, Kuwait City is lethargic, bereft of human vitality.

The opulence of the beach front suburb was an indication that Kuwaitis
actually live there. But its wealth made it no more appealing than the dead
cityscape. At first glance, the villas recalled Herzliya Pituah, but upon
closer examination, they lack character. The palaces stand like algae in a
motionless pool.

My cab ride to the Hilton showed me that the Kuwaitis care little about
cultivating their own country. My experience after arriving at the Hilton
showed me that the Kuwaitis care very much about hating Israel.

The US army's public affairs officers were told by the Kuwaitis ahead of my
arrival that they would not accredit me to work in the country. The State
Department's agreement with Kuwait stipulates that the US army will not
accredit journalists not already accredited by the Kuwaitis. For the rest of
the international press corps, Kuwaiti accreditation was a formality. The
information office had a table right across from the army's public affairs
counter. But for me, it was an insurmountable hurdle. And non-accreditation
meant that I was stuck, prevented from doing my job.

I phoned Bret Stephens, the Post's editor-in-chief and apprised him of the
situation. He in turn spoke with a number of key Pentagon officials. Radler,
true to his word, worked together with Chicago Sun-Times editor Michael
Cooke calling US congressmen and senators.

For their part, the Kuwaitis were moving as well, but so was I. In the late
afternoon hours I sat down at a table in the Hilton lobby waiting to phone a
helpful foreign service officer at the US Embassy named Jim Moran. A
stranger sat down at my table and said, 'You're Caroline Glick from the
Chicago Jerusalem Post Sun-Times.'

'Who are you?' I asked.

'I'm Yigal, Hungarian from Peruvian television.'

So I met Yigal Zur, another hounded Israeli. Yigal introduced me to an army
officer who had been helping him. The officer told me to pack my bags and
move out of my hotel room immediately. 'If you stay there on your own the
Kuwaitis can escort you to the airport, no problem,' he said. 'And I know
that is what they want to do.'

What followed was like a movie scene. Yigal and I got into a cab and drove
to my hotel. He waited in the cab while I ran up and packed my gear and
checked out. We then returned to the Hilton, paid in cash for a room under
his name so no one would know where to find me.

In the meantime, I received a call from Jim Moran at the US embassy. The
State Department had worked out a compromise. The Kuwaitis would accredit me
if I signed a paper promising not to report for any Israeli media outlet
while in Kuwait. I thought immediately of the negative implications. I would
sign away my freedom of expression. This made me extremely angry. For the
first time in my life I began to see what it is like to live in a society
without basic freedoms.

I called Bret in Jerusalem and asked for his thoughts. He saw the positive
implications.

'Caroline, you'll be in Iraq soon with the greatest offensive force ever
amassed. Covering that war and that force is why you are there. Sign the
statement.'

The next morning, before they gave me the statement, a Kuwaiti official
(born and raised in Virginia) began interrogating me. He wanted me to agree
not to write for the Israeli media not only in Kuwait, but in Iraq as well.

I couldn't believe his nerve. I replied politely that I could only discuss
with the Kuwaiti government my plans for while in Kuwait and that a decision
where to place my articles was made by my company, not by me.

After signing the statement, I was immediately loaded on a bus with other
journalists. Yigal from Peruvian television spent the next two nights in a
room registered under my name waiting to go himself. I was sent to the
Army's 3rd infantry division's first combat brigade.

I looked at the other journalists on my bus and wondered about them. Would
they be angry if they knew what I had to go through in order to join them on
this bus? Did they care when they saw that the Kuwaitis had put a notice on
the bulletin board of the Hilton's media center prohibiting all news
organizations from publishing their reports in the Israeli media? Would it
bother them if they knew that I had just spent the last night in hiding?

Not knowing the answers to any of these questions, I kept my own counsel on
the bus, introducing myself as a Sun-Times reporter only.

For me, the main lesson from this odyssey is that to refer to the Middle
East conflict as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is to ignore the truth.

The truth is that at its root the conflict is about the Arab world's
obsession with rejecting Israel. Kuwait hates the Palestinians. The Kuwaitis
kicked the Palestinians out of their country.

The way I was treated had nothing to do with Beit El or Netzarim. It has to
do with Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem and the Bible.

As I joined the 2-7 mechanized infantry battalion on Tuesday night, I
realized that it was the first time I had felt safe in 48 hours.

On Sunday afternoon, as I felt my body melting in the oppressive desert heat
and its odor - borne of five days in the heat and dust and wind without a
shower - wafted into my nostrils and shocked me, I understood how I would
know when peace has come.

Peace will be upon us when I can feel as safe and welcome at a five-star
Kuwaiti hotel as I felt in the Kuwaiti desert with the US army.

Orginally published in The Jerusalem Post.

The US military is without a doubt the most powerful fighting force in the
world. The forces arrayed in the Kuwaiti desert are stunning by any
standard. Last Thursday night and Friday morning, the Fifth Corps, which
commands all army ground forces in the country staged a rehearsal of the
invasion of Iraq.

The main purpose of the exercise from the perspective of the individual
battalions was to ensure the smooth flow of traffic along the lanes cleared
by the engineering companies.

In the pre-dawn light of Friday, the convoys of tanks, Bradleys, mortars,
trucks and humvees started moving. The vehicles taking part in the exercise
comprised just one-fifth of the total number of vehicles that are set to
cross over. And still the column was never ending.

US forces are acutely aware of their unprecedented power. While overall they
disdain the Arab world's armies, they exhibit a strong respect for the IDF.

Soldiers and officers at all levels are quick to mention the Israeli
officers with whom they have trained and to extol their abilities.

Capt. Jason Happe, the fire support officer for the 2-7 mechanized infantry
battalion trained with an IDF tank company commander at the US army's armor
advance course.

'He was an amazing talent,' Happe remarks while recalling their first
meeting.

'In the course we had an officer from Egypt, one from Jordan and one from
Saudi Arabia, in addition to the Israeli. The first day of the course the
Arabs were all talking with each other and the Israeli was keeping to
himself before class began.

'Then all of the sudden, the Egyptian said to him, 'Get out of here,' and
the Saudi joined in. The Israeli officer ignored them. But then the
Jordanian officer called him a 'dirty Jew.' After that the Israeli jumped
out of his chair, jumped on the Jordanian and broke his nose. The Egyptian
and the Saudi tried to come up to him from behind, but he put them both
down, too. He was bloodied up some but he was okay.

'I was standing at the door with another American watching and we walked in
then. I put my arm around the Israeli and said, 'Hey, you're a tough one.
You can come sit down over here with us.' He was the best student in the
course.'

Commander of 1st Brigade, Col. William Grimsley, attended the war college
with an Israeli officer as well. His Israeli counterpart, whom he refers to
as 'a gifted officer and great soldier,' is now OC Central Command,
Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky.

The 2-7 battalion commander, Lt.-Col. Scott Rutter, attended Command and
General Staff College with Israeli artillery commander, now Brig.-Gen.
Lawrence Moullion. He too extols the abilities of his colleague.

In addition to their personal experiences with Israeli colleagues, the US
forces are quite aware of the war going on in Israel and have very clear
views of the conflict.

Battle captain Rob Milan from Florida approached me a few days ago and
raised a pointed question.

'Why do you guys keep giving those Palestinians land?' Three or four
officers who were standing near us chimed in in agreement.

'You guys know how to fight. Why don't you just win and move on?'

KUWAITI DESERT - Monday afternoon I ate a hamentaschen on the hood of a humvee in the Kuwaiti
desert, 40 km. south of Iraq with US Army 1st Sergeant Michael Mansfield. I
lit a zippo lighter for a candle and we said the blessings.
We clinked hamentaschen for l'haim. In lieu of the megilla reading, I told his driver
an abbreviated version of the Purim story. The hamentaschen were courtesy of
the sergeant's uncle Norman in Florida. The rest of the experience was
compliments of the US army.

This is by far the most bizarre holiday celebration I have ever had, but
Sgt. Mansfield, a 39-year-old Brooklyn native who has been in the US army
for 18 years, has experiences that far outpace our humvee Purim picnic.

In the first Gulf War he was a squad leader with the same battalion he is
presently attached to - the 2-7 mechanized infantry battalion of the 3rd
Army Infantry Division's 1st Brigade.

'Being a Jew in the army means knowing how to compromise. But back in 1991,
when I was in Saudi Arabia, I insisted on being allowed to celebrate Hanukka
with other Jews.

'They flew me to this camp in the middle of nowhere in the desert; out there
they had this tent set up and inside the tent was a rabbi and five other
Jews. We said some prayers and lit the menora. The rabbi sang and pulled out
the Manischewitz wine. I don't know how he got that wine into Saudia. That
was by far the most memorable Hanukka of my life.'

As far as postings go today, the 2-7 Battalion is a pretty good place for
Jews. The commander, Lt.-Col. Scott Rutter, is Jewish.

Rutter cuts an interesting figure. The 40-year-old, 1.8 m. commander with
bright blue eyes and salt and pepper hair is the only Jewish combat
battalion commander in the US army and one of the only Jewish commanders at
any level. Rutter is also the only battalion commander in the 3rd infantry
division who fought as a company commander in the Gulf War.

Rutter, an only child, grew up in Philadelphia. He finished college at the
age of 20 and joined the army. In June he is set to round out his 20 years
of service and to the great consternation of his superiors, is determined to
leave 'at my peak,' and become a civilian.

Today he, his wife Joline, and their sons Seth and Luke live in Manhattan
and are members of the Lincoln Square Orthodox synagogue.

He is proud of his background and his heritage and is open to sharing it,
especially with a writer from Jerusalem. His mother's family came to America
from Germany before the US Revolution in 1776 and they have maintained their
Judaism throughout the centuries.

But today, the story for Rutter is not about his Judaism. It is about his
battalion and the war that he and his 730 soldiers and officers are about to
fight.

I ARRIVED at Rutter's battalion on March 11, about 10 days after they left
the cultivated Camp New Jersey and moved to the outback closer to the
border. Conditions for the battalion are harsh. In their desert camping
ground, they have much sunlight during the day, much darkness during the
night and very little else. They have no running water and receive
electricity from generators. They live off combat rations and food trucks
that come from the brigade command some 10 km. away.

The troops have all learned one word in Arabic since arriving in this spot -
shamal - which means sandstorm. I experienced my first shamal on Wednesday
night. In this type of storm, once the sand starts moving, there is no
stopping it. Day and night visibility can be limited to less than 20 cm.

Wednesday night I could barely make out my hand in front of my face.

Unlike the Negev or the Judean Desert, the Kuwaiti desert is perfectly flat.
Any hills are the result of either Kuwaiti mining or oil drilling
explorations or US military maneuvers. There are no natural obstacles to
hide a person from the wind or to slow it down.

And yet there are no complaints. As Lt.-Col. Rutter says, 'Our forces are
much happier here than they were in Camp New Jersey. It's true that there
they had showers and regular toilets. They even had Internet access. But now
that we are here they know that the battle is approaching. And they know
that the way home goes through the north.'

The topography of the desert is one of the reasons that the US forces here
foresee little resistance for their troops in their initial push into
Baghdad. Commander of 1st Brigade, Col. William Grimsley explains, 'It is
hard to defend in this terrain. If a side in hostilities believes that it is
best to place troops in a location where their presence will reinforce
naturally defended terrain then this would not be the place to deploy them.'

The US military leadership in Kuwait is exceptionally confident about its
ability to complete the march from Kuwait to Baghdad within four to five
days. A mechanized infantry battalion like the 2-7 can move an average of
20- 30 km. per hour and at that rate Baghdad, at 450 km. from the border is
just about four days away.

Rutter's battalion today is an almost wholly autonomous offensive strike
force. The 2-7 mechanized infantry battalion, (nicknamed the Cottonbailers),
includes a heavy mechanized infantry company equipped with 10 Bradley
fighting vehicles and 4 M1A1 Abrams battle tanks, a fully mechanized company
with 14 M1A1s, and a third company with 10 M1A1s and four Bradleys. The
Bradleys have a 25 mm. cannon, two TOW missile launchers and a 7.62 machine
gun. They are heavily armored and can dismount eight troops. In addition,
the battalion has an engineering company, a mortar company, a scouts company
and an air defense artillery platoon armed with stinger missiles launched
from their Bradleys instead of the TOWs.

For the purpose of the invasion, the 2-7 battalion will also be carrying two
Patriot missile batteries. The battalion will receive heavy artillery
support from the brigade's battalion of Palladin howitzers. The Palladin
cannons have a 33-km. range and their payload includes laser-guided heavy
explosive charges. The 2-7 battalion's indigenous mortar range is limited to
7.2 km.

In addition to its fighting forces, Rutter's 2-7 battalion has a civil
affairs team of reservists who were called up for 365 days as well as a
psychological warfare team of active duty soldiers. Both of these attached
assets are part of the Special Operations Command from Fort Bragg. The task
of these forces during the fighting stage will be to keep civilians away
from the battle and to instruct Iraqi forces how to surrender.

Captain Bill Thompson, the head of the civil affairs team, teaches photo
journalism at a junior college back home in South Carolina. The soft-spoken
38-year-old is to lead the civil affairs team in setting up displaced
persons camps, POW camps and, in later stages of the war, identifying Iraqis
who will cooperate with the US in regime change as well as in coordinating
the work of NGOs in rehabilitating the country.

Thompson recalls the success of the US psychological operations in the Gulf
War.

'We had Iraqi soldiers surrendering to us with our leaflets in their hands.
If we hadn't come they would have died. They had no water and all the food
they had left were these inedible black oranges.

'Our leaflets had pictures of food on them. They came with their hands up
with their fingers pointing to the food pictures. They ate our entire
rations, including the powder for the coffee creamer and the Tabasco sauce -
they were so hungry. On the leaflets there was a picture of a banana and the
prisoners kept pointing to the picture. We figured out that in Iraq bananas
were a delicacy so we flew in a planeload on a C-130 (Hercules) and gave
them to the Iraqis.'

WHILE THE attack plan is complete, it is far from clear how Iraq will be
stabilized after the fall of Saddam's regime. Third- Infantry Division
commander Maj.- Gen. Buford Blount believes that his division will remain in
Iraq through the initial stabilization stage after the hostilities die down.

'Our mission here is to set conditions for a new regime and to locate and
seize all weapons of mass destruction,' Blount, a 1.9 m. model of an
American general says. 'All of this is necessary to prepare the country for
a new regime.'

It appears that the Pentagon planners believe that after the initial push to
Baghdad it will take some time to put together a new Iraqi government. First
there is the problem of northern Iraq. In the absence of Turkish bases, US
forces will have to move from south to north and it will take time to arrive
in Kurdistan.

Second, there is the problem of civil affairs. While there are 100,000
ground forces in Kuwait and heading for Iraq, there are only 180 civil
affairs troops. These men, all reservists, will be responsible for going
from village to village and making the determination of whether or not the
local leaders should stay in power. Of the 180, only 30 speak Arabic. No
doubt it will take months for the US to train and deploy a sufficient force
to operate a civil administration for the Iraqis. In the meantime, they seem
to be operating under the impression that NGOs will volunteer happily to
work with the US military government in rebuilding infrastructure and
providing for the basic humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people.

One Civil Affairs soldier, 36-year-old St.-Sgt. Yancey Christopher explains,
'We want to avoid a Balkan situation where the country fell apart after Tito
left power. Hopefully we can bring democracy to Iraq but I don't know how
that can happen. As Civil Affairs soldiers we don't do rebuilding work
ourselves. We farm it out to NGOs. We have a bird's eye view of the country
and we coordinate the activities of others.

'The problem is that many of the NGO's look at us as aggressors. We
understand that after September 11, the world changed for us. They may look
at the Americans as colonizers. I know that this is not the case. I hope
they will understand that this is not our objective. But today, instead of
being reactive, and waiting to be attacked we need to be proactive and take
care of these guys before they can attack us.'

As for the attacking forces, they are ready and their motivation is high.

Captain Matt Paul from New Jersey, who commands the mortar company has a
picture of the World Trade Center in his command car. For Paul and his men
the mission is clear. They have American flags flying on the backs of all of
their vehicles.

The US troops, whose average age is 22-23, are sophisticated in their
analysis of the need for the war and the morality of the battle, if perhaps
a bit innocent about the likelihood that the Iraqis will view them in the
same light as they view themselves.

Paul says, 'I can think of no battle more moral than the one that we
approach. Saddam has caused mayhem and will continue to do so, both against
the US and our allies, as well as against his own people. To me, it would be
unacceptable not to go in and take him down. Were we to stand down, I know
that we would be back here in a few years to do this. But in the meantime,
we must ask how much damage will Saddam have caused?'

Twenty-four-year-old Bradley gunner Jason Trombley from Vermont makes the
case even more bluntly.

'This man Saddam tortures women and children in front of their husbands and
fathers. I know what has to happen to a person like that. And we are going
to take care of it.'

The US forces come from all over the US, from all social classes, races and
regional affiliations. While the US itself has over the past decade or so
upheld diversity rather than unity as the pinnacle of its social pluralism,
the army is a study in melting-pot socialization.

In one of Paul's mortar carriers sits a crew from South Carolina,
California, Russia and Ohio.

'We all work together,' says the commander, a 34-year- old sergeant from
Georgia. 'Sure there are lots of differences between us but we find things
in common. We talk about sports or movies or work. We don't run out of
things to say.'

The troops seem to believe, like their commanders, that because they have
nothing against the Iraqi people, the Iraqi people will have nothing against
them once they enter the country as liberators. When I mentioned the word
'conquest' to the deputy battalion commander Maj. Kevin Cooney, the husky
native of Arkansas with a smile forever on his face, looked surprised.

'I have never thought of us as conquerors. We are going in to liberate the
Iraqis from a terrible dictator and set up a new government that will treat
them with respect. I guess we are going to conquer their country but we
don't want anything from them. We just need to safeguard the security of our
country and help them.'

Specialist Bobby Roberts from West Virginia, who joined the army at 25 and
divides his time fairly equally between driving Rutter's humvee and writing
poetry expressed the same sentiment.

'It will be clear to the Iraqis that we mean them no harm. We'll be helping
them. They'll understand that.'

IN AN address before the 1st Brigade's battalion and company commanders on
Tuesday morning, Lt. Gen. William Wallace, who commands the army's V Corps
in charge of all army forces in the theater, told the men that he is not
concerned about the ability of the forces and indicated perhaps the root
cause of the army's sense that the Iraqis will accept them.

'You are all a hell of a lot better than the force needed to get this done
quickly, decisively and on our terms.'

The US forces believe that terrorism is likely to be used against their
forces but do not believe that it will be used to much effect. Col. Grimsley
explains, 'Terror won't stop us.'

The terror attack that most concerns the forces is the prospect of a bombing
of the fuel tankers that will resupply the armored columns.

'A car bomb or a human bomb is more effective against a fueler than against
a Bradley or an M1A1. But in the event that a 5,000 gallon tanker is blown
up, while it will be a terrible tragedy, it won't stop me from moving
forward.'

Due to fear of terror attacks against the support lines, the US has
collapsed the distance between its front and its rear. Maj.-Gen. Blount
explains that all the convoys 'will be armed and protected.'

The coming battle will be significantly different from Desert Storm not just
in its ends but in its means as well. If the air war in Desert Storm
continued for 30 days before the introduction of ground troops, the coming
war will introduce ground forces at an early stage. As one high level source
explains, 'It will be a matter of hours or at most a couple of days between
the beginning of the air campaign and the ground campaign.'

At the battalion level the men can be packed and ready to go within four
hours. By Tuesday the camp was already being broken in preparation for the
advance northwards. The actual movement to the edge of the border is set for
Wednesday morning and the breach is presumably to begin early Thursday
morning - at the end of President George W. Bush's 48-hour deadline.

The troops are infused with a sense of the justice of their cause. Fire
support officer, Capt. Jason Happe from West Virginia found a chapter from
the Bible that expresses their feelings, and the purpose of their mission
best for himself and his men. He read from the Book of Joel, chapter 2, to
his troops as the move toward battle became palpable.

'Behold the trumpet of Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who
live in the land tremble for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at
hand.

'A day of darkness of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.

'Like dawn spreading across the mountains, a large and mighty army comes
such as never was of old nor ever will be in the ages to come.

'Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land
is like the garden of Eden, behind them a desert waste - nothing escapes
them...

'The Lord thunders at the head of his army; his forces are mighty beyond
number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the Lord is
great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?'