Smart Bombs or Smart Dollars?
So which was more pivotal for the swiftness of the US invasion of Iraq? The 20th-Century industrialised warfare style routines of concerted fire-and-manoeuvre, or the refreshingly 19th Century imperialist conquest style of bribery and corruption?
A fascinating piece in the May 19 Defense News quotes Gen. Tommy Franks, chief of U.S. Central Command, confirming what had until now been mere rumors picked up by dubious Arab media outlets � that, before Gulf War II began, U.S. special forces had gone in and bribed Iraqi generals not to fight … it �was as important as the shooting part, maybe more important. We knew that some units would fight out of a sense of duty and patriotism, and they did. But it didn�t change the outcome because we knew how many of these [Iraqi generals] were going to call in sick.�