Posted: 3/26/03

A war of bombs, but also a war of words

Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Bombs and bullets deliver a ringing message daily to Iraqi troops dug in around Baghdad. So do leaflets by the millions that flutter gently to the ground and land in enemy foxholes.

ìItís a matter of being convincing. Thatís the whole thing.î

Those are the words from someone who knows, someone who has been there.

A dozen years ago, Jim Noll was an Army lieutenant colonel and battalion commander of a psychological operations unit taking part in Operation Desert Storm. During the gulf war, Noll helped direct a psychological operations effort that bombarded enemy troops with literature strongly urging them to give up and offering them directions on how to surrender.

Noll is on the sidelines this time. He retired from the Army Reserves in June of 1999 as a full colonel with 30 years of commissioned military service and six years of active duty.

But he watches with keen interest as coalition forces march on Baghdad in their quest to force Saddam Hussein from power and restore a democratic government in Iraq. And from his experience in the Gulf War, Noll believes the technology-improved American force will deliver an even stronger psychological message to the enemy in this war.

ìTheyíve taken off right where we left off,î Noll said, comparing todayís behind-the-scenes efforts with the tactics carried out in 1991.

As a soldier trained to fight in the jungles of Vietnam in 1969, Noll said he took stock in the positive gains of the psychological efforts that saved the lives of Iraqis and the coalition forces they faced.

The image of ragged-looking, underfed Iraqi soldiers walking to surrender with leaflets in hand still sticks in his mind today, he says.

As he watches today from nine time zones removed from the battle zone, Noll says there is no blur between bombs and leaflets.

The ìshock and aweî bombing campaign targeting Iraqi military installations and presidential bunkers in and near Baghdad delivers a message of its own, he says. So do the large bombs that blast the elite Republican Guard units dug in around Baghdad, he says.

While the bombs rattle nerves, the radio and TV broadcasts and steady rain of leaflets deliver a quiet, more subtle message, he says.

ìWeíre trying to convince them (Iraqi troops) to look to the future,î Noll said.

The goals of the psychological operations are two-fold, he says. They not only encourage and spell out ways for Iraqis to give up, they openly encourage the troops to revolt and depose Saddam Hussein. The pressure is mounting by the day, he said.

ìThe Iraqi military is going to understand that within a short time they are going to be defeated,î Noll said. ìThey will have no job and no real future.î

It is such messages, he says, that will reinforce in the minds of the Iraqi soldiers the value of throwing down their arms and taking steps of their own to depose Saddam.

And it is such psychological steps that define the age-old motto of the strategy. The motto goes like this, he says: ìPsyops is everything and everything is psyops.î

Battle comments

As the first week of fighting concluded, Noll said he sees events unfolding in a predictable fashion. The missile attacks on March 19 against strategic targets in Baghdad started the offensive with a swift strike.

ìWe pretty well expected this to happen real soon,î Noll said. ìWe expected surgical strikes.î

That the attack would attempt to knock out Iraqi leadership, including Saddam, is a part of war, he said. The fact the U.S. had a good fix on a meeting of Iraqi command points to good intelligence, he added.

ìI would suspect it was someone on the ground,î he said of the information that led to the pinpoint strike on March 19. ìThey donít go in blind.î

The intelligence efforts collect information on a broad basis that in recent weeks has included U.S. Special Forces on the ground deep in Iraq, Central Intelligence Agency operatives and spies.

ìIt (covert intelligence operations) have become more pronounced since (President) Bush took over,î Noll said.

In the months since 9/11, Noll said the Bush Administration has been dedicated in its battle against terrorism.

With Iraqi leadership most certainly in possession of weapons of mass destruction and the potential to use or share the information with terrorists, Noll said he believed the U.S. government has been clear in its mission in Iraq.

And with evidence that Saddam has used chemical weapons in past military engaements, he doesnít doubt they could be used against U.S. and British forces.

Days ahead?

Noll said the days ahead will be filled with questions as U.S. and British forces close in on Baghdad.

After facing pockets of resistance in southern regions of Iraq, Noll expects more of the same when the Saddam-loyal Republican Guard are met in the outskirts of Baghdad. Those battles were forming as this edition went to press this week.

While Iraqi Regular Army conscripts have surrendered by the thousands already, the Republican Guard wonít be as easy.

In many cases, Noll said, the Republican Guard troops may rather fight than face the consequences of being turned over as prisoners to the same people they have helped surpress under Saddamís rule.

Many will be forced to put up a fight, at least for a time, Noll believes.

ìThey have to put up a fight and then surrender,î he says.

If he has a fear, Noll said it may come in the streets of Baghdad if the Iraqis elect to fight to the finish.

Urban warfare is never easy, he says, the street fighting could be difficult and bloody.

ìIt could become another Berlin,î he said, comparing Baghdad to the Russian entry to Berlin in the closing days of World War II. Russian troops suffered steep losses in the battle to control Berlin.

Noll hopes and prays the psychological operations now taking place do the job.

Misses the action

Noll remains content in his industrial arts classroom at Southwest Junior High School where he teaches, but a part of him yearns to be back in the service, he said.

ìMy heart and soul are over there,î he said.

ìI feel that I could be there contributing. It is difficult to sit here and not contribute.î

But Noll has satisfaction, too, in knowing psychological operations were successful in 1991 and will be so again this time.

He knows so because the technology is far superior and the bombs are more precise.

And both deliver a message that is convincing, he says.

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