The Final Preparations
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Photo by PO1 Scott Allen, USN. Defense Imagery DN-ST-91-00562
F/A-18 Hornets of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 451 and Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 333 line an airfield in Saudi Arabia. Both squadrons were active in Operation Desert Storm, conducting strikes against targets in Iraq and Kuwait.
morning of 12 February, targeting two suspected Iraqi command posts and two artillery positions. After this raid, the focus shifted from artillery ambushes and prisoner snatches to concentrated preparation of the battlefield as the divisions readied themselves to breach the vaunted Saddam Line.25
Marine Air Prepares the Battlefield The Battle of al-Khafji had presented Marine air with a cornucopia of targets that lasted for several days after al-Khafji itself was liberated as Iraqi forces struggled to return to Kuwait and relative safety. The impact of the air assault on Iraqi morale is vividly illustrated in the 1 February diary of the unknown Iraqi soldier: “I haven’t found enough time to write. So much, so much passes away. The winds of war pass, years of our lives pass; the lives of young people have gone for no return. Iraq attacked al-Khafji (Saudi land) and the fighting is still going on. They are bombing our sites using planes and machine guns. There is no peace or liveliness in this world. I am dead. We were born dead.”26 As despairing as that entry sounds, three days later the same young Iraqi conscript wrote an entry indicating that the news of American bombing in Iraq could counter the drop in morale caused by the Kuwait bombardment. After admitting to listening to the Voice of America and the British Broad-
casting Corporation on his radio despite his belief that they were designed to undermine his morale, the diarist snarled, “I hate those polytheists. I wish I could drink their blood those infidels. My hatred increased since they bombed civilians and buildings where my family is living nearby. Because I know nothing of my family my grudge against them is bigger. I wish they started their ground war, whatever the consequences might be. Anyway, I am waiting for this hour to happen every day. Whether I like it or not it is bound to happen so we’ll see. God supports the oppressed.”27 The diary was not discovered until after the war ended, of course, and while there were numerous indications through intercepted communications and prisoner of war interrogations that Iraqi morale was extremely low, it was difficult for Marine commanders to judge the effectiveness of the bombing campaign, largely because the Corps lacked dedicated reconnaissance aircraft. Ironically, since the Marine Corps’ retired the last of its McDonnell Douglas RF-4B Phantom photo and radar reconnaissance aircraft in August 1990, it was forced to depend on Air Force, Navy, and other assets instead, and these rarely produced the required bomb damage assessment photos quickly enough for the Marines trying to determine if follow-up attacks were needed.
