The San Francisco Chronicle March 26, 2003
GIs' 'unfinished business' with Republican Guard
By Jonathan Curiel
One division is named after Nebuchadnezzar, the king who ruled over Babylon 2,600 years ago and who conquered Jerusalem. Another is called Tawakalna, after an Arabic phrase that means "depending on God."
They are part of the Republican Guard, whose job is to conduct Iraq's most serious military operations, whether it's putting down civilian rebellions, as it did with brutal efficiency after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, or confronting U.S. forces advancing on Baghdad.
The guard, which is estimated to have between 65,000 and 100,000 members, has formed several perimeters around Baghdad, where the toughest fighting with U.S. forces is likely to occur. One of the most important battles of the entire war, analysts say, is the one shaping up between U.S. infantry and Marines and the elite Medina Division of the Republican Guard.
The Republican Guard, which is run by Saddam Hussein's younger son, Qusai, was created during the Iran-Iraq war and now accounts for up to one-third of the Iraqi army. Its members are entrusted with the regime's hard weaponry -- tanks, helicopters, rocket launchers and possibly even chemical arms.
"They evolved out of the Iran-Iraq war as the most effective and the best of the best in the Iraqi army," says Donald Abenheim, a visiting fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution and a longtime adviser to the U.S. Department of Defense.
(The Republican Guard is distinct from the Special Republican Guards, which is composed of men largely from Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and from tribes loyal to the Iraqi president. Their job is to protect Hussein and his inner circle in Baghdad and to eliminate any rebellions in other elite units, including the regular Republican Guard).
During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the Republican Guard retreated from southern Iraq under Hussein's order, after heavy bombardment by allied forces. When the first Bush administration decided not to enter Baghdad, its units were spared significant losses.
This time, says Patrick Garrett, a military analyst and senior fellow with GlobalSecurity.org, an organization that has studied Iraq's military capability, "They will not give up as easily."
Other analysts believe the U.S. military is particularly keen to take on the Republican Guard this time.
"There's a certain 'unfinished business' aspect to the war -- that they slipped away," Abenheim says. "And, strategically, we have to destroy them now where they sit, because if they retreat into Baghdad, then the price of Baghdad's liberation become much more uglier and difficult."
One of the biggest concerns is that the Republican Guard may decide to use chemical weapons against advancing U.S. and British forces -- a prospect that is chilling to analysts.
"I suspect they had some in 1991 and chose not to use it," says Jean-Robert Leguy-Feilleux, a professor at St. Louis University who is an expert on the the Middle East. "The information we have is that they've been given the authority to use them (this time). And what we've seen so far in this war is that the Republican Guards are quite willing to put up a good fight. Quite a few of their units have shown determination.
"In the end, what is their future once Saddam Hussein is gone? Once the system is gone, they are goners, too."
E-mail Jonathan Curiel at jcuriel@sfchronicle.com.
Copyright © 2003, The Chronicle Publishing Co.
