The top US general warned Americans today to be prepared for casualties if
the United States goes to war with Iraq, saying it will not be like earlier
conflicts in the Gulf in which few US service members were killed.
"I think though that the American public needs to understand that if the
military is ordered to go into Iraq, that this will be war, that war is a
very dangerous and ugly thing, and there will be casualties," said General
Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a radio
interview.
Myers said the number of casualties US forces could expect to take was
"unknowable," but one of the biggest factors would be whether Iraq used
chemical or biological weapons and whether its army had a will to fight.
"I don't think that's a promise that anyone in uniform can make, that this
is going to be a casualty-free war. That's almost an oxymoron," Myers said.
"I don't think anyone should have the opinion that this is going to be
antiseptic, that it will be be just like Desert Storm was or the Kosovo air
campaign. It can be different from that, and we've got to make ourselves
ready," he said.
http://smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/05/1046540228490.html
