Target Saddam

A NOTE TO THE READER:

The operations described in the book, while in some respects inspired by actual events, are all invented and should be treated as fiction. Officially, the U.S. and its allies did not target Saddam for capture or execution.

In a few instances, details relating to procedures that could conceivably assist an enemy have either been omitted or obscured. These did not materially affect the story. And of course actions depicted in the book that are contrary to military law and procedures, not to mention good sense, are all fictional.

The STAR retrieval system does exist and works more or less in the manner described — though I for one would rather walk.

C-130s of various descriptions performed a wide variety of missions in the Gulf; though the plane began flying in the 1950s, it remains an important though often overlooked member of the service.

Al Kajuk is an invention.

French aircraft flew a total of 2,258 sorties during the war, roughly 2 percent of the total missions and fourth among coalition partners after the U.S., Britain, and Saudi Arabia. While several French aircraft sustained heavy battle damage, no French pilots were shot down during the war. Naturally, Hog drivers would have been there to snag their butts and haul them home if they had.

Some more boring statistics: The day before most of this story takes place, something on the order of forty percent of the sorties flown against Iraq were devoted to Scud hunting. That represented a major revamping of priorities to go against a small though admittedly politically significant threat. If that’s not an argument for providing a serious defense against ballistic missiles from rogue states and terrorists, A-Bomb’s a neat freak.

— Jim DeFelice