Moon Over Baghdad

While the current air campaign in Iraq relies heavily on high-tech weaponry, sophisticated targeting and the simultaneous detonation of hundreds of munitions in leadership and command/control targets, there is a fourth component not often talked about at the Pentagon. However, psychological operations, "Psy-Ops" are at the heart of the "shock and awe" doctrine.

"The point is to confuse the enemy, to stun him with imagery that will be so vivid, so startling, it will cause Iraq's military and political leadership to become disheartened and make them more prone to surrender," said Dr. Harland K. Ullman, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

The psy-op order for Operation Iraqi Freedom includes massive leaflet drops,urging Saddam's fighters to give up and go home - to avoid dying for a dying regime. Allied forces are also using Commando Solo-type airborne broadcasts to warn the Iraqi people to stay away from the fighting, and to urge them to help coalition forces uncover Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, employing what the Baghdad press calls, "Weapons of Mass Disgusting."

Hunter's Moon

But perhaps the most bizarre psy-op in Iraq now couples the technology of yesterday with images designed to terrify Iraqi soldiers into immediate and unconditional surrender. American and British air crews, flying older aircraft (such as the A-26, pictured below) which are slow enough for Iraqi soldiers to get a good look, are flying at haircut level, while crew members display... alarming visuals.

And it's working.

Early in the war, the entire Iraqi 51st Mechanized Regiment surrendered to coalition forces. More than six thousand Iraqi troops simply put down their weapons and went home. CENTCOM Gen. Tommy Franks (US Army), the man in charge of the war, brushed off questions about why the Iraqi regiment surrendered by suggesting it was because of the fabulous writing in the pamphlets. Not so, some of the 3500 captured Iraqis told ANN's embedded correspondent.

"We were sitting outside having a nice after-dinner conversation about the 72 vestal virgins who await us in Paradise when, all of a sudden, we heard the strangest noise," said SSgt. Ahmed al bin Booby an Iraqi soldier captured along with most of the 51st. "At first, we thought it was an Apache helicopter. But no! Instead, it was an aeroplane, older than my grandfather, flying just above our heads. Inside the nose of aircraft, we see nothing but American ass for miles and miles."

"It was horrible," said Lt. Sheikh Yerbooty, also with the 51st. "We were... we were...." At this point, Yerbooty broke down and sobbed. "We were eating dinner. All of us were sickened like yellow dogs."

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, who acts as the country's foreign minister, staged a news conference in Baghdad shortly after the surrender of the 51st. Without specifically referring to the surrender, he promised American and British forces would pay in blood for "their egregious war atrocities."

"We will kick the bare ass of the aggressors."

But US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld responded at the Pentagon later in the week by saying, "You can obviously see the effectiveness of this tactic. In every single one of the 18 missions flown in Operation Moon Over Baghdad, not a single shot has been fired at our aircraft. It's bloodless and it's done with great precision and it's the right thing to do."

Lasting Images

"The horror," muttered Lt. Yerbooty. "The horror. I cannot close my eyes without seeing nothing but American ass. I will never be able to face my wife and children again. I am forever disabled."

Is bare-assed warfare legal, according to the Geneva Convention?

"You bet your ass it's legal," said Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers (Gen., USAF, pictured right). "We checked with the United Nations on this. We read and re-read the convention documents. Nowhere -- and let me repeat this for emphasis -- nowhere does it say mooning the enemy is prohibited."

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan tentatively agreed. "Ass warfare is astonishing, on first glance, but it is not prohibited by any international convention of which I am aware," he said. "I do, however, deplore this escalation in the conflict and will, next week, convene a special meeting of the Security Council to consider the matter."

German and Russian delegates to the world body endorsed Annan's call for ass-warfare talks at the highest level. France, however, broke with its anti-war allies on the issue of ass-warfare.

"Actually," said French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villipen, "we see nothing wrong with ass-warfare. We are rather taken by the concept. Please show us more of this."