Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm

Iraq and Kuwait Theatre of Operations

Like the Japanese in WWII, the Iraqi and Kuwaiti delegations met to discuss their problems and peaceful way to solve them. Like the Japanese, even as the two Arab nations agreed to meet the following day to continue the talks, the invasion army was on the move. At about 0200 on 2 August 1990, seven divisions of Iraqi armor, mechanized infantry, helicopter forces, and the elite Republic Guard invaded Kuwait. Rumor has it that the Iraqis hoped to coordinate the invasion with a commando attack on the royal palace.  Allegedly, the goal was to capture and execute the royal family. This sounds like a plan Saddam Hussein would approve, and the Kuwaitis did report after the war that a coffin had been left in the palace as well as filth and feces from barnyard animals brought in by the Iraqis. The Kuwaitis believe that the Iraqis intended to photograph their dead leader among the pigs and cows and filth in the palace. There would have been no legitimate Kuwaiti leader for the West to build a Coalition around.The invasion force of 120,000 troops and 2,000 tanks quickly overwhelmed Kuwait. Curiously, the buildup had been noted by U. S. satellites and intelligence forces, but nobody in the Pentagon believed that Hussein would attack and occupy a fellow Arab county. Even other Arab leaders refused to believe it, claiming that no Arab country would attack and occupy a brother-Arab country. The military and intelligence leaders believed that it was just the latest in a series of Iraqi bluffs and posturing near the Kuwait border. A decade later, in 2003, Saddam Hussein would tell his generals that the American threats of invasion were just posturing and that they would drop a few bombs, perhaps make a few cross-border excursions, but his generals were not to take it seriously because the United States would never invade Iraq.

Iraq declared the annexation of Kuwait. The Kuwaiti government-in-exile fled to Saudi Arabia where it was recognized as the legitimate voice of Kuwait. President George Bush immediately froze all Iraqi and Kuwaiti assets in the United States and called on Saddam Hussein to withdraw his troops. United Nations Security Council Resolutions 660 and 662 condemned Iraq's invasion and annexation and called for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi forces. 

A quick word about the cost of the war. Desert Shield/Storm was a bad precedent for the United States because it was one of those very rare cases when other nations paid the vast bulk of the costs. The United States got most of its oil from Saudi Arabia so had no great reason to rush to the defense of Kuwait. However, both Germany and Japan did use Kuwaiti oil, and many of the Arab nations were willing to pay to help Kuwait free itself from the Iraqi yoke. I recall at the time that there was a joke that if the U.S. Army built a security fence in Arkansas the bill would be sent to Saudi Arabia. It was a joke, but there was the germ of truth in it. As a result, future wars (like Iraqi Freedom) would be fought by a United States with the belief that much of the cost would be picked up by oil sales and other nations. This turned out to be a futile hope. In the case of the first Persian Gulf War, the cost was 61.1 billion dollars and 53.7 billion were paid by Saudi Arabia (16.8), Kuwait (16.1), Japan (10.0), Germany (6.6), United Arab Emirates (4.1), and other nations (0.4). As a percent of Gross Domestic Product (0.3%), Desert Storm was the cheapest war fought in U.S. history. The greater cost of the war to the region was likely more than $676 billion.

The way President Bush fought this war was mentioned in WAR ROOM the official podcast of the U.S. Army War College Online Journal in an interview with military historian and author Samuel Helfont on March 8, 2021:

There are number of things that the U.S. did right especially in the lead up to the war and during the war. Everything went through the United Nations. This was diplomacy done very well. The Bush administration pulled together the largest coalition since World War II and they had a clear operational, and even up to the strategic level, purpose, military strategy at least: removing the Iraqis from Kuwait. And then of course at the tactical and operational level this was absolutely a brilliant war. Everything went so much better than even the most optimistic observers had predicted prior to the war. It turned out that American and Western more generally, tactics and equipment performed far beyond the way that anyone had expected. So that was great.

The Qurain House
From the personal collection of my friend Adel al Yousifi.

Kuwait's first and most important monument of the Iraqi invasion is the Qurain House. During the period of occupation the Iraqis looted and vandalized the Kuwaitis on a daily basis. In this house, 20 Kuwaitis from the Messila resistance group were surrounded by Iraqi troops. Five escaped before the battle began and one during the battle; the remaining 14 made a stand against the Iraqi forces in a 10-hour battle on 24 February 1991 that eventually included about 700 Iraqi soldiers laying siege to the house with tanks and guns. An Iraqi soldier was sent to climb the ladder and look inside. He stared at the two men and, with his face inches from theirs, called out that no one was there. Three fighters were killed during the battle; nine captured survivors were executed immediately afterward. Two of the fighters survived by hiding in the tiny dark attic. Now called the Qurain House, the building stands as a memorial. Shattered plaster littering the floor and dried blood spattered on the wall serve as reminders of the Kuwait resistance. The house was first left exactly as it was on that day, a shrine to the bravery of the Kuwaiti people. Later, it was turned into the Al-Qurain Martyrs Museum.

We don’t know much about the resistance since much of their work was secretive and the Kuwaiti government was very reticent to say what they were doing. When asked about the feats of the resistance movement inside Kuwait the government supplied no details. During the war we didn’t hear much about them, but after the war many Kuwaiti patriotic posters that were alleged to have been made and placed on walls during the war were available for purchase. This sudden appearance of the posters may be explained by Richard Johnson’s comments in PSYOP – The Gulf Paper War:

At war’s end, the [Resistance Ministry of Information] campaign’s remaining propaganda material was moved to the Kuwait International Hotel, where they were given away as souvenirs to anyone who wanted them.

Kuwaiti Resistance against Iraqi’s Brutal Aggression

One of the better Resistance posters depicting an Iraqi armed personnel carrier which was apparently destroyed by the Guerrillas. The poster has the text in English and Arabic: “Kuwaiti Resistance against Iraqi’s Brutal Aggression.”

The posters were not very good as artistic pieces or PSYOP, but they were probably made just to remind the Kuwaitis that the resistance existed. For the most part they are simple photographs, usually taken from some distance, of Iraqi military troops and materiel. Some of them have brief text in English and Arabic with such comments as “The Savagery of Iraq’s Invasion” or “Devastation in Kuwait after Iraqi Invasion,” some have no text. Some of the vignettes are; two Iraqi anti-aircraft guns, Iraqi tanks and artillery in an open field, a burnt out building, and various destroyed businesses, etc. 

Kuwait always in our Hearts

There were some attempts at more artistic posters. I think I saw two or three varieties of this world support poster that depicted a map of Kuwait and with pro-Kuwaiti messages in various languages.

 

Saddam and Hostage Stuart Lockwood and photo of Hitler with children as seen in Booklet

Probably the most effective propaganda piece produced by the Kuwait Government-in-Exile was a large tri-fold booklet extolling Kuwait and attacking Saddam Hussein. One page says simply “Kuwait” and depicts 11 photographs of burnt and destroyed buildings. Another page depicts Hitler with happy German children at the top and Saddam Hussein with an unhappy 5-year-old British boy named Stuart Lockwood who was being held hostage below.

The Iranians - The Kurdish

A third page is entitled “The Iranians – The Kurdish” and has eight photographs of dead children that Saddam’s forces had murdered. A fourth page is entitled “The Kuwaitis – The Hostages” and depicts seven pictures of the dead Kuwaitis and live hostages. Another page asks, “Who is the next victim?” A final page is all text in Arabic, English and French and is entitled “Saddam…Crime of the Age.” Some of the long anti-Saddam text is:

In all of history there has never been a tyrant quite like Saddam Hussein, the ruler of Iraq who has risen to power on the corpses of thousands of his own people...His attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands and destroyed the economic and social structures of both countries...He has killed thousands in Kuwait, driven most of the population from their homes, plundered the country’s wealth and traded civilization for barbarity….

Saddam – Hitler Postcard

We should note that the brochure cover was also made into a postcard. The front and back of the postcard was designed by Muna Al-Mousa and Michael Lorrigan of the Free Kuwait Campaign in London and widely distributed in the United States and Great Britain. Some of the text on the back is:

On the morning of 2 August 1990, the independent, sovereign state of Kuwait was subjected to an unprovoked invasion by Iraqi forces. Following the invasion, Iraqi troops committed brutal atrocities against the population. This attack, contrary to all fundamental principal of International law, and in total breech of the Charter of United Nations, has been condemned by all the civilized nations of the world as a naked act of aggression.

Your voice and vote can make a difference. STOP Iraqi aggression and prevent further atrocities. Please write to your government representative for action. Oppose Iraqi aggression now.

In 1998, the Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait published a book entitled Kuwaiti Resistance as Revealed by Iraqi Documents. It lists hundreds of cases of Kuwaiti resistance as reported by Iraqi troops in official reports and personal letters. Some of the comments are:

Iraqi soldier’s letter - I am here in Kuwait…Its people are peaceful by nature. However their nature has been changed due to our presence here. They would kill us if they could.

20 August 1990 – The resistance acts in small and organized groups and has adopted hit and run tactics. They sap Iraqi morale by distributing leaflets and posters.

25 August 1990 - Information was received that gunmen fired at five Iraqi military, killing all of them and throwing their bodies into garbage containers…The bodies were also burnt.

Iraqi Intelligence reports of 14 October 1990 – The so-called “Kuwaiti Resistance” are gangs of saboteurs and rebels. Some of them are but mercenaries. The latter name accurately describes this group of outlaws and does not glorify their activities…Take notice thereof and observe the new name in your letters.

An Iraqi report entitled “Security Situation in Kuwait” points out that an organization called Fohhod (Panthers) and another named Somood ((Steadfastness) is active in Kuwait. These organizations write hostile slogans on walls to kill Iraqi soldiers and members of the Popular Army, and attack resident Iraqis…

John M. Levins wrote an article entitled “The Kuwaiti Resistance” for Middle East Quarterly, March 1995:

The Resistance had four main areas of activity: (1) civil disobedience, which initially included public demonstrations and the boycott of most work but then narrowed in scope to just the latter; (2) maintaining morale through the provision of essential services and other forms of support; (3) preventing destruction in the oil fields; and (4) military operations, both attacking Iraqi troops and gathering intelligence for the allies.

Anti-Iraqi graffiti, including derisory comments about the so-called Provisional Free Kuwait Government, appeared on walls all over Kuwait from the first morning of the occupation. The first public acts against the occupation were demonstrations, mostly with women and children carrying banners and photos of the emir and crown prince. Several of these public demonstrations took place during the first week, with the earliest occurring on August 3, 1990; one day after the occupation began.

Kuwaiti Resistance Leaflet – KUWAIT FOR EVER

Speaking of propaganda products he says:

Widespread civilian resistance began on the fourth day of the occupation, when the Iraqi authorities ordered everyone to return to work. Kuwaitis stayed away in droves, except for those needed for essential services or those who went to take back-ups of computer data. Within days, the Kuwaitis were printing leaflets and newsletters on their home computers, photocopying them, and passing them around by hand or fax. English-speaking Kuwaitis monitored the most reliable sources of news--the BBC, Voice of America, and CNN--then transcribed the main points onto newsletters for those unable to understand English. When these acts became a capital offense in mid-September, the newsletter campaign fizzled out.

There was also a brief war of words on the radio the day of the Iraqi invasion. I have severely edited the text from the website Armchair Activist. Radio Kuwait broadcast at 2:05 p.m.:

O sons of Kuwait, O Arab nation. If the wolf lives as a recluse he will deceive, and if he shows goodness he is only pretending. The treacherous futile lie for which Kuwait is being invaded is a kind of base barbarism and high-handed superiority. God does not like the arrogant. O friends and brethren everywhere. In the same way Kuwait opened its doors to all honorable freemen with love and affection, now the entire population of Kuwait is appealing to you with one voice, whose echo is heard throughout the world: If you value Kuwait and its freedom, then Kuwait is calling you, so come to its rescue.

Baghdad (Voice of the Masses) answered 20 minutes later:

It seems that some mercenaries of the defunct regime abroad are trying to carry out desperate activities in favor of this regime and through exposed coordination with US and Zionist quarters. The Provisional Free Kuwait Government announces that those people do not represent Kuwait. Kuwait and its people are represented by their free government that has been formed to safeguard the interests and rights of the Kuwaiti people.

Kuwaiti Resistance Poster
Dove of Peace frees Kuwaiti Family from Iraqi Imprisonment

Radio Kuwait came back on the air at 6:30 P.M.:

Dear listeners everywhere. Do not be fooled by extraneous radio stations. Their news and bulletins are totally false. They are broadcasting poison through their propaganda, which should not be believed. Do not pay attention to what these radio stations are broadcasting. This is our radio station. It is the sole and official radio station, which is broadcasting its programs from Kuwait and in the name of Kuwait. This is Kuwait.

Bagdad (Voice of the Masses) issued Communique number 4 at 7:33 p.m.:

The sons of Kuwait know the facts regarding the continued acts of plunder of the people's money by Jabir Ahmad and his clique. Their wealth reached legendary figures, squandered in their pursuit of pleasure and deposited with their suspect partners. It is high time for returning these plundered funds to their rightful owners, the sons of the Kuwaiti people. Therefore the Provisional Free Kuwait Government has decided to confiscate all the money…whether this money is found in Kuwait or abroad. Our government warns foreign banks in which they deposited their money against any tampering with this money in a manner harming the Kuwaiti people.

On 3 August Kuwait Radio broadcast slogans, appeals and patriotic songs. The last thing they broadcast was the following appeal:

In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful. This is Kuwait. O Arabs, O brothers, O beloved brothers, O Muslims, your brothers in Kuwait are appealing to you. Hurry to their aid.

The station then immediately went off the air.

The Martyr’s Bureau

This Kuwaiti government agency is responsible for honoring those whose
deaths were a result of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and for looking after their families.

This article was written shortly after the end of Operation Desert Storm. All of the comments we have added on the Kuwaiti Resistance were written by various scholars over the past two decades. In February, 2011, on the 20th anniversary of the end of the occupation, my friend Adel Al-Yousifi put a website on the Internet entitled Kuwaiti Invasion – the Evidence. In regard to the Resistance, Adel adds:

Despite extreme peril, many Kuwaitis began secretly organizing opposition within days of the Iraqi takeover. Their acts of defiance included defacing street signs, writing anti-Iraqi graffiti on walls, printing and distributing anti-Iraqi leaflets, work boycotts, and public demonstrations. The resistance was also active in gathering intelligence, boosting morale among the populace, ensuring food supplies were sufficient, and ransoming Kuwaitis in custody through bribery. More extreme actions involved sniper attacks and ambushes that killed hundreds of Iraqi soldiers and use of Molotov cocktails to blow up military vehicles. These deadly activities had to be curtailed due to reprisals. Public demonstrations also were not worth the risk after participants were killed. Leaflet printing ceased in mid-September, when it became a capital offense.

The resistance operated in independent groups without a central command. Communicating with their government abroad was via mobile phone as Iraq had cut off all international calls to and from Kuwait. Women had a big part in the resistance. They smuggled weapons and participated in all the anti-occupation activities. Asrar Al-Qabandi committed daring feats, including hiding or sneaking out of Kuwait the remaining members of the royal family, till her capture and barbaric death in January 1991. A school has been named after her.

About 110 deaths are attributed to acts of resistance or reprisal: 62 executions, 13 deaths from torture, 13 during armed battle, and 22 while engaged in civil disobedience. (Given the population's small size, this number would have in 1990 proportionally equaled about 55,000 American deaths.)

In his Campaign to Restore a Free Kuwait presentation to the Kuwaitis, Dr. Venturi of Hill and Knowlton International planned to utilize the resistance for positive propaganda throughout Europe:

Kuwaitis are maintaining a heroic struggle to resist Iraqi oppression. The Sumood armed resistance must be covered as much as security allows. The passive resistance by Kuwaiti citizens must also be put in full light, such as the fact that Iraq hasn't been able to recruit a puppet government…The Kuwaiti resistance is strong and active, committed to freeing its country from those who illegally occupy it by force… 

The Kuwaiti Government-in-Exile was uneasy with treading a new, unknown, ground. They were not used to talking openly to the media and the public. They had not dealt with the press in the past and did not trust them. They were more likely to just say “no comment” which allowed the press to write whatever they wanted.

During the occupation many foreign Arab workers had helped the Iraqis by pointing out Kuwaiti citizens who might have been resistance members or had hidden wealth. Those Kuwaitis were often arrested, interrogated, tortured and killed. After the war the Coalition ruled the streets during the day, but at night the resistance hunted down and killed many of those suspected of collaborating with the Iraqis. There were 300,000 Palestinians in Kuwait and many of them supported Saddam Hussein.

Resistance member Abdul Rahda Ali said in The Boston Globe, 1 March 1991:

Sometimes we've shot them. We saw guys who worked with the Iraqis and identified our members' houses. And the next day we took them away and we killed them. They were Iraqis, but sometimes they were Palestinians.

Luca M. Venturi with General Norman Schwarzkopf

The Kuwait government-in-exile had hired a firm to publicize their plight. Dr. Luca M. Venturi, a media relations specialist told me:

I centered on Kuwaiti Resistance stories, alluding to the WWII anti-German partisan Resistance in France and Italy, which is surrounded by a heroic mystique. Nobody dares to criticize the “glorious deeds” of the resisting Partisans. I issued Press releases for the Kuwait Government-in-exile at Taif and organized Press conferences for the then Prime Minister and Interior Minister, including a huge one in Rome. The Kuwaiti Prime Minster opened his speech there with the wail: “Women and babies! The Iraqis killed even the women and babies.” There was no outcry in Europe. Europeans were used to women and children being murdered by bloody dictators.

Nayirah testifying at the Congressional Human Rights Caucus

The Kuwaiti Resistance was fierce and fought the Iraqis all through the war. Kuwaiti propagandists did their part attacking Saddam Hussein as another “Hitler” and waging a publicity campaign against the Iraqis in an attempt to encourage the Coalition to take a rapid and determined action against them. Perhaps the best-known Kuwaiti propaganda coup was On 10 October 1990 when the Congressional Human Rights Caucus held a hearing on Capitol Hill to discuss Iraqi violations in Kuwait. A 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl, known only by the name Nayirah was called to testify. Sobbing, she described what she had seen with her own eyes in a hospital in Kuwait City. She said that she had watched Iraqi soldiers enter the al-Addan hospital and barge into the room where premature babies were treated. The Iraqis took the babies out of the incubators, threw them on the floor to die, and left with the stolen incubators. This story made news around the world and infuriated the Americans. It later turned out that the witness had been sent to testify by the public relations firm of Hill and Knowlton, hired by the Kuwaiti government-in-exile.

The same firm sent another woman to testify before the United Nations about Iraqi cruelty during the occupation. She turned out to be the daughter of the Kuwaiti Ambassador to the United States. Of all the accusations made against Iraq, none had more impact on American public opinion than the one about Iraqi soldiers removing 312 babies from their incubators and leaving them to die on the cold hospital floors of Kuwait City. Dr. Venturi told me: 

I never really believed in the effectiveness of the incubators story which is neither false nor fully true. That kind of heartbreaking story isn't effective in Europe; I am afraid that the people we were trying to impress, the intellectuals, politicians, those that help form opinions and the press are more cynical than the American public. It is my understanding that the Iraqis turned off the electric power to the hospitals, sadly resulting in a number of deaths.

There were two such cases that Dr. Venturi might be recalling. Two babies were on assisted ventilation in Ward 8 in Jahra Hospital. They were moved to Ward 5 without ventilators and both died. The incubator episode apparently occurred in al-Adan Hospital. 14 children were in incubators when the Iraqis arrived. The Iraqi soldiers ordered the children removed and the Kuwaiti nurses refused. The soldiers removed the children. One child died immediately. Three more died within a few days and four more within the week.

So, how did Hill and Knowlton help to legitimize the Kuwaiti Government-in-Exile and make it into a legitimate and viable force in Europe? How do you take a beaten monarchy and sell it as a desirable democracy that free people should stand behind and support? Some of the details from the campaign starting in late 1990 are known thanks to Luca M. Venturi who ran the operation. We list just a few of the practical suggestion relative to media relations:

1.   Formally create a Kuwait Information Bureau.

2.   Mail or fax daily communications to international journalists covering the Middle East.

3.   Develop a mailing list of opinion leaders in politics.

4.   Translate and distribute the “US Citizens for a Free Kuwait” background press kit.

5.    When possible, arrange media exposure for Kuwait Government officials or leaders.

6.    Make available videotape and other background materials on Kuwaiti resistance, the destruction of the country and atrocities against Kuwait citizens. Whenever possible make interview subjects available.

7.    Develop and distribute material focusing on Iraqi human rights violations.

8.    Depict the Saddam regime and its history of terror and murder.

9.    Reassure the market about Kuwait’s wealth and financial commitments.

10.  Conduct multi-media press conferences when major new developments occur.

11.  Identify and conduct media training for designated Kuwaiti spokespeople in Europe.

What I found oddly humorous is that the Iraqis were much worse than the Americans were ever told. I spoke to retired Dutch Sergeant Major Cornelis Brouwer, who was assigned as to the Crisis Response Group at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The Crisis Response Group was established to serve as support for the Coalition during the Gulf War. One of the Desks was that of Psychological Warfare. He wrote a book (in Dutch) that described his experience with the Gulf War. The title is Nachtmerrie Oorlog (“Nightmare War”).

During all the time he served as Cell Chief, he was confronted regularly with pictures of the horror, torture, and war crimes the Kuwaiti people suffered at the hands of the Iraqis during the occupation. The sights of the beatings, rapes and murder still haunt him. When he sees a group of little children, he envisions a picture of a heap of children slaughtered by Iraqi machine-guns. He requested the use of some of the material in this article for his book and I was happy to grant that request.

Because Brouwer was Dutch and in theory neutral, the Americans were quite open with him. They showed him pictures of atrocities that the American public never saw. He was quite shocked and in fact did not want to look at them, but it was part of his job. He describes a particularly troubling episode. In this case, an American Colonel has some photographs. I have edited the conversation for brevity:

The average American will never see these pictures. The newspapers are not allowed to publish the worst images. The War Correspondents do not get permission to mention or publish them.

The picture was a close up of a woman’s body lying on her stomach with her face flat on the floor. Her dress was curled around her neck. Her panties were torn and crumpled halfway down her left thigh. A bullet wound was clearly seen on her back. “This is one of the lesser excesses compared to what I have seen in recent weeks.” A second photo appeared and the Colonel said “This will change your opinion of the severity of that first photo.”

The woman had been raped. She had bite marks on her breasts and one of the nipples was almost bitten off. Her face had been smashed with a heavy object, perhaps a rifle butt. Then her breasts were cut with knifes or bayonets. She was still alive and bleeding. Then the perpetrator pushed the barrel of his rifle into her vagina and fired. She then apparently died immediately because there was little blood near her vagina.

Both men just looked at each other and then separated and went their own way. Apparently the American Colonel who saw these photos every day wanted the Dutch soldier to understand what they were dealing with.

When the Kuwaiti Crown Prince visited Rome it was suggested that he claim that the visit occurred on the same day as the EEC foreign ministers to express the gratitude of Kuwait for European solidarity. There should be no lengthy lamentation on the invasion, premature babies and other old facts already largely reported by the media. The main objective was to be vocal and present the Kuwait Government in exile and remind Europe that it was still a viable and legitimate entity (the European media did not consider the Emirate of Kuwait as a full democracy). Over 100 journalists, between newswires, newspapers, television networks and foreign correspondents, attended the Prime Minister’s and Minister of the Interior press conference.

There were anti-Kuwaiti agents afoot. A few journalists claim to have been contacted by someone who claimed to be the Embassy's Press officer who gave them what was a wrong date and time. The Embassy did not have an in-house press officer but relied on advisors. The following day, journalists showed up one hour early to an empty location. Someone had disseminated the wrong time and place. It was thought that a Palestinian agent, at the time a Kuwait News Agency correspondent in Rome, probably acting because of the PLO's support of Saddam Hussein's invasion, had presented himself as the press officer of the Embassy and the confusion possibly originated from him.

It may be true that there was some exaggeration to the “incubator” story but the Iraqis did loot Kuwait medicine and medical machinery. In 1998 the Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait published a book entitled The Iraqi War Criminals and their Crimes during the Iraqi Occupation of Kuwait. It depicts ten documents on that subject. For instance, a 15 September 1990 letter on the subject of transferring medical centers states:

It has been decided to close down the centers shown on the enclosed list…It has been decided to move the appliances, equipment, furniture and medicines to Baghdad.

 

The Coalition leaflets appear in various sizes, papers and colors. In many cases the same leaflets were prepared in both color and black and white, as well as with slightly changed vignettes, and different papers and sizes. Some are found on cardboard, others on thin tissue paper. The leaflets were prepared in vast quantities as part of a plan to drop propaganda on the Iraqi forces every three hours. The Iraqis were to be kept awake, off balance, and reminded of their helplessness.

4th PSYOP Group

The first PSYOP teams deployed to Saudi Arabia on 7 August. On 10 August the PSYOP planning cell was in CENTCOM HQ. On 11 August CENTCOM set forth the National and PSYOP objectives, themes to be stressed and avoided, military actions, target audiences and PSYOP products. By 17 August a Desert Shield PSYOP Strategic Plan was finalized. We should point out that it took months for the plan to be approved by everyone up the chain of command and required General Schwarzkopf to get personally involved. The Post-Operational Analysis of Psychological Operations During Desert Shield/Storm adds:

In a strongly worded message on 5 December 1990 to the Secretary of Defense, General Schwarzkopf stressed the urgent need to reincorporate without further delay 21 important PSYOP actions which had been deleted from the original text and which he fully intended to implement. The message conveyed frustration over the void still existing between pre-hostility public diplomacy and psychological warfare.

The Institute of Land Warfare booklet Psychological Operations in Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Urban Freedom says:

Although the U. S. Commander in Chief, Central Command approval for the plan was received in September, execution authority was not granted until December. The interagency approval process, mandated by Department Of Defense Directive 3321.1 was glacial…Quite literally; months of potential psychological preparation of the battlefield were wasted.

Dr. Jared M. Tracy mentions the leaflet campaign in his January 2023 VERITAS article, “Building the Airplane in Flight, PSYOP In operation Desert Shield, Part 2, (edited for brevity):

Leaflets were expected to be another major aspect of the overall PSYOP effort. PDB print elements were located at KFIA. These included two Medium Print Systems and a Modular Print System. Each Medium Print System consisted of a Heidelberg press loaded into an early 1970s-era five-ton M820 Expansible Van truck. “Although dated,” according to one PDB report, “this truck provides the most mobile platform for our critical Heidelberg presses.” The Modular Print System consisted of three modules:

• “A”—one editorial and one print shelter, each mounted on a 2˝-ton truck.
• “B”—two dolly-mounted shelters with Heidelberg presses.
• “C”—one dolly-mounted shelter with a paper cutter.

In addition to these printing systems, leaflet rolling machines (to facilitate loading into leaflet bombs) and hollowed 155mm artillery shells (modified to carry leaflets) began shipment to Saudi Arabia in August 1990. Also delivered were M129A1 leaflet bombs, each able to be filled with up to ten 14-inch-diameter leaflet rolls; capable of delivering up to 60,000 leaflets; and configured for B-52 Stratofortress and F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft. The PDB had responsibility for loading and readying the leaflet bombs, and then arranging their transport to various airfields. The delayed approval of the PSYOP plan (BURNING HAWK) did not stop the production of leaflets. Developed by both the 8th POTF and the Combined PSYOP Cell in Riyadh, leaflets stressed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s responsibility for the crisis, world opposition to Iraq’s actions, and the hopelessness of the Iraqi soldiers against overwhelming coalition firepower.

Rick Atkinson discusses logjam this in Crusade, the Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 1993.

Early in Desert Shield, with help from the Army’s 4th Psychological Operations Group, the Commander in Chief had drafted a detailed plan for “The psychological preparation of the battlefield.” The proposal languished in Washington for many weeks, victim of bureaucratic wrangling…After Schwarzkopf delivered himself of a table-pounding tirade, Cheney approved a modified plan….

However, the plan was eventually approved and was a great success. At about the same time in November 1990, the Proven Force auxiliary plan for operations in Turkey was approved in concept.

Unofficial Patch for the "Lost Boys" of the 9th PSYOP Battalion
[Note: B.O.H.I.C.A. stands for "Bend Over Here It Comes Again"]

We should also mention that as the 4th PSYOP Group geared up for Operation Desert Storm it required manpower from its various battalions and detachments deployed in South America, Europe and Asia. A call went out to identify and rapidly reassign experienced PSYOP officers and those with special skills from around the world to the 4th POG. Eventually, forty PSYOP officers who called themselves the "Lost Boys" were identified and assigned to the battle against Saddam Hussein.

The main American proponent of psychological warfare leaflets was the 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne). They produced and printed over 29 million leaflets. The Coalition forces packed M129E1 leaflet bombs with up to 54,000 machine-rolled leaflets, which were dropped over Iraqi concentrations by F-16, F/A-18, B-52, and MC-130 aircraft. Other leaflets were delivered by balloons. Before the war started, 12,000 leaflets were floated onto the beaches of Kuwait by bottle. Interrogation of Iraqi prisoners revealed that 98% had seen Coalition leaflets.

Brigadier General Robert H. Scales, Jr. says in United States Army in the Gulf War – Certain Victory, Office of the Chief of Staff, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1993:

The psychological operations campaign was another Special Operations success, one of the most important of the Gulf War. As part of an overall campaign plan, PSYOP, or propaganda, can be a combat multiplier if the circumstances surrounding its employment are favorable.

Saddam began waging his own PSYOP campaign early in the Gulf War as Baghdad Betty's broadcasts entertained American soldiers along the border each night. Some broadcasts were more amusing than others: one warned the troops that Robert Redford, Sean Penn, and Bart Simpson were seducing their wives back home. With such inept input, Saddam's propaganda created more support than disruption for the Coalition.

Managing CENTCOM'S PSYOP campaign fell to the US Army 4th Psychological Operations Group (POG), especially the 8th Psychological Operations Battalion. By late August, 10 people under Colonel Anthony Normand, commander of 4th PSYOP Group, were in Saudi Arabia working out a comprehensive plan to use 117 themes to target Iraqi soldiers and civilians. Submitted to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on September 20, the plan got lost in the swirl of competing actions.

The Nations of the World Draw a Line in the Sand.

Although it was too late to execute the original time-phased plan, the Office of the Secretary of Defense approved most of the broad themes of the plan on 14 December 1990. A strong message from Schwarzkopf to the Joint Chiefs of Staff questioning the continuous delays was the catalyst that broke the plan loose.

To offset the delay in Washington, Normand worked on a Coalition plan using a cell of Saudis, Egyptians, Kuwaitis, and British. On November 28, the Voice of the Gulf began daily radio broadcasts and the 8th PSYOP Battalion worked up leaflets highlighting the world stance against Saddam. The 8th Psychological Operations Task Force and Normand's cell also produced a video, “Nations of the World Take a Stand,” which was distributed worldwide and also smuggled into Iraq.

Colonel Layton Dunbar deployed his full headquarters to the theater. Under the operational control of CENTCOM, Dunbar used the approved themes to develop programs which stressed the superiority of Coalition forces over those of Iraq and the inequality between Republican Guard forces and regular Iraqi units. It emphasized that Saddam was the cause of the crisis and sought to allay regional fears about the Coalition's respect for Arab culture and private property.

The Voice of the Gulf broadcast in Arabic hammered home these messages to Saddam's troops 18 hours per day. While the Voice of the Gulf filled the airwaves with its message, the Air Force filled the skies with leaflets, derisively called "bullshit bombs."

During the war, the Air Force dropped 28 million leaflets over Kuwait and Iraq. The Commander in Chief himself recommended one of the most successful techniques employed in the campaign. MC-130 Combat Talons dropped leaflets on Iraqi units that identified the units by name and warned that they would soon be bombed. The leaflets suggested that the soldiers desert rather than risk their lives. That same night the B-52s would deliver on the promise. On many occasions, the MC-130s returned to release more pamphlets saying, "We told you to leave.” The leaflets heightened the psychological effect of the B-52 bombings, especially among Iraqi troops along the Kuwait border. They lived in deplorable conditions and once the ground war started these pitiful soldiers surrendered quickly. Ninety-eight percent of captured prisoners had the leaflets in their possession. One Iraqi frontline commander reported the PSYOP campaign was "second only to allied bombing" in demoralizing his division.

As the 8th PSYOP Task Force liaison officer to CENTAF, Army Major Jack Summe coordinated the leaflet drops with Air Force Brigadier General Buster Glosson's targeting cell. Summe was often received with disdain in the cell. Targeteers were always quick to chide him about his infamous leaflets. However, when reports filtered into CENTAF of thousands of Iraqis surrendering, opinion changed. When Jack Summe walked into the targeting cell on February 25, he received a standing ovation.

Atkinson says:

The 4th PSYOP Group used six Army printing presses, as well as those of the Saudi military and a private printer; working around the clock to produce four-color flyers measuring precisely three by six inches…Operating out of King Fahd airport, the Army developed fifty different leaflets sorted into seven themes.

The Post-Operational Analysis of Psychological Operations During Desert Shield/Storm indicates that leaflet missions were flown on 33 days from 20 December 1990 to 24 February 1991. Six missions were classified, 15 were from MC-130 aircraft, 7 from F-16 fighter-bombers, and 5 were B-52 drops. In all, 19.08 million CENTCOM leaflets were disseminated on Kuwait, Baghdad and Southern Iraq. Approximately 10 million were dropped on Northern Iraq, presumably from Turkey.

The leaflets and themes were approved by General Schwarzkopf's staff, and then printed independently in Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Colonel Jeffrey B. Jones discusses the Psychological operations in an article entitled “Psychological Operations in Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Urban Freedom, Special Warfare, July 1994

Before the Gulf War, during combat operations, and in the aftermath, approximately 650 soldiers from the 4th Psychological Operations Group and from reserve-component PSYOP units contributed to the coalition efforts. They provided radio and TV support, broadcast tactical loudspeaker messages and produced 29 million leaflets. The leaflets were delivered by everything from balloons to B-52s; some were even smuggled into Baghdad itself!

PSYOP messages persuaded approximately 44 percent of the Iraqi army to desert, more than 17,000 to defect, and more than 87,000 to surrender. Integrating their efforts with those of the U.S. Central Command, 21 PSYOP soldiers, working with their Turkish counterparts in Joint Task Force Proven Force in southern Turkey and using radio broadcasts and leaflets, helped cause the defection, desertion and surrender of some 40,000 Iraqis — all without firing a shot.

The 8th PSYOP Taskforce provided support to Urban Freedom, the liberation of Kuwait City, and to Task Force Freedom, the consolidation operation in Kuwait, with the mission of re-establishing radio and print activities to support repatriation and settlement of the capital.

I want to add a short anecdote here about the original article by Colonel Jones. Apparently, he mentioned the fact that Germany had sent propaganda leaflet balloons against the Iraqis. This was a secret at the time and the Germans were expressly forbidden to take part in foreign wars by their Constitution. The Chief of the PSYOP Branch made Jones eliminate the comment. He told me:

I had the duty of telling Jeff Jones he had to take a sentence out of his story about PSYOP in Desert Shield / Desert Storm because it did not pass declassification guidelines. He almost had a heart attack. He was not used to being told no, with no options.

In 2016, on the anniversary of the 1 December 1967 activation of the 8th PSYOP Battalion, a synopsis of their activities in Desert Storm was given:

In 1990-1991, 8th POB supported U.S. and coalition efforts in Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM to protect Saudi Arabia and expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The 8th BN earned Campaign Participation Credit for Defense of Saudi Arabia and Liberation and Defense of Kuwait, as well as the Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for SOUTHWEST ASIA 1990-1991. Post-DESERT STORM Operations supported by 8th POB included SOUTHERN WATCH, VIGILANT WARRIOR, DESERT THUNDER and DESERT FOX, which aimed to monitor and control Iraqi airspace and deter further Iraqi aggression against Kuwait.

Collecting PSYOP Leaflets

PFC David Simmons was assigned to Bravo Company, 502nd Support Battalion of the 2nd Armor Division during Operation Desert Storm. Here he shows Souvenir-hunting Coalition soldiers bending over to pick up some of the thousands of Allied PSYOP leaflets dropped on a berm that defines the Saudi Arabian - Kuwait border.

Major Peter A. Whitenack, USMC, discusses the PSYOP campaign in his 1993 thesis “An Analysis of Gulf War PSYOP and their applicability to Future Operations.”

The unexpected degree of success enjoyed by the Coalition can be directly attributed to the manner in which PSYOPS complemented the overall conduct of operations against the enemy in the Kuwait Theater of Operations. As traditional “users of propaganda against the enemy,” PSYOP units generated initiatives during the Persian Gulf War which employed standard, dedicated communications assets (principally broadcasting and printing equipment) in support of combat operations. Across the theater, these activities complemented Coalition operations and directly contributed to the unexpectedly rapid demise of Saddam's war machine>

Before Coalition forces fired the first shots in the Persian Gulf War, a different type of force had already been assembled for months, and was engaged in a pitched battle for dominance over Iraqi forces. Far away from headlines and newscasts, PSYOP initiatives were bombarding Saddam's empire in the form of wave upon wave of leaflet and radio assaults. Actual leaflet development occurred at Riyadh, with digitized imagery transmission to PDB printing facilities at Dhahran. Target analysis effort culminated in a PSYOP campaign which emphasized continual themes of the futility of resistance; inevitability of defeat; surrender; desertion and defection; abandonment of equipment; and blaming the war on Saddam Hussein. During the pre-ground war campaign, key action leaflet verbs were developed for exploitation such as: Saddam-- Death-- Hunger-- Bombing--Family--Cease Resistance—Be safe, etc.

Lieutenant Colonel James P. Kelliher

While serving as a Psychological Operations Officer, LTC Kelliher served in a variety of positions. He was the 4th PSYOP Group S-2 (Intelligence), S-3 (Operations) and XO (Executive Officer). He established the Psychological Operations Dissemination Battalion, now known as the 3rd PSYOP Battalion (Airborne), and served as its first commander. He deployed forward to support the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He was headquartered at the King Fahd International Airport in June of 1990. His Dissemination Battalion produced a great number of the Coalition propaganda leaflets and posters printed during Operation Desert Storm. He told me:

The 3rd PSYOP Battalion, also known as the PSYOP Dissemination Battalion (PDB) was activated in June of 1990 as part of the provisional reorganization of the 4th PSYOP Group. We arrived in Saudi Arabia in September, scorching hot. The first billeting was Hajj Tents on loan from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Latrines were old fashioned out-houses. Potable water was obtained from a fire hydrant, inspected by the Veterinarians and approved. Operation Desert Shield was basically a “Sitz Krieg” (In WWII they called it a Phony War when the Germans and the Allies sat and looked at each other before the shooting started in earnest). Central Command waited for authority to conduct PSYOP. By the end of 1990 most all of the PSYOP Dissemination battalion was in Saudi Arabia with the print presses and broadcast equipment.

By mid-January, the Battalion was in full production mode with augmentation out of the Heavy print plant in the European Command. Leaflets were being printed on a 24-hour basis. The radio transmitters were in the same mode and tapes were getting to VOLANT SOLO on a daily basis.

We should point out that it was not just Americans doing PSYOP. Saudi Arabia was very concerned about countering Iraqi propaganda targeted toward Saudi Arabia and the ability of Saudi military officers to participate in Central Command and Coalition efforts to plan, stage and conduct PSYOP campaigns against Iraqi occupation forces in Kuwait. King Fahd had directed the Ministry of Defense and Aviation to lead the Saudi effort to staff their PSYOP effort and find officers who had attended and completed the Psychological Operations Officer’s Course. Once identified, these men were formed into a joint PSYOP working group in Riyadh. They worked with personnel from the 4th PSYOP Group and took part in the design of leaflets and the writing of leaflet text.

We know a lot about the paper projects produced by the 4th PSYOP Group and its subordinate battalions and detachments prior to and during the war. The document “Non-Classified Print Projects” is a listing of just about everything that they printed. For instance, on 11 August 1990 they printed 9th Battalion information cards, on 12 November SOCCENT stickers, and on 16 November 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment Christmas cards. As the start of the shooting war approached we find them printing more serious items such as enemy prisoner of war (EPW) cards on 2 January 1991 and rules of engagement cards on 3 January.

 

    4th Psychological Operations Group Leaflet Publications

The “PSYOP Print Products” and the “Print Daily Status Report” documents list the various internal code numbers, internal code names, mission numbers, and in some cases the dates disseminated , the type of aircraft, the method of dissemination and the number of leaflets produced. If we wanted to break down the PSYOP war in great detail we could give each day's mission. For example, on 14 January 1991, C-130 aircraft dropped 639,000 leaflets. There were 100,000 each of product number 2-H, mission number 50-26-2 Fade to Black (V07), 2-Q 50-27-2 Taxi (C18), 2-S 50-28-2 Saddam in Tank (V08), and 113,000 of 2-D 50-18-2 Calendar (V05), 2-O 50-23-2 Shatt al Arab (D02), and 2-P 50-24-2 Rocking Chair ( V03). There are several excellent printed publications that depict psychological warfare leaflets prepared by the United States Army during the war. The best of them are Leaflets of the Gulf War by the 4th PSYOP Group and Print Company Leaflet Magazine Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm by the PSYOP Dissemination Battalion.

The 4th PSYOP Group briefing on their actions during Desert Shield/Storm states that 29 million leaflets (29 tons) were dropped on the Kuwait Theater of Operations (KTO) by balloon, MC-130, F-16, F/A-18 and B-52.

The Central Command clandestine radio network, “Voice of the Gulf” broadcast from ground-based stations in Saudi Arabia and airborne transmitters on a pair of EC-130 Volant SOLO aircraft on six frequencies 18 hours per day for 40 days reaching every Iraqi soldier in the KTO.

Sixty-six PSYOP loudspeaker teams were in direct support of Arcent, Marcent, and Soccent. Tactical PSYOP supported each maneuver brigade.

Major Whitenack mentions the loudspeakers in his thesis:

A deficiency in U.S. Army active duty field-level loudspeaker assets early in Operation DESERT SHIELD necessitated the activation of reserve loudspeaker teams. Drawn primarily from locations in the U.S., they comprised a total of sixty-six   three-man, vehicular-mounted teams with 4th PSYOPS, and  were attached to virtually every brigade-level ground maneuver unit within the Kuwait Theater of Operations. Once assigned, loudspeaker teams were tasked with broadcasting specific, audience taped messages upon the Iraqi military. In addition to deceptive noises and sound effects, tapes were used in issuing vocal appeals and instructions to the Iraqis, to coerce them into surrendering.

The use of loudspeakers is mentioned in greater depth in Special Operations Forces: Roles and Missions in the Aftermath of the Cold War, DIANE Publishing, 1995:

Radio and tactical loudspeaker appeals from 66 teams helped encourage tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers deployed in Kuwait to desert and defect. In one instance, almost 500 Iraqis surrendered en masse to the 101st Airborne Division just before the ground assault was launched. In another case, over 1,400 enemy troops, including a general officer, were standing in formation, ready to surrender when the Marines came ashore on Faylaka Island…PSYOP appeals ultimately helped persuade over 86,743 Iraqis to surrender in the Kuwaiti theater. Additionally, as part of Joint Task Force Proven Force in Turkey, 21 PSYOP soldiers were credited with the surrender of 40,000 Iraqi soldiers in Northern Iraq, without firing a shot.

On the subject of sound effect tapes, one of the more interesting was the sound of a baby crying. Such tapes had been used in some earlier wars, specifically Vietnam. In this case, the sound of the baby crying all night was considered demoralizing and especially effective against troops that were cut off or out of communication with their officers. Humans are “wired” to be deeply affected by crying babies and it is almost impossible to rest or sleep while the loud wailing is going on.

A U.S. Army Reserve Loudspeaker Team Attached to the Marines

PSYOP Loudspeaker Team “Charlie” of the United States Army Reserve 245th Psychological Operations Company attached to 3/3 1st Marine Division - Task Force Taro. The men pictured, left to right, top to bottom are: (top) Naief Al Multari (a Kuwaiti volunteer linguist), SGT Jon Cartier (245th team leader), USMC SGT Frank Torres (Security man on the team), USMC Jeff Taylor (M203 Gunner), SPC Darrell McCoy (245th asst. team leader), and USMC SSG Bitner (Driver and former sniper).   It was taken the morning of 26 February 1991 in the Kuwaiti town of Al Wafra, which was captured from the Iraqis on 24 February after breaching the first minefield belt. The picture was taken after operations against an Iraqi Tank battalion (16 armored vehicles and a dug in Infantry regiment that fired mortars and artillery at the team while broadcasting surrender appeals). On the ground there is a stripped down LSS-40 loudspeaker system they disassembled and mounted on a PRC-77 Radio pack. They hold a surrender flag from the Iraqi infantry.

In 2022 Jon Cartier told me:

All our Tactical PSYOP Team members were assigned to support the USMC minefield breaches. We captured many surrendering Iraqi units, were in the Battle of Khafji, and were with the 1st ground unit to enter Kuwait and capture the airfields of al Jabar and Kuwait City International Airport and were among those planning to do the "beach assault."ť That is when I became aware of the famous "Wave"ť leaflet. When they told us that we would be conducting the Beach assault with the Marines, I must say I was not happy about the thought of slugging through the surf and obstacles while being peppered with artillery and small arms fire.  I am ESPECIALLY glad it was a deception!

Tactical Loudspeaker Team from the 245th PSYOP Co. (Airborne)

Jon Cartier told me:

The team was Staff Sergeant Jack Nelson and Sergeant David Lamb. They had a linguist and a Marine on their team too, but I do not have their names handy. In the photo is Jack (rear), and in the foreground is Staff Sergeant Asa Pearson. Asa was an extremely talented PSYOP Team Leader from the 245th PSYOP Company in Desert Storm. I am not sure who took the picture, but I think it was Sergeant David Lamb.

One of my favorite Desert Storm PSYOP stories. A Tactical Loudspeaker Team from the 245th PSYOP Co. (Airborne) attached to a 1st Marine Division Task Force blew out the loudspeaker cones while supporting combat operations during the clearing of Al Jabber Airfield in Kuwait. Instead of resigning to being mission incapable, the resourceful team scrounged around the semi-destroyed airfield and located a set of ginormous PA system speaker cones. A technically gifted Team Sergeant figured out how to wire these into the LSS-40 Amplifier. The combination reminded me of the "Bluesmobile's, from the movie "The Blues Brothers."ť Even with Iraqi military still active in the area, the team mounted the giant speakers on top their Hummer and kept broadcasting surrender appeals. In fact, during the speaker function checks, 24 Iraqi soldiers surrendered to the team!

The picture above was taken by a French Combat photographer, Charles Plateau and shared with Cartier and his PSYOP Team attached to 3/3 1st Marine Division, Task Force Taro capturing an entire Iraqi Tank Battalion 25 Febuary1991 just outside of al Wafra, Kuwait. Jon Cartier was the Team Leader and is in the center wearing glasses.

Years after I wrote this article, I got in contact with Cartier again and this time got a copy of his military resume:

Staff Sergeant (SSG) Jon Cartier was a member of the US Army Reserve 245th PSYOP Company - Airborne [now the 345th PSYOP Company] from 1986 through 1997 performing roles as PSYOP illustrator, mobile offset press operator, Product development cell analyst, tactical PSYOP team leader, and JFKSWCS Instructor of the 37F PSYOP Specialist Course.

In 1990, then Specialist (E-4) Cartier was activated and deployed to Desert Storm with 17 other soldiers from the 245th. The need for tactical PSYOP teams to serve with the forward elements of the US Marine task forces was so great that they split several of the 245th teams into two teams. SPC Cartier was selected to lead a split team paired with SPC Darrell McCoy. Their team was given some Marines and an Arabic linguist to fill team gaps and they were assigned to forward elements of USMC Task Force Taro, 3/3 1st Marine Division.

His PSYOP experiences in Desert Storm included city clearing operations with the Saudi Arabian Army after the Battle for Khafji. With the United States Marine Corps Task Force Taro, his team crossed the Kuwait border berm on 23 February 1991, the day before the actual ground invasion date [G-Day], and broadcast surrender appeals through the Iraqi positions, multiple minefield belts, and the burning Burgan oil fields on their way into Kuwait City, facilitating the surrender of hundreds of Iraqi soldiers.

His PSYOP team also supported the capture and clearing of Kuwait International Airport and more city clearing and surrender appeal operations in and around Kuwait City. After the cease-fire, his PSYOP team was assigned to operate within the 401st Military Police Enemy Prisoner of War (EPW) Camp in Saudi Arabia, assigned to 13th PSYOP Bn.

In 1994-95, SSG Cartier was deployed as a PSYOP Loudspeaker Team Leader with the expeditionary force to support Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti. He and his team experienced 6 months of country stabilization operations across northern Haiti attached to three sequential Infantry Battalions (2-14, 2-87 10th 10 Mountain Division and 4-87 25th Infantry Division) as they rotated in and out of Haiti. These experiences prompted SSG Cartier to put pen to paper and share his lessons learned and become a PSYOP 37F MOS Instructor.

   

Challenge Coin

Jon Cartier designed these coins to commemorate the 30th anniversary of G-Day and the Tactical PSYOP Teams that were attached to the USMC forward Task Forces. Note the Desert Palm Tree Wings, and the Latin motto on the front, “Without Equal.” Every PSYOP team was awarded the Marine Combat Action Ribbon (CAR), written orders to wear the 1st Marine Division combat patch on their Army Uniforms, and there were four Bronze Stars among the 18 deployed PSYOP soldiers.

Former SSG Jon Cartier graduated from the University of North Texas with a BFA degree and an MBA from the New York Institute of Technology. He holds the military occupational skills of Graphic Documentation Specialist (81E), Offset Press Operator (37E), Psychological Operations Specialist (37F), Parachutist, and JFKSWCS certified instructor. He earned the Expeditionary Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Army Achievement Medal, three Army Commendation Medals, Marine Combat Action Ribbon, Meritorious Service Medal, and the Bronze Star.

 

The picture above depicts Staff Sergeant Jack Nelson, Sergeant David Lamb, and Specialist Jon Cartier with their Team High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV or Humvee) showing the first application of the Airborne Wings-Palm Tree logo. This picture was taken at Jubail, Saudi Arabia the day we spray painted the “Palm Tree” logo for the first time.  The team vehicle was named “Ann Dee” after David's new wife whom he married the day before he left for the deployment. We often ribbed him about how much we enjoyed his honeymoon.

The Story of the 245th Airborne Wings and Palm Tree Logo

Staff Sergeant Jack Nelson, Sergeant David Lamb and I were a Team in Desert Storm before we were split into 2 teams. We were at Jubail, Saudi Arabia on 17 January 1991, the day after the air campaign started. All 18 of the deployed 245th PSYOP soldiers were about to get split up and head to our assigned forward Marine Task Forces. Everyone else had logos on their Humvees, so Jack and David came up with the idea of the Palm Tree and Airborne wings based on Rommel's Africa Corp logo.  We knew we could not use anything PSYOP-related because they had told us to remain unidentifiable. We did not wear patches or name tags and we disguised our loudspeakers mounted on the Hummers to look like guns by placing a pack cover over it and sliding a camo net pole into the front so it appeared to be a gun.  Once we had the idea, I drew the airborne wings and palm then carefully cut it out of a manilla folder I found. We taped it to our vehicle and spray painted the logo on our vehicle first. All the other guys liked it so they put it on theirs as well.  That day we all drove off to our Task Forces.  It has been the 245th logo ever since.  We still have the original manilla envelope.

The picture above depicts other 245th PSYOP Company soldiers during Desert Storm with a team vehicle that has a disguised loudspeaker. In the picture, left to right are Sergeant First Class Gene Richardson (our First Sergeant), Staff Sergeant Jack Nelson (Team Leader), Sergeant David Lamb, Sergeant Asa Pearson (Team Leader), and Sergeant Richard Brooks.

Kuwaiti Captain Dr. Zafer Alajmi

I also heard in 2022 from former Kuwaiti Captain Dr. Zafer Alajmi, now 63 years old, who was also attached to a PSYOP section supporting a USMC unit headed by a Captain he recalls only as Coleman. Alajmi told me he would write and broadcast messages to the Iraqis in front of the Marines. I asked him what they sounded like, and he said that over 30 years had passed, and it was hard for him to remember them, but something like:

Brother Iraqi soldiers. I am an Arab like you. if you want to surrender raise your arms and hold a white flag or a surrender pass. Do not just come walking over to our side. You could be killed or wounded by accident.

I asked him what it was like as a Kuwaiti to work with Marines. He said:

Working with the Americans wasn't new to me. I spent 4 years with the U.S. Navy. I found that fighting alongside the Marines was glorious and the true meaning of comradeship. I was a Captain, but because I was a Kuwaiti, they looked at me as the one who was going to show them the way into Kuwait City. Unfortunately, General Norman Schwarzkopf's orders kept them in the desert and out of Kuwait City, as no one other than the Arab forces were allowed to enter the city. I really wanted to go there and so did many of the Marines, so their commander came up with a solution. They first said that as a Kuwaiti I had permission to go forward to see my uncle (although we knew my family was in Saudi Arabia). I was told I could leave on 27 February 1991, and in what I can only call innovative Marine thinking, in one hour 8 Humvees packed with Marines were escorting me to Kuwait City. The commander said that he could not in good conscience send one of his men into Kuwait City alone and without protection. He felt responsible for my life and well-being.

Loudspeaker PSYOP Messages

Staff Sergeant Larry D. McGarrah of the 362nd PSYOP Company (USAR), attached to the 1st Armored Division, led a three-man Loudspeaker team during Desert Storm.  A Kuwaiti linguist named Mohammad was assigned to the team. Mohammad was a Lieutenant in the Kuwaiti Army who had escaped after the Iraqi invasion. After the ceasefire the team patrolled the area between Basra and the Kuwaiti border broadcasting that the war was over. The team leader said in part:

During the war the surrender appeals were prerecorded “canned” messages. After the ceasefire, we recorded our own messages. I would write what I wanted the message to say, an interpreter would write out the message in Arabic, a second Arabic speaker would verify the message was translated correctly, and then the first interpreter would record the message to be broadcast. Here are the last two messages we recorded and broadcast in Iraq before being sent back to Saudi Arabia.

“Attention! Attention! Iraqi soldiers; a ceasefire has been declared. Stop fighting; leave your vehicles and your positions. Stack you weapons and move to open assembly areas and await further instructions. A ceasefire is in effect. Many of your Arab brothers are now safe. Disarm and move to open areas. Follow directions to safety.”

“Iraqi soldiers; you are now in Coalition occupied territory. You must cease resistance now or you will be treated as hostile forces. You must leave you vehicles and positions now and approach Coalition forces disarmed with your hands up. You will be treated as Arab brothers and moved to a safe place.”

The Results of PSYOP Loudspeaker Operations

The major PSYOP themes were Surrender (12.4 million leaflets), Inevitability of defeat (6.6 million), Abandon Equipment and Flee (1.9 million), Saddam is to Blame for the war (4.7 million) and other (3.5 million). 

A group of Vietnam veterans discussed those POWs carrying leaflets as they surrendered. Surprisingly, the opinions differed a great deal. It might be due to when and where they surrendered. Different conditions: their ability to sleep, eat, and communicate: Coalition bombings, artillery, and loudspeaker propaganda might have left the Iraqis in a different degree of vulnerability. Some of the comments in the discussion were:

Our MP company’s mission in Desert Storm was collecting and moving EPWs. None had leaflets on them, the ones I found were just blowing across the desert. We asked the EPWs how they weathered the initial onslaught of Desert Storm. "We ran away." How did your officers react? "They ran away three days earlier, taking all the vehicles…"

Almost all the ones we came across had leaflets... then we pointed them south... saw plenty blowing around as well...

Most EPW attempting to surrender had a lot of leaflets on them. Some waved at helicopters. It was reported that some Iraq units would shoot anyone with a leaflet, a hell of a PSYOP affect. Units targeted by leaflets before saturation bombing in many cases broke and left the battlefield. Leaflets affected their decision making as well along with all other actions.

A comment made to me by Jim Knoll, Commander of the 13th during Desert Storm/Desert Shield. The largest surrender of Iraqis, all carrying their leaflets, was made to Marines. To secure them and construct a temporary compound, they brought up bulldozers and started to push up an earthen berm. The Iraqis were afraid they were going to be buried alive. Such was the reputation of the Marine Corps.

I crossed into Iraq with 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment. In their first night laager, their engineers were pushing up a berm and Iraqi prisoners started to push in and huddle together I think expecting to be bulldozed. I walked up and asked if anyone spoke English which no one responded to, so I just explained I was an officer, and the unit was simply making a defensive berm and that I guaranteed their safety under the Geneva convention. Saw a few then talk to small groups and think those were the English speakers spreading the word. They seemed to loosen up after that. Then made sure someone got them water and Meals-ready-to-eat because they would be there at least 24 hours and it was cold. Didn't have any extra tarps or anything for warmth but they fared OK. The 13th did an exceptional job in Desert Storm and saved the situation in at least one EPW camp that I know of with Marines and made up for the shortcomings of the 800th MP Brigade ( PW).

330,000 leaflets were disseminated by balloon, 18,900,000 by MC-130, 7,800,000 by F-16, and 2,000,000 by B-52.

The 305th Tactical PSYOP Company in Kuwait

This is a picture of the 305th Tactical Psychological Operations Company in Kuwait prior to the invasion. In support of the 1st Marine Division, the Marine Expeditionary Unit (TF Tarawa), and the 40th Royal Commandos, elements of the company crossed the border during the initial assault with the remainder of the company following on. They were the first PSYOP unit to broadcast across the border. Out of the 65 Soldiers, 22 were awarded Bronze Stars for actions in combat (35%) and there were numerous other citations for valor.

 

Desert Storm Blood Chit

To reinforce the air campaign, the 4th PSYOP Group prepared pointee-talkie cards, blood chits, and broadcast messages in support of search and rescue missions.The blood chit was printed on tyvek cloth, an extremely durable fabric. They were hand-receipted to pilots so any person presenting a chit and claiming to have aided an airman needed to know the correct name. The message was in Arabic, Persian (Farsi), Turkish and Kurdish. The text is:

I am an American and do not speak your language. I will not harm you. I bear no malice toward your people. My friend, please provide me food, water, shelter, clothing and necessary medical attention. Also, please provide safe passage to the nearest friendly forces of any country supporting the Americans and the allies. You will be rewarded for assisting me when you present this number and my name to American authorities.

The chits were serial numbered at the four corners. I seem to remember (though it is hazy) that the amount of reward for an entire chit was $100,000, and if the pilot was helped by more than one person the numbers could be cut off the chit and were worth $25,000 each. There are dozens of blood chits on the market from both wartime and peacetime flights over enemy territory. The genuine blood chit is easy to identify because printed at the bottom in very small letters is "BLDCHTXXIA (Desert Shield)."

The government doesn't mention much about the chits but one document says:

As the executive agent for aircrew escape and evasion, Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) was tasked with developing and executing an escape and evasion plan. In response, SOCCENT developed a contingency blood chit that could be photocopied and passed out to aircrews and special operators as needed. It was also recommended that a contingency fund be established to pay ingenious persons for assisting downed American pilots and crews. One Coalition member used a blood chit in his successful evasion to freedom. Fortunately, blood chits did not have to be used in great numbers.

Apparently, the rest of the comment was still classified.

The person that gave me the chit (who will remain unnamed) told me:

I will tell you how I came to obtain it. As you say, the "bean counters" kept tight control of them, and this chit comes in a round-about way from one of the "bean counters" who was a friend of a certain C-130 crewman. The crewman wanted to keep his chit, but his friend told him he really must turn it in, but occasionally a chit would become lost and that someday he might be able to obtain one of those lost chits. The crewman went home after the war and forgot all about the conversation. Then, one day he received four consecutively numbered chits in the mail. They had been carried by another crew, turned in, and then “lost.” He kept one, gave one to a fellow C-130 crewman, and traded the other two chits for a pair of Vietnam War chits. I had a Vietnam reward leaflet offering $35,000 for the return of American pilot First Lieutenant Flynn who was shot down while flying an A-1e Skyraider and I traded that for one of the four blood chits. Thank God Americans are great collectors and love to swap items. Otherwise, all these war souvenirs and their history would be lost forever.

In an attempt to mold public opinion, build support for the Coalition, and perhaps frighten the Iraqis into leaving Kuwait, the 4th PSYOP Group's Media Platoon produced a 13-minute movie entitled The Nations of the World Draw a Line in the Sand in September 1990. The movie went to great pains to show all the nations allied against Saddam and especially the Egyptian and Syrian contribution to the Coalition. It depicted armadas of ships, aircraft and tanks on the move. It pictured the delegates to the United Nations censoring Iraq. It pointed out that Iraq stood alone against the greatest military force in history. It opens and ends with a quote from the Koran that branded the Iraqis as being outlaws who operated outside the teachings of Muhammad and pointed out that every real Muslim must fight them:

And if two parties of the believers fight one another, reconcile between them. But if one of them becomes aggressive against the other, then fight the one that is aggressive until he reverts to God's behest.

This short movie was translated into five languages and shipped to 19 countries including 200 copies that were smuggled into Iraq. Saddam Hussein should have studied it. It forecast exactly what was about to happen to his Army of occupation.

Black operations were also undertaken in an attempt to embarrass and ridicule Saddam Hussein. For example, one false story was that a cowardly Saddam Hussein was afraid of insects. The concept was that the Iraqi people would not respect a man who is petrified of cockroaches. A rumor was started that Saddam's maid heard a shrill, piercing scream coming from the president's night chambers. When she looked in, Saddam was standing on top of a chair, crying in horror. The description ends:

The cowardly baboon would not get down from the chair until the tiny bug was killed.

Another black operation is mentioned by Conrad Crane in his 14 June 2019 article The United States needs an Information Warfare Command: a Historical Examination:

A team of U.S. intelligence operatives slipped several virus-laden computer chips into a French-made computer printer that was smuggled into Baghdad. The printer was eventually delivered to a command bunker of the Iraqi air defense network, where the viruses helped degrade command and control of the whole system, which was also targeted by anti-radiation missiles and intensive electronic warfare.

All of these psychological warfare campaigns were concentrated and refined to weaken the Iraqi regime and destroy its will to fight.

On 20 February an incident suggested that Coalition PSYOP was having an effect. Apache and A-10 pilots had attacked a bunker complex. A three-man PSYOP team broadcast surrender messages by loudspeaker, and to their surprise, 435 Iraqis from the 45th Infantry Division gave up on the spot.

After the end of the war interrogators from the U.S. 7th Corps interrogated Iraqi prisoners-of-war about the A-10. They basically said that just seeing them overhead was as frightening as being attacked by them:

The black-colored jet was deadly accurate, rarely missing its target. Seen conducting bombing raids three to four times a day, the A-10 were a seemingly ubiquitous threat. Although the actual bomb run was terrifying, the aircraft’s loitering around the target area prior to target acquisition caused as much, if not more anxiety since the Iraqi soldiers were unsure of the chosen target.

Of course, there were minor problems caused by differences in culture. For instance, the color red signals danger to an Iraqi and he would be hesitant to pick up a leaflet with a lot of red in the image or text. Look at “failed leaflets” F06, F07 and F08. The heavy use of the color red might not be the reason that these leaflets were considered unsuccessful, but it might have been a contributing factor.

This is mentioned in The 13th Psychological Operations Battalion (EPW) during mobilization, Desert Shield / Desert Storm and Demobilization, 1993. Colonel James P. Noll mentions the fact that the Iraqi prisoners were very talkative:

In fact, the Iraqis would volunteer information we never thought to ask for. In one such case of volunteered information, we were able to reverse a negative effect that our PSYOP was having. Some of our leaflets were bordered with red color in order to contrast with the desert background and be more visible to the enemy. A prisoner volunteered information that the Iraqi enlisted soldier's, our primary target audience, would not touch our leaflets because they were instructed not to handle anything red in color, as it meant danger. With this information passed on to 4th POG, a simple change in border color was made.

American soldiers are clean shaven. However, to the Iraqis, a Coalition soldier without a chin beard is seen an unholy and untrustworthy. That beard is important to an Arab. In the early safe conduct pass the Coalition soldier is clean-shaven. In the later ones we can make out a little wisp of beard.

Enemy prisoners of war (EPWs) were allegedly disappointed to see no bananas in the early leaflets. Bananas are a favored delicacy of the Iraqis but the embargo had meant none for a half-year. When the Coalition found out the importance of that fruit to the Iraqis they added bananas to the leaflets. Curiously, there was a rumor that the Kuwaitis played a trick on the Americans and had them add the bananas to the leaflet because they wanted to insult the Iraqi “monkeys.” It is a great anecdote, but I have never believed that story.

We should also mention music used in the campaign. I am often asked about the use of music in warfare by various researchers and there are at least three cases where PSYOP troops used music during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. During the initial ground attack across the border, the Army advanced to loudspeaker broadcasts of “The Ride of the Valkyries,” reminiscent of the movie “Apocalypse Now.” A day later the United States Marines crossed the Saudi-Kuwait barrier as PSYOP loudspeakers played “The Marine Hymn.” At the end of the brief war, a PSYOP team searched for a suitable victory song to play as the guns fell silent. Perhaps the signature song of Operation Desert Storm was Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” but it was unavailable. As a result, the final song of the war played by PSYOP loudspeakers was James Brown’s ‘I feel good.”

Other American troops talked about the music played in their tanks, armored personnel carriers and other vehicles. The list was enormous in the age where everyone had a personal radio. Here are some of the ones they mentioned. If a number is after a song that is how many people specifically mentioned the title, if after the band those are the men that simply played an album. There are hundreds of these. I just added the first few dozen. It seems clear that today when young Americans go to war they attack with a sound track:

Blitzkrieg: Metallica (8), Thunderstruck (10): AC/ DC (2), To Those About to Rock We Salute You, Got another thing coming:Judas Priest (2), Motley Crue, Die with your boots on Iron maiden (2), Number of the Beast: Iron maiden, War Pigs (2): Black Sabbath, Top Gun, Born to be wild: Steppenwolf, We are the Champions: Queen.

DEVELOPMENTAL ARTWORK

Prior to the start of the war, 4th PSYOP Group artists prepared numerous leaflets for approval. Some were accepted, some were not for various reasons. Many of the early concepts were adopted with minor or major modifications.

Aircraft Bombs Iraqi Soldier

One proposed leaflet shows a Coalition F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter-bomber strafing and bombing an Iraqi soldier. There is no text, but a comment at the bottom of the page states that the drawing is a “draft color illustration for proposed product developed by MSG Lester M. Steenberg, U.S. Army on 14 December 1990 at Al Jubayl S.A.” Note the black flames and compare them to the flames on leaflet C36. The artist did a similar draft the following day that depicted the Iraqi soldier in close-up while overhead three aircraft dropped bombs headed directly at his head.

SAVE IRAQ - STOP SADDAM

This leaflet depicts the flag of Iraq and the words “Save Iraq - Stop Saddam.” It was proposed product 17B-08-1.

This is one of the few developmental leaflets that I have paperwork for. The leaflet was called “Oust Saddam,” it could be printed as either a leaflet or poster, and dissemination was into Iraq and Kuwait through the Kuwaiti resistance, Bedouins, or border crossers. The impact desired was an increase in pro-Iraq/anti-Saddam demonstrations and an increase in desertions by the Iraq military. The paper was signed “Recommend approval: Jones, Jeffry B., LTC, Infantry, Commanding.

Presence Appreciation Card

A second item that we have the paperwork on recommending approval by Lieutenant Colonel Jeffry B. Jones is a small 2 1/2 x 5-inch card that is called “1A-01-1 (Presence Appreciation).” The objective of the card was to “encourage the Saudi people to accept the U.S. presence in the region.” The dissemination would be done by “personnel in contact with Saudi civilians will hand out cards as good will or souvenir gesture.” The description notes that the card, “expresses appreciation of the invited American personnel to be in the company of the courageous Saudi forces.”

The text of the card says in part:

PEACE BE UPON YOU
FROM THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz al Saud, has graciously invited American military personnel into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, along with forces of other nations of the world, to join courageous Saudi forces in a united stand against the aggression of Saddam Hussein. We are proud to be associated with this noble endeavor which has won the admiration and support of the entire world.

The bottom of the card displays the telephone numbers to contact U.S. military representatives. The reverse of the card bears the U.S. flag and the same text in Arabic.  Notice the slight similarity to the card 1-A shown as the very first CENTCOM product. Near the end of the article, we show another small card bearing the American flag and phone numbers.

Saddam and sons

Nothing like this leaflet was ever prepared, although Saddam's two sons did appear on wanted playing cards, a bumper sticker, a matchbox, and a leaflet. On the front Saddam talks to his troops while his two sons Qusay and Uday stuff themselves at a feast. Both would later be killed on 22 July 2003 in a Mosul gunfight during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The soldiers ask Saddam for food as per Muslim hospitality and generosity: The text is:

No! Not for you!

Are these Arab customs and traditions?

The back depicts a one-legged Iraqi soldier disabled forever by the war. The text on the back is:

Can you take care of your family when you are physically disabled?

During the Vietnam War the United States printed leaflets showing helicopters with a Red Cross on the side and the message that these were unarmed craft meant only to provide first aid to the injured, and they should not be fired upon. I did not see anything like that for Desert Storm, but one unapproved all-text leaflet was titled "Do not shoot at medical evacuation craft."ť It was in the form of a short story to a wounded Iraqi soldier on the battlefield. He hears a chopper coming in and raises his rifle to fire at it. He sees the Red Crescent on its side and decides not to fire. The narration ends:

Two medics with stretcher rush to your side. You do not care anymore where they are from. All you care about now is that they can help all your wounded brothers and yourself. With their help you can be healed. You are thankful you did not shoot, thankful for seeing the Red Crescent and the Red Cross. You pray to God for the safety of all the wounded.

There was also an unapproved safe conduct pass on Saudi Arabian official stationery signed by Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Commander of Air Defense and Joint Forces of Saudi Arabia. The safe conduct passes that were approved were from the Coalition and unsigned.

Saddam cooks his soldier over the Coalition Fire

I have copies of about 100 of these early drafts of leaflets. Most are crude and I choose not to show them. To give an example, here is a very early sketch one artist drew of Saddam holding his soldiers over a fire which certainly is meant to represent the Coalition forces.

  

Propaganda on Cigarette Packs

Cigarettes packages, cigarette paper, and even match boxes have always been a wonderful medium for propaganda. During WWII various packs of cigarettes with messages were dropped by the United States and Great Britain over areas occupied by the Japanese and Germans. Probably the most famous to Americans is the pack dropped on the Philippine Islands with the MacArthur phrase, “I shall Return.”

The proposed cigarette package above was designed with two areas selected to place propaganda. I believe this was never approved. I have seen no cigarette packs dropped on Iraqi troops.

ARTIST TIM WALLACE

Artist Tim Wallace in Riyadh during Operation Desert Storm

Sergeant Tim Wallace was an artist assigned to the 4th PSYOP Group during Operation Desert Storm. He designed a great many of the leaflets that we show in this article. There were a number of leaflets that either were not disseminated or were changed so as to make a different image. We show some of Tim’s developmental artwork here

Battleship

I love this leaflet. It clearly shows the Iraqi soldier what he is up against. The Iraqi prepares to shoot a small mortar against the enemy, while miles away a U.S. Battleship has sent a gigantic shell directly at him. Tim said in regard to this leaflet:

From what I understood at the time, the Iraqis were defending the coast with mortars. So I went with a simple idea based on a strong design that spelled it all out. I just wanted to show them that the shells we fire from our battleships are about the size of a minivan, and the map makers have to redraw the coastline once the Navy gets done.

Hungry Warthogs

This seems a fairly standard Desert Storm leaflet since many depicted Coalition aircraft attacking Iraqi tanks and troops. What makes this leaflet more interesting is that the A-10 Warthogs have a gaping maw and teeth. This leaflet looks a bit like the later “warning” leaflet C-36. It could be an early version of that leaflet. Tim told me:

I was asked to do several tank leaflets involving our A10’s, (tank killers). I noticed that they would paint shark mouths on the noses of the A10’s so I just ran with that “shark image” to show the Iraqi tanks that they had no chance against these aircraft that will swarm about the battlefield like sharks in a feeding frenzy.

This might be a good place to add a comment from an Iraqi General later in the war:

During the war with Iran, my tank was my friend because I could sleep in it and know I was safe. In this war none of my troops would get near a tank at night because they kept blowing up.

Invasion by Sea

This leaflet looks a lot like “the wave,” leaflet C-20 shown later on in this article. There is no Marine symbol in this drawing, just waves of American troops backed by heavy gunboats towering over fleeing Iraqi troops. When I spoke to Tim Wallace about this image he agreed that he had used this early draft when he drew the USMC leaflet C-20. Tim said about this image:

There was a whole series of waves both on the beach and storm waves that I drew in the initial months. Although the famed “Marine Wave with K-Bar” is the one they most remember....this one ran a close 2nd, but I have never seen it in leaflet form. I did another one that was done in pencil and not yet inked that shows a little of the process used to narrow an idea down to one approved leaflet. This is where working on newspapers as a political cartoonist came in handy. I could take an idea that they would want as a leaflet and present that same idea 10 different ways to find the best possible image.

Tim was disappointed that often the drawings would be changed or other artists would make revisions which he though weakened the image. He told me:

There was a common practice with many of the leaflets during Desert Storm where someone would take a visually successful leaflet, and they would then rework and add and cut and paste elements with their ideas or another illustrator’s work. [Note: This reminds me of Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead” where every architect changed the design of a building].

The Foundations of Saddam’s Power is crumbling

Tim says below that some pictures of Saddam were hard for his own troops to identify. Here is a developmental leaflet by another artist showing Saddam standing behind a wall that is crumbling. Does this picture depict Saddam in an accurate way?

I explained to the individuals in 8th Battalion that this was not a good practice if you want to produce strong visual effects with leaflets. There was an assumption that all illustrators had the same skill levels and therefore this was an acceptable practice in development of any print product. They were operating off the assumption that all artists were interchangeable and so was their work. Nothing could be farther from the truth. For instance, I could draw a very good likeness of Saddam, but if you removed my drawing of his head and placed another one in its place, you may eventually have a problem with recognition from the Iraqi troops. It sounds like that may have been a problem from what I read.

In 2013, artist and cartoonist Tim Wallace published a book of his military-themed cartoons. The book is entitled G.I. Bill – A Cartoon Collection: 1987 - 1991.