What was expected to be a U.S.-led conflict against Iraq distinguished by immediate overwhelming force, unusual tactics, lightning strikes and paralyzing "effects-based operations" began with a relatively small and admittedly limited effort to kill Saddam Hussein.

Early reports from the Pentagon expressed guarded optimism that other members of the Iraqi military and Baath leadership may have been killed, however. Using about 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from four ships and two submarines and a pair of 2,000-lb. bombs dropped by two F-117s, the U.S. Navy and Air Force last Thursday attacked targets in the south and east of Baghdad including radio, television and customs buildings.

Information on a target of opportunity outside Baghdad-apparently an assembly of people in a "senior Iraqi leadership compound," according to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld-was supplied by the intelligence community. It also was described as the home of Hussein's son Qusay. Given the relatively long flight time of a cruise missile, at least 1.5 hr., and Hussein's propensity to stay only a short time in any place, this would indicate the initial strike was not a high-percentage mission.

Critics of this opening move say it showed a lack of focus on primary objectives-getting control of weapons of mass destruction and protecting the oil fields-and overreliance on national intelligence agencies that often move too slowly.

"It was a Washington-directed attack on a pop-up target," said a senior commander during the 1991 Persian Gulf war. "I have no problem with that. Flexibility is one of the strengths of airpower. But the CIA appears to have held the information too long. They wanted to present a finished product. That means it took several hours to deliver the data and made it a long-shot operation. They should have had a B-2 circling overhead so that they could have just punched in the GPS coordinates of the meeting place."