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Chapter 13Element 5: I Trust YouYou Have My Best Interests at Heart

War raged in the Middle East as Operation Iraqi Freedom worked to root out Saddam Hussein and his Ba'athist regime in April 2003. General Tommy Franks initiated the invasion by sending sortie after sortie of planes to rain munitions down on the Presidential Palace. Then, shortly after dawn the day after the invasion, he commanded coalition troops to pour into the Basra Province from jumping off points near the Kuwait border. At the same time, a sea landing of Royal Marines, U.S. Marines, Polish commandos, and Seal Teams 4, 6, and 8 secured Iraq's only deep-water port as well as its oil and gas assets. This was followed by waves of additional air strikes against Hussein's command and control apparatus. The operation was a success, with Baghdad falling on April 9.

Both U.S. and Iraqi troops fought under very difficult circumstances that included the constant threat of chemical weapons. Yet, while the U.S. soldiers pushed forward relentlessly, the Iraqi soldiers retreated and surrendered in great numbers. As the fighting began, Dr. Lenny Wong, a retired lieutenant colonel working at the Army's War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, saw an opportunity. Military leaders are interested in knowing why soldiers fight. Because the combat was fresh and there were so many prisoners of war, he decided to quickly interview both U.S. and Iraqi troops and compare their motivations. Had they fought out of patriotism, in pursuit ...