If Saddam starts lobbing missiles our forces could hit the ground running in a very short time.

One of the concerns which receives little commentary is the gulf-war syndrome - a likely side effect of Saddam releasing an unknown biological agent and exposing it to large numbers of troops, including his own. So deployment is likely being done more carefully over broader areas with full biodetection suites set up all around.

With munitions factories and aircraft factories building parts and planes 24/7 for well over eight months will help a lot. This build up has gone considerably longer than Desert Storm. Yet the time factor is offset slightly by the stockpiles of coldwar munitions still available in 91.

However, technology has jumped markedly and the new munitions make our old smart bombs look dumb. As a result we can strike more targets with less bombs.

The Iraqis were surrendering left and right once the war began - most of them wholly expected the US to take over the country in 91 - and for those survivors it would have been better if we had taken it over.

Better late than never, I guess.

SDAI-Tech1