Top priority for Saddam will be placing as many civilians and civilian structures between his weapons of war and our armies as possible. He is going to station weapons in schools, daycare centers, hospitals, kiddie pools, and pretty much anywhere there's a lot of women and children. Some sources say he has already done a lot of this.

The fact that he believes this is an effective way to deter Americans, while if the positions were reversed, he would cheerfully grind thousands of women and children into the dirt to get at his enemies, says all there is to say about the difference between Iraq and the United States.

When things get rough, he is going to start blowing things up. Oil wells for sure, and most likely all those civilians we were talking about. I'd bet even money that he is placing charges all over Baghdad even as I write this. Saddam knows quite well that the world is more than ready to believe that Americans will be the cause of any "collateral damage," even if the U.S. claims that no American weapon was within miles of the area.

Besides blowing things up, he may contaminate them. Spreading nerve gas or biologicals across his own people as he flees would be just like him. While he can't plausibly blame Americans for firing such weapons, he will claim that other weapons broke open the stores. Of course, this burns his "I have no weapons of mass destruction" bridge behind him completely, so it would be an act of real desperation, and is less likely than just ordinary demolition.

Meanwhile, terrorists all over the Mideast will be activated, and terrorists who normally targeted just Israelis will go after Americans as well. Don't know how that will play out.