Anti-Iraq Coalition's Expectations of Revolt against Hussein Not Justified

The anti-Iraq coalition's expectations for Iraqi troops' mass surrender and a revolt against Saddam Hussein have not been justified, said chairman of the Russian State Duma's defence committee Andrei Nikolayev at a Tuesday meeting with foreign military attaches accredited to Moscow. The success of any war depends not only on modern weapons and top-notch technical equipment, but also on the public and moral support of the belligerent party, he pointed out.

"The lack of some or other weapon" does not necessarily mean the lack of will to resist the aggressor, Nikolayev believes. For Iraq, this is "a patriotic war, where, as it is well known, the grudge against the dictator becomes secondary," he emphasised.

"The policy of double moral standards and the attempt to punish the dictator by killing Iraqi national have provoked an enraged protest in the whole world," the defence committee chairman underlined. "The situation in Iraq proves the old truth that defeated armies learn better and quicker, and the Iraqi army learned its lesson during the last war," he concluded.