The plan was set to fail the moment it was launched but not in the grievous manner it finally did.
The opportunity came by when least expected ,mid March. The UN forces were digging in after Saddam Hussein withdrew what was left of his army but there was no let up in the coalition preparedness for battle .Bush had called for a cessation of fire but nobody at that time knew whether Saddam had dangerous weapons or hidden resources to unleash terror and mayhem in a counter offensive and the army was bracing itself for that eventuality.
Unlike Normandy or Iwo Jima where overwhelming numbers were thrown into battle and lives sacrificed for a tactical toe hold , there was a strategic shift in the gulf war. Though firepower to destruct and snuff out lives had increased manifold, the primary offensive strategy was maximum gain with minimum loss of lives , and planning was more precise to keep causalities down, which was evident from the outcome, very few lives were lost on the coalition side.
Charles and his engineering corps were at the forefront of being prepared and ordered construction materials he had stashed at junctures east to west from Az Zifli to Dhammam on the Saudi coast, to be moved up and relocated along two main arteries heading north into Kuwait.Adrian got me the authorization to move to AzZifli and organize the reserve teams and move the containers and set them further upfield, , where advance teams from Charles’ unit had established desert stations with wireless radios and beacons.
The army was everywhere and I had no link to the outside world except a grand communion with the vast expanse of sand that got under my eyes ,nose and mouth and all I could do was stop and relieve myself without being constantly watched. I was tense and disoriented and really didn’t have a clue of what I was doing . Much as I liked to make myself believe that Adrian wanted the money more , I was as keen and had my own plans of how I would use it but enduring the three days of an uncomfortable drive in the cabin of an army van ,heightened with barking orders, I cursed my greed and questioned my blind dash into the unknown with no plan whatsoever for money which I believed would be there.
I remember reaching Kayusmah, drinking whiskey lazed with valium and crashing for two straight days. I was shaken awake and the next leg was across the Suadi border into Al Sagayah in Kuwait where the road to Jahra began, at the end of which my destiny was shaped.
