MISSION: NOT ACCOMPLISHED DESERT STORM DIDN'T DESTROY THE REAL THREAT.

Byline: Daniel Ortiz

I can recall the events of the Gulf War as if it were yesterday.

Our task force was preparing to take Jalibah Airfield, deep into Iraqi territory, and the faces of those around me had the look of determination. The artillery fired its rounds, then off we went. The Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Abrams tanks rolled across the desert to the battlefield to meet what was to be a major battle. To our surprise, we met little resistance. It was almost like shooting fish in a barrel. We drove across the sand, firing into bunkers and buildings. We received some small-arms fire, but the Iraqis might as well have used slingshots against our armored vehicles.

At the end of this battle, more than 600 Iraqi soldiers surrendered to us. No sooner had we caught our breath than our next orders came through. We were to face a tank division of the Iraqi Republican Guard. But someone forgot to tell the enemy where it was supposed to be, because we didn't even find a platoon of them.

All said and done, I thank God that our casualties were light, and that the Iraqis didn't fight harder.

As we are faced with yet another war in the Gulf, I've been asked why didn't we get Saddam Hussein when we had the chance back in 1991, and why we should consider a return to the region. Back then, we were close to Baghdad and had a half-million soldiers in the area. Hussein was within our grasp, but we let him go.

This time, we ought to get him, remove him from power and kill him if necessary.

During the Gulf War, tensions were high; we were up against an army that was battle tested in its war with Iran. Our soldiers were green; I was there almost straight out of basic training. Intelligence told us we'd face the Republican Guard, Iraq's elite soldiers, in what Saddam claimed was to be the ``mother of all battles.'' The media helped build up an image of a bloodbath in the desert. But it never came.

Instead, the Iraqi soldiers were happy to see us come over the horizon, so happy that they saluted us by holding both arms in the air and waving white flags. They didn't want war, but if they didn't fight, they knew their families' lives would be at stake. These soldiers surrendered en masse, with hopes that we would overthrow their leader and they would have a taste of freedom.

But we let them down. We not only let them down, we let down everyone - from the soldiers who were forced to serve in Saddam's army, to the Kurdish people we had vowed to protect, and to our own armed forces who now suffer the aftereffects of war.

Some claim that I'm a war hawk, but I believe that no one hates war more than the warrior who has to fight it. So why do I feel we should go to war in Iraq? Simply, it's this: The best defense is a good offense. If we remove Saddam, his regime crumbles.

For too long the Iraqi dictator has thumbed his nose at us. It's been 11 years and Saddam refuses to comply with the conditions of surrender. His time has run out.

In the Gulf War of 1991, we knew our mission: Free Kuwait. We had Saddam in our gun sights, but our hands were tied by the United Nations. Had we gone any further, we might have lost our allied support. That was too much to risk. Besides, we had accomplished our mission, and we wanted to come home.

Our mission now is a different one, but it should be just as clear: Remove Saddam by any means necessary. The U.N. resolution gives Iraq until today to disclose its weapons of mass destruction. If Iraq refuses to honor those terms, we must act swiftly to punish this regime of terror.

President Bush told the members of the United Nations that we are prepared to go into Iraq, with or without their support. I wholeheartedly agree. We have too much at stake to let this madman continue to develop weapons of mass destruction and threaten the stability in the region.

In the early '90s, we had a large military force. Now, because of military cutbacks and downsizing, we don't have the manpower we once had. But what we do have are the best-trained, best-equipped, technologically superior soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. Our reservists and National Guard troops are on standby, our active-duty troops are on alert. Saddam Hussein is facing a determined force.

Will the Iraqi soldiers fight, or not? Will it be an easy win? Probably not. Victory came swiftly in the Gulf War, which was waged out in the open desert. Now we must go into the cities and drag the enemy out. The heart of Iraq is Baghdad, and that's where we will find Saddam. Just as we have learned much from the war, so did they. The Iraqis would be foolish to meet us out in the open.

While this conflict might not end as quickly as Desert Storm, once again we will prevail. And when the mission is completed, we then can help establish a new government for the people of Iraq - a government for all its citizens, not just those upon whom their leader smiles.

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Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Daniel Ortiz, who served in the Gulf War as a mechanized infantryman with the 24th Division, is shown on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle in the Iraqi desert, and in his barracks.

Photos courtesy of Daniel Ortiz