Operation Desert Scorpion was an American response to the crises between the United Nations and Iraq in February 1998. Sadam Hussein provoked the United Nations by refusing to live up to his obligations to allow full access to his military sites for inspection. American military units deployed to the region (Operation Desert Thunder), in support of a number of options.
Operation Desert Scorpion was a contingency plan that called for a single American division (The 24th Infantry Division), reinforced by some Marine units, to drive from Kuwait north to beyond Basra, cutting Iraq in half and hopefully provoking widespread rebellions.
This option was not carried out, as the United Nations Secretary General was able to negotiate a peaceful solution.
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“Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule.”
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