<P> The next targets were command and communication facilities . Saddam Hussein had closely micromanaged Iraqi forces in the Iran--Iraq War, and initiative at lower levels was discouraged . Coalition planners hoped that Iraqi resistance would quickly collapse if deprived of command and control . </P> <P> The air campaign's third and largest phase targeted military targets throughout Iraq and Kuwait: Scud missile launchers, weapons research facilities, and naval forces . About a third of the coalition's air power was devoted to attacking Scuds, some of which were on trucks and therefore difficult to locate . US and British special operations forces had been covertly inserted into western Iraq to aid in the search for and destruction of Scuds . </P> <P> Iraqi anti-aircraft defenses, including man - portable air - defense systems, were surprisingly ineffective against enemy aircraft and the coalition suffered only 75 aircraft losses in over 100,000 sorties, 44 due to Iraqi action . Two of these losses are the result of aircraft colliding with the ground while evading Iraqi ground - fired weapons . One of these losses is a confirmed air - air victory . </P> <P> Iraq's government made no secret that it would attack if invaded . Prior to the war's start, in the aftermath of the failed US--Iraq peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, a reporter asked Iraq's English - speaking Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz: "Mr. Foreign Minister, if war starts...will you attack?" His response was: "Yes, absolutely, yes ." </P>

He was president of iraq from 1979 to 2003 and during both persian gulf wars