Suppose that Saddam has drawn virtually all of his Republican Guard and munitions into Baghdad, dispersing them to heavily populated civilian sites throughout Baghdad–apartments, houses, hospitals, mosques. Virtually none of them are posted at the conventional military targets. Suppose also that these civilian sites are heavily rigged with explosives, to maximize the likelihood that a building will burn out of control or implode when allied forces fire on Republican Guard forces. The Republican Guard hides amidst the civilian population–perhaps 10 or 12 snipers would be posted at various spots in a particular high rise apartment building that houses 1000 civilians. The Republican Guard lies in wait at these scattered posts throughout Baghdad, a city with a population of almost 5 million, ready to ambush allied forces that pass by on the streets.
Allied forces roll into Baghdad. Assuming that virtually all of the Republican Guard decides to fight, and Baghdad has to be taken block-by-block, by force, what is the best case scenario (fewest casualties) and worst case scenario (most casualties) for:
- U.S. and allied troops
- Iraqi civilians, and
- Iraqi Republican Guard troops