BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Gulf War veterans say Saddam Hussein invited the latest aerial attack and the continuing assault could help catch up on the opportunity missed during Desert Storm.
“I'm for it,” said Charles Crocheron of College Hill. “They should have finished it the first time. As long as he's in power, there's always going to be this problem.”
Konrad Omeltshenko Jr. of Clifton agreed. “It's about time,” he said, and “a lot” of his buddies felt that way.
Mr. Hussein remains a “significant threat,” said S. David Hickenlooper of Pleasant Ridge. “I wish there was an opportunity to finish the job” during Desert Storm.
“There is no doubt in my mind that we stopped short,” added John C. Murdock of Hyde Park. “If we have the opportunity to finish the job and now is the time, let's do it. ... We don't want to go back and do this again.”
No one was more frustrated by President Bush's cease-fire order than Mr. Murdock.
In Gulf Storm, Capt. Murdock was executive officer of a Marine Corps tank company and mechanized infantry platoon that swept into Kuwait in the flanking maneuver that all but ended Iraqi combat effectiveness.
He was preparing an ambush along a main road leading from Kuwait City to Iraq when Mr. Bush ordered the cease-fire.
Mr. Crocheron, a staff sergeant in an Army vehicle maintenance company, arrived in Kuwait shortly after the shooting stopped.
He predicted Mr. Hussein would continue to try to build or buy nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, adding that bombing Iraq was the only alternative to occupying the entire county.
Mr. Murdock and Mr. Hickenlooper — the two Marine officers interviewed — admitted to pangs as they watched combat on TV at home.
“I would love to serve again,” Mr. Murdock said, even though he's 34 and practicing in a law firm with his name on the door.
“There is a part of me that feels I should be over there,” said Mr. Hickenlooper, 31. “On the other hand, it's never fun being shot at.”
The reaction of Mr. Omeltshenko, 29, a Clifton resident, computer science student at the University of Cincinnati and part-time bartender, was mixed.
He drove an Army armored personnel carrier in Kuwait and Iraq, where he saw one tank battle “and I got shot at once.”
Mr. Omeltshenko felt drawn to return to combat. “It was an intense experience and I'm an excitement freak,” he said.
Mr. Hickenlooper, a student at Chase College of Law and constable for Judge John O'Connor of Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, said timing “muddied” perceptions of President Clinton's motives.
Mr. Murdock said “You can't help but be cynical. ... The timing is unbelievable with the impeachment vote.”
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