On Battle’s Eve, Live Chickens for Iraqis’ Meal

Iraqi soldiers only knew they were going into last week’s battle of Khafji the night before--when they each received a chicken to kill for dinner, their captors said.

“Up to then, they were living on bread, water and tinned milk. They knew something was up when they got the chickens,” said an Arab forces captain as he guided a group of reporters through the devastated town over the weekend.

Every building in the coastal resort was marked by bullets, and almost every alley contained a battered Iraqi vehicle filled with looted goods.

Dresses stolen for the women back home were scattered behind destroyed tanks. The captain held up a dress with disgust: “These are not soldiers. These are thieves,” he said.

Tanks blocked alleys, their sides smashed by artillery fire and their turrets destroyed by bombs and rockets from U.S. aircraft.

“The Iraqis backed themselves into corners everywhere,” said one of the guides, an Arab forces major.

The biggest battlefield was a patch of desert on the outskirts of town facing the Persian Gulf. There, about 30 Iraqi armored personnel carriers and tanks lined up to fight Saudi and Qatari forces--and lost.

The allies attacked in two directions with massive firepower. The insides of Iraqi armored vehicles were blown apart, leaving little doubt that their defenders died fighting.