LONDON -- In the ideal Middle East "dream scenario," U.N. weapons inspectors, gently prompted by American and British intelligence information, stumble on stores of chemical and biological weapons hidden in Iraq.
At the same time, evidence presented by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell convinces all that Iraq is more deeply involved in assisting global terrorist groups than previously believed. Skepticism among the general public diminishes and the Germans, French, Russians and Chinese agree that a case has been made for action. The U.N. Security Council meets and rapidly passes a resolution to back up Resolution 1441.
Large numbers of allied troops move swiftly into the Iraqi countryside and desert areas from Kuwait in the south and Turkey in the north. Popular uprisings begin in Baghdad and other major Iraqi cities. The Iraqi armed forces, faced with the imminent prospect of total incineration as 2,000 missiles rain down on every military base, barracks, defense installation and key communications centers, turn on President Saddam Hussein.