Hussein had promised to destroy Israel. But he sent fewer than a dozen missiles on the first attack Thursday night. None--apparently--was equipped with the kinds of chemical or biological weapons that he had previously used to kill thousands of Kurds in his own country. Only a handful of Israelis were injured by the first missile attack, none seriously.
Did Hussein, for all his bluster, not have chemical or biological payloads that could be delivered on Scud missiles? Or had his missile-launching capacity been so severely damaged by the early attacks that he could muster no stronger attack? Or was he just trying to husband his military resources, to use the least possible armaments and still lure Israel into the war, in hopes of getting Arab countries to abandon the United States? Was he just firing preliminary missiles, trying to find the range for later, more destructive attacks? And just how many missiles and mobile launchers did he have?
