Word: retaken
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Omar and his family come from Kirkuk, the northern Iraqi city that was captured by Kurdish guerrillas in late March and retaken by Iraqi forces about a week later. Omar decided to flee Kirkuk after he saw the Iraqi Mi-24 helicopters hanging like avenging demons on the horizon, unleashing their terrifying rocket fire and evoking the threat of what he feared most: chemical weapons that make every breath a draft of fire. Not only was Omar sure that the Iraqis would kill many Kurds in Kirkuk in reprisal, but he also knew that he would be in more trouble...
...replace shattered power plants and water lines -- not to mention scrounging for food -- the regime also threw its energy into smashing the Shi'ites in the south who want Saddam's secular Baathist regime replaced by Islamic rule. In the five weeks since the liberation of Kuwait, Baghdad has retaken every major rebel-held city and town, sometimes with terrifying vindictiveness...
...joined the revolt, but they grew fainthearted when loyalist troops began shelling rebel positions. "We are for the people," said Jabar, "but if we desert, they will kill us." And so the dispirited soldiers changed clothes again and rejoined the army, which by the middle of the week had retaken most of Basra...
...battle also had some unpleasant surprises for the U.S. and its allies. Despite widespread reports of low morale among Iraqi frontline troops, those in Khafji fought tenaciously, prolonging the battle for hours after the Saudis announced they had retaken the town. One column of tanks approached the Saudi border with their guns pointing backward, which allied forces took as a sign that the troops manning them wanted to defect; instead the Iraqis swiveled their turrets around rapidly and opened fire. There was a bitter possibility that the very first Americans known to have died in combat in the gulf...
CIVIL AFFARIS. If Kuwait is retaken, a battalion of workers will use Stateside skills in such areas as public health, safety and finance to begin restoring the country's infrastructure. A team of lawyers will begin sorting out international-law matters, and engineers will supervise reconstruction of destroyed areas. They will be helped by members of the Army's Special Operations Force who speak Arabic and know the region...