Tommy Franks including in his prewar strategy deliberate attempts to feed Saddams fears. He knew Saddam was talking regularly witht he leader of Yemen. Apparently Saddam was constantly asking about Franks. In his own conversations with this leader Franks hinted that he might attack from the west through Jordan and the north through Turkey. Even after Turkey had rejected the US proposal to move through Turkey, Franks kept the possibility alive for several more hours in order to tie up 13 divisions of Saddam troops in the north.

Subsequent reports have indicated that even as US troops were approaching the Karbala Gap, Saddam and his military leaders were still waiting for the main attack from Jordon. In fact Jordon and Saudia Arabia were used for launching Special forces operations to stop the western Iraq area from being used to launch scuds against the US and its allies including Israel.