“Shock and Awe” attacks on Iraq begin The expectation at the time was that the US would do what they had done in the Gulf War in 1991: engage in a long air campaign to soften up the Iraqi military and then send in ground troops to mop up weeks later. Instead the US opted for a massive and intensive air campaign followed up swiftly by ground forces. This would come to be known as the “Shock and Awe” campaign and was designed to destroy Saddam’s Regime’s ability to resist as rapidly as possible by