MUNCIE, Ind. - Saddam Hussein is a ruthless dictator, but his countrymen would likely rally to his defense if American forces try to oust him, says a former television network news correspondent now at Ball State University.

Phil Bremen, who has taught telecommunications at the university since 2001, saw firsthand how Iraqis ruthlessly fought during the Iraq-Iran war.

He reported for NBC when Iraq and neighboring Iran waged a vicious war from September 1980 to August 1988. An estimated 1 million people were killed, and millions more were dislocated by the fighting.

That experience leads him to believe that any attempt to capture Iraq's capital city of Baghdad will be met with determined resistance and heavy U.S. casualties - something the American public is not ready for.

"Hussein is a tyrant and a bully," Bremen said. "I have seen the fear in the faces of his own people. But if war breaks out again, I would expect millions of Iraqis to rally around the only leader they have and fight to the death to defend their homeland."

"I have seen them fight before and the enemy then was a fellow Muslim nation," Bremen said. "If the United States attacks, many Iraqis would feel they were defending their religion as well as their nation. I don't think most Americans have any idea how ugly this war would be."

President George W. Bush has made ousting Hussein a top priority. The world is watching closely for signs of action in what critics say would set a dangerous precedent for using military force as a pre-emptive strike against Iraq.

Bush, who calls Iraq part of an "axis of evil," maintains an attack would be justified because Hussein is allegedly trying to build an arsenal of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. The Iraqi leader used chemical weapons several times in the 1980s and 1990s to quell rebellions by ethnic Kurds in the northern region of his nation.

Bremen believes an American attack on Hussein would have costly consequences, including shattering hopes for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, possibly pulling other Middle Eastern countries into the fighting and dramatically increasing the price of oil.

Driving the Iraqi leader from power would not even be the hardest part, the former network correspondent said.

"The more daunting challenge would come in rebuilding Iraq and establishing a government that both the U.S. and the Iraqi people are comfortable with."

 (NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Bremen at pbremen@bsu.edu or (765) 285-1480.)