Karbala-5 Was Iran’s Bloodiest Battle (General Soleymani)

War is Boring ^ | March 8, 2015 | Jassem Al Salami

[C19fan]

During the middle of the Iran-Iraq War—one of the 20th century’s deadliest conflicts—Baghdad acquired state-of-the-art weapons from East and West. In terms of modern firepower, Iraq had a clear advantage.

To make up for this difference, Iran relied on huge amounts of older heavy weapons—and counted on loyal generals to deploy wave after wave of infantry in frontal assaults. Tehran’s commanders also parroted state-religious propaganda that emphasized spiritual reasons for their victories.

Ghassem Soleymani—today the head of the Quds Force and Iran’s top agent in Syria and Iraq—was one of those commanders.

[C19fan]

The Iranian Major General leading the Shia drive on Tikrit against Iraq commanded a division during the biggest battle of the Iran-Iraq war. People described the Iran-Iraq war as WWI fought with WW III weapons. The casualties the Iranians experienced were on the order of major battles of WW I.

[gr8eman]

I say we have them do a reenactment for old times sake. Just as the last gooners standing appear, we blanket the place with nukes! Would make great reality TV!

[skeeter]

That was a perfect war. Every casualty a good’un.

[Thunder90]

The thing is that the Iraqi weapons were garbage compared to modern late 1980’s US and Soviet standards.

[Mariner]

I wonder how they would hold up under Buff Carpet Bombing.

Wave after wave after wave.

The Iraqi Army didn't fare so well and could not surrender fast enough. There's no reason to believe Iran would do any better.

[C19fan]

Considering Iran used human wave tactics straight out of WW I having some Buffs on the scene would of wiped out entire divisions.

[Mariner]

A flight of 4 could deliver 320,000 pounds of 500lb anti-personnel bombs.

Another flight of 4 could pass 10 mins later.

640 500 pounders per flight is a helluva way to cover a couple of hundred acres of a battlefield...especially when it's a corridor only about 2-3 miles wide.

Of course, if one REALLY wanted some Shock and Awe, Napalm is always an alternative.

[C19fan]

Also Iran deployed almost 500 K men for the offensive. There is no way they could hide that many troops. Imagine BUFFS carpet bombing the staging areas.

[Oatka]

and counted on loyal generals to deploy wave after wave of infantry in frontal assaults.

When I worked with an international rent-a-rig outfit in the '80, there were a few Iranians with us. I got to be friends with them and one of them lent me a VHS tape about the aftermath of that war.

It showed Australian doctors fixing up the faces of kids who were 10 years and older, who went off to be martyred with their parents blessings. The generals would send waves of these kids against Iraqi positions to clear the mine fields before the main assault. They did, waving their little green books of the Khomeini's quotations as protection.

Those mine fields were peppered with shrapnel-filled "ping" mines of the WWII German variety. Trip the mine and a small charge ("ping") blew the mine up about three feet, where it exploded.

Being kids, these blew at almost face level and as a result, those that survived were disfigured and blinded. The Aussies would do some facial surgery where it would do some good. One scene that really got to me was when a father brought his mutilated and blind teen-aged son to them. The docs said that they could "fix the drooling" but that was all. The father protested that he was told that "there were those in the West who could restore the boy's sight" and that he was willing to give his eyes so that the boy could see again.

The look on the old man's face when he realized he had been lied to was pretty grim. And there were scores of these kids in the same condition. One, a little older, said he couldn't get married as no one wanted a cripple who couldn't support them.

There's got to be a special place in Hell for those who sent those kids out.

[skinkinthegrass]

There's got to be a special place in Hell
for those who sent those kids out.they're called, "Mullahs"...

[elcid1970]

Those Iranian boys sent out as human mine detonators were given plastic keys to wear around their necks which the ayatollahs told them would unlock the gates of paradise.

Moral savages then, soon to be savages with nukes now! That’s the Iranian leadership, laughing at the West. Life is truly cheap in that part of the world.

[BlackVeil]

In a rare interview for an Iranian documentary, Soleymani recounted ...

There seems to be more and more stories about this Iranian general. Iranians have all sorts of legends about him. He has come to prominence since 2012, when he entered the battle against ISIS in Syria and then Iraq. Before then, as documented in this article, he was in the Iran/Iraq war. That was decades ago, he must be a real old trooper.