Posted on 03/24/2003 4:25:41 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Awestruck
A surprise attack aimed at Saddam, plus the kickoff of the air and ground assault, shake the Iraqi regime. Inside the allied plan to finish it off for good.
By ROMESH RATNESAR
The smoke rose above Baghdad in plumes of thick, black soot, carrying with it the ashes of a dying regime. The nights were full of fire and noise, as thousands of Tomahawk missiles and smart bombs crashed into their targets, sending up balloons of searing orange flame into the night sky. In the light of day, calm descended on the city's streets, and the silence was pierced only by the crackle of burning buildings and the wail of emergency sirens. Iraqi officials angrily prevented reporters from venturing near the scenes of destruction, but word spread quickly among the hardened citizens of the city what exactly had been destroyed. Three days into the American war on Saddam Hussein, the soaring government buildings and opulent palaces that once stood on the banks of the Tigris River were gone. Even if Saddam and his most trusted aides somehow managed to survive a bombing campaign expressly designed to kill them, their tyranny appeared ready to crumble with the foundations of their fortresses. It seemed to be only a matter of time.
But wars move according to their own tempo; war plans, military men often say, are made to be broken, good only until the first bombs are dropped and the real fighting begins. At the White House and inside the allied war rooms, the mood swung from hopeful expectation, with signs that the Iraqi regime may have been decapitated, to admonishing sobriety on Saturday, as U.S. soldiers encountered significant enemy fire outside southern Iraqi cities and on the road to Baghdad. "There's no cheering or high-fiving whatsoever," said a senior White House aide. "This is not a cakewalk." By the end of last week, Pentagon officials said they were pleased with the pace of the campaign, as U.S. forces pushed more than 150 miles into Iraq, but there was also plenty of anxiety about the hazards that might still lie in wait—perhaps only days away—as the steel wave of allied power pushed toward the gates of the capital. "Things are going pretty well," a senior Pentagon official says. "Perhaps too well."
The opening act of Gulf War II did not proceed according to the Pentagon's carefully scripted blueprint—to begin the attack with a rapid push of ground troops, followed by a massive air assault designed to "shock and awe" the enemy into submission. That plan was pre-empted because of an intelligence bonanza that could have delivered the knockout punch before the opening bell. Acting on fresh information that came in hours before the deadline the U.S. President had set for Saddam to give up power, George W. Bush ordered U.S. forces to strike the Baghdad bunker where Saddam was believed to be sleeping. Just before dawn Thursday, three dozen Tomahawk missiles outfitted with 1,000-lb. warheads were unleashed from six warships in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea and slammed into three buildings in Baghdad. "The intelligence indicated there would be senior Iraqi leadership at all three," a Pentagon official said, "but one target was more important than the other two." Shortly after the missiles found their marks, a pair of U.S. F-117 fighters dropped four 2,000-lb. bunker-busting bombs on an underground facility believed to be housing Saddam and at least one of his two ruthless sons Qusay and Uday.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Oh thanks for saying this and encouraging the Turks, whoever you were. That's all we need to ensure unity in post-war Iraq, a pitched Turk-Kurd brawl. </sarcasm>
Since the Turks won't help us we need the Kurds badly to help us take northern Iraq. If the Turks are going to fight the Kurds they will find the Kurds reinforced with American air power.
I think our position is that if the Turks come in we will fight on the side of the KURDS. We will not be referee, we will be a combatant.
The implication is we will not be neutral in a Kurd Turkey conflict. We will be pro Kurd. That is what is slowing the Turks down.
We are being Turkeys friend... Just like france is being ours.
This, after all, is Time. There had to be a nod to defeatism in there somewhere. The character of the claim "lone fighter" is itself ludicrous unless they have something up their sleeve to undermine the major coalition players (Britain, Australia) and even then we could still beat their pants off, it just would take longer. Sheriff Bush isn't there alone, he's got a posse.
Many media types are making the mistake of inadvertently building up Bush by disparaging him in so many ways. If he succeeds despite their bad-mouthing, his stature will grow even higher. They should be toning down their silly rhetoric. Otherwise, they will be made to feel really small.
France wants their hands on reconstruction contracts when the war is over. Pretty shameless, don't you think ? They oppose the war. But they want spoils to be shared.
Sourced by A tIME REPORTER READING fREE rEPUBLIC THREADS.
I strongly suspect that the job of reporters got easier thanks to Free Republic. They pretty much collect many good leads here.
They will only get scraps, in my opinion. I am sure that their oil contract will be torn up. No TotalFinaElf in Iraq.
Most likely in exchange for French efforts to have the embargo on Iraq lifted and go around the embargo to sell Saddam what he needs. I heard here that the terms of contract is lop-sided in favor of France. No wonder Chirac went ballistic.
Bill is in the mail! ;)
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