Saddam's Endgame

Debka ^

[Howlin]

The score on Day 12 of the war is even.

No need to read one more word of this crap.

[agincourt1415]

He's DEAD JIM! (Saddam)

[wireman]

It's even... Except one of them is stone dead.

[PaulJ]

DEBKA intelligence...

An oxymoron

[Mihalis]

Yes, there is some crap. But not a bad article overall.

[randita]

They confront Franks with three choices:

1. To order the American columns to dog the steps of the retreating Iraqi divisions.

2. To wait and see how far back the Iraqi forces move into the Baghdad region, the while keeping up heavy round-the-clock air attacks on the capital.

3. To deploy the “Screaming Eagles” of the 101st Airborne Division for surprise sorties against Iraqi formations.

I vote for all three.

[Cyber Liberty]

I got as far as "Debka".

[paul51]

The score on Day 12 of the war is even

The score on debka reporting is zero

[Conspiracy Guy]

Deliberately Entire Brain Killed by Acid. (DEBKA)

[astounded]

While I understand this is DEBKA, I still have an underlying fear in the back of my mind that we are being drawn into a trap slowly but surely. I fear especially that when we get all our forces to the other side of the Euphrates and Tigris that Saddam will blow the bridges behind us and let loose with NBC weapons - in particular nuclear. He also could inundate the floodplains by destroying the upstream dams - pinning us down to be picked apart by NBC and conventional artillery.

Is that far-fetched? Probably yes - in particular it ignores our air supremacy - but we just don't know the extent of their weaponry. The so-called "elite" republican guard is no match for conventional US forces, heavy armor in particular. NBC weapons are the "great equalizer" in concert with a degree of ruthlessness not seen since the Waffen SS in Eastern Europe - truly frightening. We were too light from the beginning and are too light right now. We need the 1st AD, 4th ID, and another USMC division to take care of the irregulars.

[VANHALEN2002]

Why does everyone bag on DEBKA? Who runs the show there? Is it some kind of propaganda tool or are they just wrong all the time?

[Mihalis]

You've highlighted the worst case scenario which, I think, should not be ignored. It's probably the main reason for the slow and cautious advance.

[RobRoy]

Heh, heh. These guys are analyzing the tactics of a dead guy. What gives?

[Mihalis]

...There is one interesting statement and it's it been bugging me for days. Why haven't the Iraqis destroyed the bridges?...

Here's a possible reason why:

...It may be meant to lure American forces into crossing the bridges and entering al Kut, where they will face an onslaught like the one they encountered at Nasiriya last week. That may be the moment for Iraq to let loose against the trapped American troops with weapons of mass destruction...

[Conspiracy Guy]

I think it's a group of Crackheads spewing crap from somewhere.

[John H K]

Basically its an amateurish site that devotes half its articles to self-promotion; most of their news is simply picked off newswires or watching TV; the rest is simply outrageous made-up howlers (which I suspect is a result of them actually trying to get info from military/intel sources and those sources amusing themselves telling them BS).

[John H K]

And how are those bridges "blown" after we are over them, pray tell?

The bridges are carefully inspected by combat engineers, and then permanently guarded.

The Iraqis have absolutely nothing capable of destroying them other than their own engineers spending hours wiring them. They're not going to get control of them again.

Nobody believes Iraq currently has nukes, and you greatly overrate the combat effectiveness of chemical weapons.

The idea of a "trap" is pure silliness.

The best "trap" is to blow the bridges before we get there and try a chem attack on the forces piled up behind them and the forces building a new bridge. Not to leave the bridge up.