Still true today.
Posted on 09/10/2017 5:24:11 PM PDT by BeadCounter
Looks real to me, just taken days after the attack. All the vehicles were just pushed off the road by the Kuwaities. Hoods are up because batteries, etc. we’re looted. Bodies all cleaned up, there were lots. Kuwaities love American cars, Chevy suburban a favorite so no surprise there. I was there (not this specific spot).
The ISIS militants were headed to the last ISIS stronghold on the Syria/Iraq border. This area is under siege by the US-backed coalition (mainly Kurd fighters) but the Assad government would also like to get control of it. The strategy behind the Assad/Hezbollah agreement to allow the ISIS militants safe passage back to this area was to reinforce the ISIS fighters there against the US coalition, to enable ISIS to hold out until the Syrian government’s forces and allies could finish cleaning up what they are doing right now and then proceed to take on the ISIS-controlled areas on the Syria-Iraq border. Syria doesn’t want the Kurds to get control of it.
Why the US would back down on preventing the ISIS fighters from moving to reinforce their last stronghold is a mystery.
Still true today.
One word:
Napalm.
We should have sent in an A10 or a Cobra gunship to do what they do best.
Bad idea.
No, we are back to square one in Afghanistan? Right? Didn’t lose enough American lives the first go round.
Those shown are the least damaged vehicles. Many of the vehicles are in fact burned out, just hard to see in that image. Other images show a different story.
The US backed down because the real agreement is between US and Russian, with Russian in the East and the US in the West. This agreement allows battle hardened and well trained Hezbollah and Iranian troops to move up the the Israeli Golan border, to use it as a staging ground for a future invasion of northern Israel under Russian air cover.
Getting rid of witnesses before they destroy the convoy?????
That one looks like it might be legitimate. It also looks like a different road - median is different, and the street lights are clearly different. (Six light heads instead of two on the posts).
Trump should get a hold of this.
The final U.S. answer to the Russians should be forcing the ISIS convoy to head back to where they came from; leaving it as it should be, for Syria to deal with, not export to Iraq.
Petting poisonous snakes will not work out well
It does look mighty suspicious. There’s only one military vehicle in the bunch. Hoods are open on almost every one of them too.
Totally different place.
I was at the HOD a few years back and was shocked to see there are still many wrecked vehicles left on the side of the road, though many like in the photos were gone. The locals love to drive Toyotas, BMWs, Mercedes and big SUVs these days.
I think the differences you note are because it is a very long road with so many vehicles destroyed or abandoned - there was not just one spot but miles of wreckage.
"USMC A-6E Intruders that were patrolling the Kuwaiti coastline were first on the scene and armed ideally for the grim job at hand. The jets were carrying Mark 20 Rockeye cluster munitions which could rain devastation over a fairly wide area. The Intruders aimed at the front and rear of the convoy. If the munitions landed correctly, the tactic would trap all the remaining vehicles in between burning vehicles and cratered sections of highway on both ends of the convoy. In effect, it would turn the roughly four mile stretch of road into a bombing range.
"The cluster munitions did their job. Both ends of escape were cut off, and vehicles at the head of the convoy careened into one another if they were not destroyed by the crescendo of sub-munitions.
"What happened next remains highly controversial to this day. Wave after wave of coalition aircraft had their turn attacking the trapped vehicles. Flights of A-10 Warthogs were especially deadly, flying below the weather and expending all their munitions and cannon ammunition during multiple attack runs. The stretch of highway was worked over by coalition aircraft for 10 straight hours. Aboard carriers in the Gulf, any munitions ready for loading were being ordered onto fighter and attack jets with haste. Many of the vehicles that attempted to flee by driving off the highway were hunted down and destroyed."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.