Posted on 11/13/2004 2:09:24 AM PST by BlackVeil
Probably. I've never seen the civilian aircraft in the military terminal areas. What this will do is put the civilians back on military flights to get in and out of Iraq. We used to do it like that in the early days.
Cargo will be moved in by military air only for the duration as well.
If it's for everybody's safety, we can appreciate it. Things have been a little nuts around here of late.
It's also to get things calmed down in advance of Iraq's elections coming up in two months.
Actually you'd be surprised. DHL, Jordan and many others do fly into BIAP.
However, what you are seeing is the beginning of the end. Not for us, but the opposition. Despite the negative reporting, things ARE getting better in Iraq and now the government is acting on its own. The structures in defense, police, courts, government etc. are starting to function. The war is getting an Iraqi face, and many insurgents will find it hard to operate soon since they will not get the support from locals who see their own being blown up in these attacks. It's no longer the American Occupation which forces a curfew upon the people, but their own government which speaks in their language and understands their culture. Bush was the death sentence for those opposing us in Iraq. It will continue to be ugly for a while, but by 2008 when the next elections come around, even should a weaker more appeasement oriented President take office, Iraq will be so far on its way that a Kerry or Carter can't destroy it anymore. The fragility of Iraq today will have been replaced by robust structures that can stand on their own feet. As the media keeps redefining success and tries to see failure everywhere; it is actually this facet which is both our exit plan for Iraq and the ultimate benchmark for success in the larger picture. Success is not linked to a timetable, a specific person being caught or anything else. It is the ability for Iraq to manage itself. If Iraq succeeds as a republic, it will be no longer a safe house for terrorists, no longer be a threat to its neighbors, no longer force us to permanently station thousands in the Middle East in order to contain them, be our strategic allied by default against Iran and Syria, help a little in the stabilization of world oil production while wanting to consume our products. I truly believe that in just four more years you will begin to see the fruits of our labor.
Red6
And they wonder why many of us think that the MSM has a decidedly leftward bias. The declaration of a state of emergency is certainly part of an overall attempt to curb unrest, but this fact alone doesn't make it "desperate." Not even close.
The military has other options, they don't normally fly troops into Baghdad, but BIAP is the hub for contractors flying in and out. I've been staged to return to BIAP for nearly a week now, 'suffering' th existance of hotel life in the UAE during Ramadan. Other arrangements will have to be made for us to return and for others to leave.
Quite frankly, I'm not thrilled with the idea of flying into BIAP in an old Russian 737 right now. But hey, if it's 'your time' it won't really matter.
Thanks for the update
Thank you all for your interesting experiences and observations. And thanks for what you do. Be safe!
Was Wilson hurt?
"...I truly believe that in just four more years you will begin to see the fruits of our labor."
I have almost exact same thoughts. Even as far as your comment on us pulling all our military out. Just keep required US military aids there to help continue to rebuild their military structure. If all goes as the administration has envisioned, this whole deal could actually work out ok.
Iran's mullahs may not be around in another two years, if the masses of Iranians continue to want western type freedom and government, with no religious control.
Of course I suspect we will keep more miliatary there for longer then one might expect. If Bahrain goes sour on us, then it may be more likely to be the case.
At any rate, good analysis of overall situation.
O.k. I'm going to put you on the spot here. You can politely decline to answer or FReep-mail me or just ignore this post.
My question is do you agree with Red6's optimistic view of the way things are going over there (see post #24)? In the past week the press over here has been focusing on 25 servicemen killed and hundreds wounded in Fallujah, a new uprising in Mosul, black smoke in Baghdad every time a reporter is interviewed from the hotel rooftop, etc., etc. and on and on. The pundits on the talk shows, including FOX wring their hands and talk quagmire even if they don't use that word. What's your take on this? Does the truth lie somewhere between Red6 and the press, or is it as he depicts?
(Thank God the election is over, or the President would be hammered on and on by sKerry and the MSM about our loses and it could have caused him to lose additional votes, maybe too many to win.)
My question is do you agree with Red6's optimistic view of the way things are going over there...
Oh, I absolutely agree and Red6 put it very well. I've posted many times on here expressing frustration at how the media reports only the negative things here and seems to completely ignore the leaps and bounds of progress being made in Iraq. I imagine sometime next year, things will really start coming around and calming down. We are prepared for a bumpy ride until the Iraqi elections in January and probably for a little time after that. But with US and Iraqi forces really taking charge of these terrorist strongholds now, I believe they'll start getting the message. I have great hopes for the future of Iraq.
How about "engulfing" -- I don't buy that either.
Somebody tell AFP the election is over. No need to keep shilling for the French candidate.
Just for fun, every once in a while I will try to schedule a flight from LAX to BGW, Saddam International Airport. I figure that we've REALLY won against the insurgents and other evil once that becomes possible.
If I want the travel computers to actually find the airport and compute a fare, what airport code should I use? Or are things not yet that modernized?
I know for a while I could take Royal Jordanian Airways from Jordan, and there's supposed to be Iraq Airways working, but I couldn't find a schedule. Any tips?
Many thanks.
D
The hotel complex where the journalists stay were in my sector. We used to see them report from the roof of the annex of the Palestine hotel from within the security of the hotel complex. The mosque you always see on CNN in the background was named the CNN mosque because it’s always used as a backdrop by CNN when reporting “live and on scene” from Baghdad.
I stay anonymous, I have no self ingratiating intent here. So what I write is from my personal observations. I spent a total of over 15 months in Baghdad and I know that I neither have a 100% accurate nor a complete picture of what is going on. However, I also know that the “mood” and “feeling” that is being generated by the media by focusing only on the negative is completely wrong. There were large areas of Baghdad that although I would not have done this, I could have walked there by myself with no weapon, no body armor. Most the trouble is from specific areas and I believe that all hell broke loose after the election because we didn’t want the war to become even more politicized than it already was, thanks to Kerry (Who cares about the soldier and has a plan to fix everything). Therefore, as I mentioned in another thread, on Nov 3 the fighting was on.
This has become a media war. An information war where public opinion polls determine the outcome.
Why demonstrate in front of Hotels where journalists stay? Why not in front of the CPA or other decision makers?
Why write signs in English when 60% of the adult population is illiterate?
Why ramp up activity on Christmas and other Western/Christian holidays?
Why time attacks so they make it on the 7 PM news.
There are many other examples. But public opinion and perception drives our nation and while we have the military might and industrial base to sustain and win this war even if drug out for many years, if the public fails to see this, we will loose. We will then loose because as in Vietnam we will have lost the IO/PR war and our society has lost the stomach for it. Our center of gravity is our media, the fact that our society is easily influenced by things such as Fahrenheit 9-11, The Daily Show, CNN and that there is no limit to where politicians will go to win popular support/gain power. Example, Michael Moore sat with VIPs during the DNC.
Example. Look at how Kerry used this war just as he did in Vietnam to pound Bush and win votes by in reality undermining our mission (Yet saying he’s for the soldier). Do you really think the attack on Fallujah AFTER the election was coincidence? It takes time to move 10,000 men into place for a coordinated attack on a city.
Here’s another little statistic. I believe only about 25% of the supplemental $87.5 billion are for security or associated costs. Ever here a story about where the other ¾ go? There are whole engineer BRIGADES in Iraq. Bridges that were built within 6 months, 300 ton generators (I didn’t know generators existed that big) delivered, books for schools, and much more. Some of this occasionally makes the news, but generally, a cloud of smoke in Baghdad sells better.
Building impervious fire bases and bunkering down would be easy. That would be the answer which would give us few casualties. Set up counter battery, select sites that are easily defendable and so fourth and we would take hardly any casualties. However, this will NOT win this war. You win wars through the offense. Our troops would be safe, but non-effective. The best analogy I can give is when you are fishing. We are trawling and cast our net over and over. Many of the enemy will escape, a few non combatants will die, we will take some casualties as well. Yet what we are doing in the end is killing and capturing the enemy while depleting his resources slowly over time. It’s a concerted effort which is far greater than the DoD, yet the DoD gets all the attention. Again-Smoke downtown sells. But it involves the CIA, NSA, NIMA, private forces, even the FBI and others. It’s called “attrition”, and as brutal as it sounds, we kill more of them than they of us, we have more to begin with and in the end they will run out of people and money before we will. Though we don’t publicize body counts, you better believe that we have them.
It is only this “part” of the whole picture which gets all the media attention. But it’s the fact Iraq today already has forces operating at the platoon level and maybe a little beyond which is our exit and victory a few years from now. As the systems in Iraq get built and mature, the Iraqis will assume the major part of the fight and deal with their own security. Only then can we leave knowing that Iraq will not implode. But this takes time and in the meantime WE must secure the country. This is also the reason why you are suddenly seeing Iraqis getting targeted. These are the Iraqis who are the new government, Arm, police and ultimately the insurgents and militias demise. We can not win by fighting this war indefinitely by ourselves. It’s not the Germans or French we need either. It’s the Iraqis! We know this and we are acting, but this gets no media attention and will take some time. Just elemininating Saddam and allowing a theocracy to take hold would/is not the long term best solution.
Yes, I'm extreamly optimistic despite all the media BS. We are thinking long term and strategic in Iraq. We know what the long term fix is and are working in that direction.
Red6
Thanks for your reply. At least we have 3+ years to get it down before more calls of quagmire echo throughout the MSM.
I feel guilty saying this but I am glad that my son is home on leave for two weeks. I don't have to have a nervous breakdown with ever report of a humvee or Bradley being targeted. I was hoping that this shut down included military flights and his leave might get extended. Guess not.
Pray for the brave soldiers of 1-7 Cav.
"desperate bid to curb unrest engulfing ..."
no bias here.
And you need to add, We're sorry but the AC is out;however the heating is set on high.
I came back from UAE last week on the 737. The hay bales, chickens & cargo pallets have been replaced with a professional flight crew that actually served a decent airline meal. (relatively speaking). The plane was very clean with newly upholstered seats.
This has come a LONG way from the early flights.
The only glitch was on the final lineup, after the 10,000 ft. corkscrew in, we got waved off & had to go around at low level. It was fun, however freaked out a few of the newbies on board.
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