Folly in the making (iraq invasion story)

post gazette ^ | 5/19/02 | jack kelly?

[knak]

I'd love to play poker with Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of U.S. Central Command, because the first thing he must do after he looks at his hand is discard his aces.

Gen. Franks has been briefing a plan for the invasion of Iraq that is so parochial, simplistic and myopic that the Air Force, Navy and Marine components of Central Command have taken the unprecedented step of expressing alarm about it, said Johns Hopkins professor William Arkin in the Los Angeles Times May 5.

[Bounceback]

This is the same General Tommy Franks who led the Afghanistan operation? Perhap this is disinformation dropped to the LA Times for the Iraqis consumption.

[Semper Paratus]

Frank's plan? When did the General post his Iraqi theatre order of battle on the internet?
I've must have missed it.

[Andy from Beaverton]

I'm sorry, but Slobo did not give up the war in Kosovo until NATO decided to ally itself directly with the Muslim terrorist in the KLA. Up to that point, the Serbs were willing to take the hits from the NATO planes. It wasn't until NATO supported KLA on the ground attacked heavy casualties on the Serbs. Without troops, albeit Muslim terrorist troops, the standoff between Slobo and NATO still might be going on.

[willgetsome]

William Arkin? Is this the same foreign policy nut that spins left-wing babble on HARDBALL with Chris Matthews? If so, please disregard all comments from him. He's a stooge.

[Lessismore]

The air campaigns are an activity that can be pursued while the ground forces are being moved into position. Thus they represent a necessary expedient, rather than the most effective approach.

On the other hand, maybe the reason for 5 Navy air wings and no Air Force participation is that none of the adjoining countries such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey will not allow use of land air bases.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

When the Iraq campaign commences, it will stun the arab world with it's boldness and ferocity. Iraq will roll over in 2 weeks. Saddam Hussein and his family have already made plans to exit post haste into exile.

Bush will do in the Middle East what Reagan did for Eastern Europe.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

On the other hand, maybe the reason for 5 Navy air wings and no Air Force participation is that none of the adjoining countries such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey will not allow use of land air bases.

Your unconscious use of the double negative is perfect for the misinformation preview.

[MarkWar]

>Our operation in Afghanistan has been a complete joke.

For people who doubt this, here's something to consider.

We've been waging this "war" against bin Laden/the Taliban/Al Quida for many months now. But Al Quida is still able to communicate so extensively that our "intelligence" agencies tell us now that recent communication "chatter" within Al Quida is similar to what is was prior to 9/11.

After all these months of attacks -- including global actions by our friends -- Al Quida is still able to exist and it's still able to communicate within itself to such an extent that the communication can be characterized as similar to what it was prior to 9/11.

That's pretty weird.

In Afghanistan, the women are now able to walk around with sheets on their heads.

But, apparently, there aren't any other significant accomplishments ...

Mark W.

[america-rules]

Any who thinks Franks will put out an entire plan that is accurate is a FOOL !

This guy is a bigger fool for writing about a plan that is a 100% diversion !

What he's gonna do is roll tanks towords Bagdad and if the Rubublical Guard doesn't lay down the B52's and F17's etc will take them out. This is a 100% fact that any arm chair idiot can figure out in 3 seconds !

[cmsgop]

It's not quite that Clear Cut MarkWar..

The Border between Pakistan and Afganistan is big and mostly porous. Messages from Al-Quada could (IMHO) easily slip out to cells in Europe and then on to cells in America or anywhere for that matter. Remember we are in there backyard.

[Dialup Llama]

>Remember we are in there backyard.

They are in our cities.