800 missiles to hit Iraq in first 48 hours

SMH.AU.COM ^ | 26 Jan, 2003 | Andrew West

[Happy2BMe]

The US intends to shatter Iraq "physically, emotionally and psychologically" by raining down on its people as many as 800 cruise missiles in two days.

The Pentagon battle plan aims not only to crush Iraqi troops, but also wipe out power and water supplies in the capital, Baghdad.

It is based on a strategy known as "Shock and Awe", conceived at the National Defense University in Washington, in which between 300 and 400 cruise missiles would fall on Iraq each day for two consecutive days. It would be more than twice the number of missiles launched during the entire 40 days of the 1991 GulfWar.

"There will not be a safe place in Baghdad," a Pentagon official told America's CBS News after a briefing on the plan. "The sheer size of this has never been seen before, never been contemplated before."

The plan has emerged just as American diplomats at the United Nations hinted that the US Administration might be willing to give UN weapons inspectors another month to complete their task.

Chief inspector Hans Blix is due to report back to the UN on Tuesday.

President George Bush has been displaying increasing impatience with the pace of inspections and is eager to start the bombing. But according to UN sources he has resigned himself to the fact that the US lacks enough votes on the Security Council to wage a military campaign.

Mr Bush's belligerence yesterday found a match in comments by Uday Hussein. In a rare public appearance, the son of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein said the consequences of American attack on his country would make the September 11, 2001, terrorist strike look like a picnic.

He warned: "If they come, September 11, which they are crying over and see as a big thing, will be a real picnic for them, God willing.

"They will be hurt and pay a price they will never imagine. They can get much more from Iraq without resorting to the logic of force and war."

According to the architect of "Shock and Awe", military strategist Harlan Ullman, the plan would rely on an extensive array of precision-guided weapons.

"We want them to quit, not to fight," Ullman said, "so that you have this simultaneous effect - rather like the nuclear weapons at Hiroshima - not taking days or weeks but minutes."

The main objective was not just to disable Iraq's fighting capacity but to leave the population dispirited and unwilling to support Saddam's regime.

"You're sitting in Baghdad and, all of a sudden, you're the general and 30 of your division headquarters have been wiped out," Mr Ullman said. "You also take the city down. By that I mean you get rid of their power and water. In two, three, four, five days they are physically, emotionally and psychologically exhausted."

The American war plans will cause even greater angst in Europe, where the French and Russian governments, reflecting wider international fears, are threatening to veto any US rush to military action.

French President Jacques Chirac and Russia's Vladimir Putin have agreed "their positions [on a US strike] are very close", a French spokeswoman said. Both countries are permanent members of the UN Security Council, and either could veto any UN approval of an American attack.

Mr Putin has also co-opted German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder into supporting a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Iraq. Germany is now the major power in Europe and the Chancellor's reluctance, if not outright refusal, to endorse a unilateral US strike would be a major setback to the Bush Administration.

The dossier by Dr Blix, and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei, is expected to report that Iraqi co-operation with inspectors has been "satisfactory" and they could find no "smoking gun", no evidence that could be used a pretext for war.

But the pair will also say Iraq could offer even greater co-operation in the search for nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, or materials that could be used in their construction, within its borders.

But America's increasingly aggressive stance is isolating opinion around the world. Late on Friday, his Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld drove a wedge further into US-European relations when he dismissed Germany and France as representing "old Europe".

He comments drew a sharp rebuke from the foreign ministers of both countries.

If the US wants UN approval for any strike it will have to wring votes out of the 15 Security Council members. At the moment, it can count only on the solid support of Britain, the likely support of Spain and Bulgaria, and the possible support of Guinea and Cameroon.

China, France, Russia, Germany and Syria were most opposed and likely to influence Angola, Chile, Mexico and Pakistan.

[Happy2BMe]

Metalboy..

Checked the site:

"About a dozen human shield volunteers will spend their last day in England, painting and decorating the double-decker buses that will ferry them in convoy to Baghdad. The convoy comprising volunteers from Britain and around the world, will leave from outside City Hall on Saturday and drive through Europe picking-up more human shields en route. The convoy will arrive in Baghdad on 8th February where the volunteers will stay until the imminent threat of war has passed.

The convoy, led by former US Marine and Gulf War veteran, Ken Nichols O’Keefe, has attracted volunteers of all ages and backgrounds.

How high up in the DNC is Ken O'Keefe?

These fools apparently have a couple of double-decker busses they are going to ship over to some point where they can drive into Baghdad by Feb 7th.

Suckers better hurry if they want to help light up the gates of Bagadaddy.

I hear this lady is a team leader and one of their dubble-deckker-buzz drivers:

Hi! My Name is "Taliban" Patty Murray But You Can Just Call Me Traitor!

Listen To My Radio Show "Taliban" Patty - Live From Baghdad! [strum, strum] "Where have all my neurons gone . . ."

[metalboy]

that is great... "Taliban Patty gets the surprise of her life when she discovers the "shields" have in fact become "targets"..run awaaay.." I bet they kill this Patty and this ken O,Keefe once the volunteer shields find out what the hell they`ve gotten themselves into.I like the questions they pose for the shields, like it`s some sort of European vacation from hell for the incredibly naive.

· What's the route?
The route is instant death from idiocy
· Where do we sleep on our way through Europe?
Lunch will be served with on an board movie showing dead Kurds from gas so you can see just what type of psycho your supporting
· How much money should I bring with me and in what form?
Money is unnecessary for the soon to be deceased. Make sure all your affairs are in order wills ect.
· What's the weather like in Iraq at the moment, what sort of clothing do I need?
Light overcast on Wednesday, with a slight cyanide breeze from the middle east. Burial clothing is a matter of choice
· How Can I Help?
If you are the last to die, you can help in grave digging until your time has come
· What happens when we get to Iraq?
When you her the US fighter jets coming, lay down immediately on your back and then you realize that you just made the biggest damn fool mistake of your life.
· What do I need to take with me?
Brains would be preferable, but since you don`t have any I wouldn`t worry about it.
· How do we get back?
(Can you believe this question?)
· Will there be any training regarding safety, language basics, and 'what if...?
Yes, being a shield is a skill that requires intensive training..Ready?..lets begin: 1. Lie on your back 2. Get killed
· Are there any potential problems with water or food in Iraq?
Yes, and there are problems with torture, murder, gas, Saddam (you ever hear of him?)
· How long will we be there?
Only for an eternity

[Blueflag]

Actually, if you do a little supposin', you can reach much more shocking figures. As follows.

Let's suppose you have a rough total of 60 platforms that can launch cruise missiles, and each carries a magazine averaging 15 ready warshots -- attack subs, surface ships, B-52s, B-1s.

Now suppose they have a relatively slow salvo rate of 1 missile per minute EACH.

If we wanted to, we could, therefore, place 800 cruise missiles in flight in 15 minutes.

Now, some have to fly farther than others, and cruise missiles have (duh) programmable flight paths.

So, with a good missile attack tasking order, we could impact/detonate all 800 missiles on, say 500 targets, at the same time.

The artillery folks know how to do this. We could do it with cruise missiles. The entire battlefield could explode at once.

IN ADDITION, while the cruise missiles are in the air, the B-2s and stealth fighters are approaching their primaries, and are accompanied by some intense ECM packages from the Navy. The wobbly goblins can hit one or two targets. The B-2s can drop precision weapons on 20+/- targets.

Again, with a coordinated plan and a well-executed ATO, all the ordinance from the B-1s and stealth fighters could arrive on target at the 'same time' as the cruise missiles.

Welcome to the coordinated battlefield environment, Iraq.

One last point. Modern precision weapons can shut down civilian infrastructure/utilities without destroying it. In the space of 30 minutes, Iraq will be reduced to an armored infantry with 1920s communications capabilities.

[Blueflag]

Third to last paragraph should read B-2s, not B-1s. We regret the error.

[Blueflag]

For some fun 'what if?' math, read my thoughts two posts up. ;-)

[DCPatriot]

The world is too small for Germany to pull another act like they did in the 1930's.

Damn, they make fine automobiles though!

[xzins]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/829884/posts?page=43#43

Ping to the above post by Blueflag. Awesome coordinated strike mathematics.

Request ping to respective military lists

[deport]

German troops to guard U.S. military facilities

[Happy2BMe]

"So, with a good missile attack tasking order, we could impact/detonate all 800 missiles on, say 500 targets, at the same time."

We need you in the head office - tnx for the data.

[Mr. Lucky]

German is now the major power in Europe

No, I think the United States is now the major power in Europe; the whole rest of the planet, too.

[timestax]

Let's do it!!

[Travis McGee]

Which is pschologically more crushing, a single 800 missile "time on target" attack, or 800 missiles over 48 hours, going off every few minutes?

I can't decide, so LET'S DO BOTH!

[Blueflag]

Remember, this is just the first salvo. Then the general purpose air to mud guys take over. 1800 sorties per day-- from BUFFs to F-18s to Jaguars-- over and over. The fun never stops.

It's simply not over until we win.

[ASA Vet]

Briggitte who?

[xzins]

Let's do both...

Can you even imagine what that would be like!!

If I picked out a couple thousand prime targets and hit them all simultaneously and then ran a continuous 48 hour targeting of lesser sites, we would have a stone age culture when the smoke cleared.

I'd locate and take out their gps jammers just prior to the initial onslaught.

Any ideas how to do that? Nah...never mind. I'm always afraid the bad guys read these pages.

[Travis McGee]

Actually I think we are going to go for very few hard kills, we need to run this country after we're finished with Saddam's regime!

[timestax]

bump

[timestax]

bump

[ko_kyi]

Curtis LeMay would be proud!

"Sunday Punch" version 2.0

[LTCJ]

Any people who produce Briggitte Bardot can't be ALL bad.

Don't forget, Bardot was an export product.