Baghdad Troops Pull Back-Iraq 6th Armored Division Begins Surrender Talks..

DEBKAfile Security Newsletter ^ | March 22, 2003 | Gioria Shamis 20 year veteran 'Economist Magazine' Reporter

[ewing]

Anglo Amercian commanders open surrender negoiations with the Iraqi 6th Armored and 11th Infantry Divisions after the 8,000 strong Iraq 51st Mechanized Division came over with 200 tanks.

Four Iraqi Divisions defending Baghdad pull back from positions 50 kilometers outside the city to a 30 kilometer line after sustaining heavy casulties in last nights massive bombardment on military and government targets.

Civilian casulites relatively light...

[ewing]

Pulling back so as not to get hit again?

[JohnHuang2]

FWIW, Mepredicts big time Iraqi surrender coming soon.

[MEG33]

I think you're on to something.They'll be in civilian homes ,mosques..soon.

[irish guard]

I hope you are fight, but I also hope we continue to cause damage to their tanks and defences while we negotiate....we were "hondled" during the first 24 hours and I bet/hope we won't let that happen again.

[irish guard]

fight = right

[Cboldt]

DEBKA saying we're 50 klicks from B'dad. Marking for reference.

[ewing]

The Baghdad troops may be vaporizing like the ones in Basra

[Shaka]

No. The air campaign must be devasting them.

A-10's and Helo's are probably killing hundreds of Iraqi soldiers/tanks by now...it will over soon.

[bucephalus]

50 klicks from B'dad? Could it be?

[ewing]

I missed it, DEBKA said the 3rd Division in 50km from Baghdad?

[ewing]

Is it concievable that the 99 Elite Presdiential Guard around Baghdad would just go home rather than face death?

[MEG33]

Not unless they thought Saddam dead.

[section9]

I missed it, DEBKA said the 3rd Division in 50km from Baghdad?

Take it with a pantload of salt. DEBKAFile also told us that there were 700,000 Chinese troops in the Sudan.

That being said, I would not doubt that if Nasiriyah was taken and a bridghead established 24 hours ago, which is what I suspect happened, then it would make sense for lead elements of the Seventh Cavalry to be within 50-60 klicks. Tip of the Spear, that kind of thing. However, they're scouts. If they run into the Nebuchadnezzar Division, they're job will be to observe, probe for weaknesses, and in general, wait until the Third ID armored brigade and the mech troops catch up. Then you hit the RG line with everything the Third Division has, including air support.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[joesnuffy]

The reluctance of some of the Iraqi troops to surrender is the result of our failure during desert storm1 to illiminate Saddam and his commanders...they fear we will leave him alive and he will imprison torture and murder them and their familes as he did last time.

They are more afraid of Saddam and his gestapo than they are of being killed by US troops..
Once they are assured Saddam is either dead or in custody or hanging from a lamp post along with his henchmen...they will surrender in mass...and breath a sigh of relief so intense it will probably be a record sandstorm

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[ewing]

7th Marines are said to be 160 miles from Baghdad according to CNN.

[Paradox]

DEBKA saying we're 50 klicks from B'dad. Marking for reference.

Well, for what its worth, on one of those "live from the convoy" bits, on I think it was FOX? I dunno, it was like 2 am or so this morning EST. Anyways, the embedded reporter was very, very coy about their position, said he couldn't say where he was, but he even said about "reading between the lines" or something to that effect, something about when he IS able to tell them where he was, it would be surprising, or something to that effect... so who knows? Perhaps they are secretly surrounding Baghdad as we speak...

[Cboldt]

It'll be a shock 'n' awe masterpiece, if true. And I admit it was necessary to infer the conclusion I drew from the report -- DEBKA did not say it directly, but intimated RG heavy losses and pull back were due to contact with coalition forces. Maybe the pullback (if true at all) was a reaction to air bombardment.

[LS]

At least. If you calculated how fast those APCs and tanks were traveling, and did the math (350 miles from Kuwait to outskirts of Baghdad) they should be arriving about, er, NOW.

[LS]

THIS MORNING the General on Fox said that you could tell by the cultivated fields that "they aren't in the desert anymore" and that meant they were in the Euphrates Valley. . . . THIS MORNING.