War Report 24 March 2003

efreedomnews ^ | 24 March 2003 | efreedomnews

[efnwriter]

efreedomnews         WAR ON TERRORISM - AN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE

 

• U.S. Apache helicopters attack Republican Guard  Medina Division
• The U.S. Air Force flew more than 1,500 sorties over Iraq on Monday
• 173rd Airborne blocking Turkey - Northern Front Escalates
• Rumalia Oilfield fire capped.
• Stalin Tactics: Fedayeen Saddam

Saddam has chosen to use  tactics from his role model Stalin, employing his fanatic Fedayeen Saddam security force. After the main armored force, primarily the 1st Infantry, blew through southern Iraq on the way to the "center of gravity" - Baghdad - US and British Marines were then brought in to secure Basra and environs including the oilfields that had been 1st controlled by Special Forces. This was by plan.

Sgt. Maj. Anthony Aubain, US Army Special Forces now assigned to  V Corps said of the situation, troopers were squaring off against "guys going around in little white trucks." Link]

When the Germans attacked Stalingrad in WW2, they likewise advanced with battle hardened troops and heavy armor, and then outran their supply lines. Stalin held back his forces, then deployed them to attack the softer troops and vehicles of the vital logistics train coming up in the rear. This led to slowing and eventually stopping the German forces, leading to the siege of Stalingrad. Saddam hopes to do the same thing with "Fortress Baghdad." This guerilla style attack on the support troops is exactly what happened to the mechanics and cooks of the 507th Maintenance, part of the 111th Air Defense Artillery Brigade that were captured near An Nasiriyah.

Tommy Franks will have hard choices to make and hopes to draw the main Iraqi forces of the Republican Guard out in the open and engage them to avoid a siege on Baghdad.

Ignorant of military history or tactics and focused only on raising an emotional response, ABC News filed this AP report filled with negativism, doom and gloom. We point this out as an example of not too subtle propaganda. Saddam has his own group of "useful fools":  We exhort our readers to address this psyops with the facts we laid out above.

"Days after it appeared that the battle had been won in Iraq's south, the shooting and the dying goes on." [Link]

Gloom-mongers are already complaining that the campaign in Iraq is "bogging down", apparently because of the appearance of Iraqi irregulars in the rear areas and the resumption of fighting in towns described as having fallen.

It is far too early to talk of the campaign bogging down or even faltering. Doom-mongers should remember that the allied attack started only four days ago. They have been spoilt by memories of the briefness of the Gulf war of 1991 and the rapidity of the recent Northern Alliance victory in Afghanistan.

Wars do not usually obey Hollywood timetables. Progress can be slow and setbacks frequent. The Falklands, a short war by historical standards, lasted a month from the first landings to the Argentine surrender.

In Iraq the allies have done astonishingly well, having advanced nearly 300 miles since crossing the start line. -John Keegan, Defence Editor, Telegraph News UK
 

This is one of the fastest advances ever achieved, on a par with Patton's dash through Europe. They have also secured the vital bridges at Nasiriyah, taken the Faw peninsula, captured Umm Qasr and isolated Basra. Reports in the media seem aghast and surprised at US casualties.

This is the 5th day of the ground invasion of Iraq. Remember that 5 days after D-Day in 1944 the allies had taken a few miles of French soil from the Germans. 5000 Allied troops died on D-Day.

Known coalition deaths total 25 so far: Two U.S. Marines were killed in combat. Five U.S. deaths and 14 British deaths were due to a pair of accidental helicopter crashes. A U.S. soldier was killed Sunday in a grenade attack by a fellow soldier in northern Kuwait. One U.S. soldier was killed in a vehicle accident in southern Iraq Sunday morning. And two British troops were killed Sunday when their plane was shot down by a Patriot Missile. Nine Marines died and a dozen U.S. soldiers were taken prisoner in surprise engagements with Iraqis at An Nasiriyah.
 

During World War II, George Orwell said of England's pacifists: "Since pacifists have more freedom of action in countries where traces of democracy survive, pacifism can act more effectively against democracy than for it. Objectively, the pacifist is pro-Nazi."

To paraphrase Orwell, in this war, those who cannot stay focused on fighting the enemy are objectively pro-terrorist.
Ann Coulter Liberalism and terrorism: Different stages of same disease

 

[efnwriter]

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[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the article!

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[TADSLOS]

Great perspective article. Thanks.

[mbynack]

In medieval times cities were under siege for years. During WW I, troops in trenches fought months without ever making any headway and loosing thousands of troops. In WW II our troops spent weeks clearing a single island - loosing thousands of troops. Some units suffered 60% casualties in a single day. Today if we don't capture a whole country in a week without a single fatality "We've bogged down." Interesting how perspectives change.

[efnwriter]

Thank You

[efnwriter]

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