Allied jets target Republican Guard convoys

IC Wales.co.uk ^ | March 27th, 2003

[Sabertooth]

Allied jets target Republican Guard convoys
Mar 27 2003

The Western Mail - The National Newspaper Of Wales

IRAQI military in Baghdad and Basra were last night risking being wiped out in air attacks by leaving the confines of the cities to confront coalition troops.

Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard left the capital in a column of 1,000 vehicles.

And up to 120 Iraqi troop vehicles drove out of Basra in a southern direction.

Harriers and Tornados flying out of Kuwait attacked the armoured convoys.

An RAF source said, "A significant number of British aircraft are involved."

It appeared the vehicles were heading towards British troops on the Al Faw peninsula.

It is thought Iraqi commanders decided sandstorms around Baghdad would provide cover for the elite troops to journey to the area of the heaviest fighting of the war so far.

They may have believed the appalling weather conditions would protect their troops from being decimated by allied air power, much of which has been grounded by sand-storms.

But military intelligence had spotted 3,000 Republican Guard moving from the capital to the city of Al Kut, and a further 2,000 were seen to the south of Al Kut.

The Iraqi advance appeared to signal that Saddam Hussein's best trained and most loyal force was ready to go on the offensive despite days of allied air strikes and missile attacks on its positions.

The Iraqis have already issued their first report of battlefield action by the Republican Guards. A spokesman said a special forces unit attacked coalition troops in south-central Iraq, destroying six armoured vehicles and inflicting an unspecified number of casualties.

A US military officer said there had been a fierce battle yesterday for control of a bridge over the River Euphrates at Abu Sukhayr, 13 miles south-east of Najaf. He said an unspecified number of tanks and Bradleys had been destroyed. He believed the US crews, under the command of the 3rd Infantry Division, had escaped the vehicles - but their fate was unknown.

Meanwhile Washington announced yesterday it was flying another 30,000 troops from the US to the war zone.

The Pentagon admitted it was shifting its battlefield tactics after commanders on the ground said they were surprised by the stiff resistance put up Saddam's paramilitaries.

[CatOwner]

Yeah, but what about the Iraqi citizens we are suppose to liberate?

[Antoninus]

"Meanwhile Washington announced yesterday it was flying another 30,000 troops from the US to the war zone."

Don't know what to make of this.

Don't sweat it. This is the 4th Infantry Division that was supposed to come down through Turkey until those dirtballs decided to join the axis of weasels. They were supposed to be involved in the campaign from the beginning but are playing a little catch-up. Of course, you would never know it from this poorly written article.

[JustPiper]

Sounds as though the media is simply adding it's own steam to the fog of war...indicating they don't have a clue what's going on.

Hey CC then how are we suppose to know what is going on. I heard this on MSNBC,CNN and FOX...is Clinton behind this ;)?

[cake_crumb]

Most likely, money is behind this one. They're hyping like mad, trying to keep people glued to the TV. Personally, I believe there is a column on the move from Baghdad, and that CentCom is aware of it. Perhaps they're trying to determine what's in it: civilians of military. I'll just pray for our troops and wait until tomorrow morning to find out what the result was.

[cake_crumb]

civilians OR military

[libertylover]

divides their force and makes them easier to brake

I think you mean "break". I've concluded that English is one screwed up language. It's got too many words that sound the same but have different spellings and/or meanings. Look at that, I just used two, oops, make that three (it's/its; to/too; to/two , and I wasn't even trying. I think we're going to have to take this up with Ivan next time he's online.

[AndyTheBear]

Elite Republican Guard? Does "elite" mean they get the uniforms without moth holes?

Elite means they get to eat.

[GrandMoM]

BUMP

[dalebert]

Wonder how many human sheilds the Republican Guard had with them when the left Bagdad?

[ApesForEvolution]

That was my first thought. They might be butt-plunging savages, but war is their 'thing'. The dirty type. I believe they have to be moving closer to create a low profile 'soft' interdiction for supply lanes. That's the only thing that remotely makes sense.

[Frank_2001]

You're right, Saddam in particular learned nothing from the "Highway of Death". Bring on the MOAB's!

[Frank_2001]

I do!!!

[TheLooseThread]

"B-53's"

B-52's, B-53's, whatever it takes....

[So Cal Rocket]

So Cal Rocket's crazy theory as to why the Republican Guard is making these seemingly stupid military moves...

1. Saddam is dead.
2. Knowing his days were numbered, Saddam made many video tapes in the days before the war started - exhorting the Iraqi's to fight... soft on specifics.
3. The Iraqi's have been playing the tapes... finding the best one for the day's circumstances.
4. The supply of tapes is running low... the ones they have left talk about "the great battles on the Al Faw peninsula and in Al Kut".
5. What's left of any military command structure sends the Guard out on missions to have battles in these two places.
6. A video with Saddam exhorting these great battles is played, giving "proof" that he's still alive.

What do you think... am I hearing black helicopters?

[ConservativeLawyer]

I've just heard that Officials can't find any evidence of a large-scale convoy. Small or big

Not anymore, can they. No evidence of a convoy, but lots of evidence of burning hulks lined up.

[RadojeS]

Well as a professional armchair general....

If you look at it from their side, without the sheen of thinking they are stupid or suicidal, if you have an armored force it is no good at all sitting in defensive positions that can be bypassed and out flanked. The whole point of tanks is firepower and MOBILITY. Moving forward allows you to manuver and adjust to the enemies moves. Clauswitz always said the it is easier to defend than to attack, but he also said that by taking a defensive posture you are putting yourself at the will of you enemy, as they choose when and where to attack you. If they know they can't sit still and they know they can't counter our air superiority, then their best bet is to get in as close as they can to our forces and slug it out. Remember they have a relative numerical superiority, so their best bet against a technologically superior foe is to try and overwhelm us in close combat. Considering for all we know their air force is mostly intact, I'd bet they would throw all their air assets up in order to keep our attack planes occupied.

Now this is not to say that they will win, or that I'm even not way off base, but lets not make the mistake of either under- or over-estimating their abilities. They are not "elite" soldiers, but neither are they complete morons.

[I'm ALL Right!]

It's one LOUD-AH!

[ConservativeLawyer]

They are interdicting our supply line.

What evidence to you have of this? It appears to me all they have been able to do is harrass the supply line. I've seen nothing to indicate that they have cut our supply line at any point.

The issue is -do we have the resolve to attack Baghdad and its 5 million people.

I would hope we wouldn't have started this if we didn't have the resolve to finish it.

[razorback-bert]

The Roswell B-53s?

[truth_seeker]

"...so rather than relish their stupidity, we might wonder what they're really up to, or what else they're up to..."

It doesn't matter what else they're up to, because they are dead, or will be, before they try to do what else they were supposed to be up to do.

When you observe stupidity, see it for what it is, and don't presume some kind of cleverness.

These are people who confuse diabolical behavior for cleverness, and that is stupid.