Posted on 03/26/2003 5:11:22 PM PST by Sabertooth
Allied jets target Republican Guard convoys 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.
Mar 27 2003
The Western Mail - The National Newspaper Of Wales
Yes indeed, I scream at the tv set every time some stupid news reader trills "elite" over the airwaves. There are some ferocious fedayeen fellows trained at terrorist training ground in Salman Pak and allegedly guarding Saddam, but all of the photos I've seen of the "elite" Republican guard reveal a bunch of fat guys shuffling along, not even smart enough to march in step.
I agree that Saddam is more obsessed with the display of his power than ensuring the real victory. He may not want to be viewed as a rat cowering in his undergroud bunker. He is more of a political animal than a warrior. He is good at running a ruthless dictatorship while his military decision is often blinded by his political imperative.
I hope that we can count on this weakenss of Saddam a few more times. If we can tweak his mind right, especially tweak his ego, he will give American force a few big breaks in the battlefield which will be enough to crush him and his sorry regime. I also think that his die-hard inner circle loyalists will think the same way. So even if Saddam is actually dead or incapacitated, this tactic could still work.
It's not nice to say "Giap"; say "Giapanese" (Curly goes, "nyuk, nyuk, nyuk")
Very similar to the 'frigid Afghan winters' the media was warning us about prior to Enduring Freedom.
Very Interesting thought,.....Maybe, there are many Palis/Al-Qaeda appearing as 'Irregulars'.
One tried to blow up a U.S. fuel tanker today wearing a U.S. uniform !
UPON EXAMINATION,...HE WAS WEARING AN EXPLOSIVE BELT UNDER THE UNIFORM!!
:-(
LOL
Pentagon just reported they have not seen one, whats up?
CNN... now, don't laugh. Thanks for the post.
Let them try. The moment they start moving, we spot them with JSTARS, and our air assets bomb them into oblivion before they even reach out ground troops.
First there are a thousand vehivles headed for our troops and we're already bombing the column, and then we don't know anything about any column heading for our troops. In addition, these stories are getting the Basra and Baghdad stories mixed up, perhaps on purpose. The Brits already destroyed the column out of Basra. The allies are in the process of destroying the column out of Baghdad if it exists. OR the column out of Baghdad is sneaking up on our oblivious troops.
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.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.