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Posted on 03/27/2003 6:25:16 PM PST by Sabertooth
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7-Day Forecast | Baghdad, Iraq
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Posting this a little early, as I'll be out for the evening. Post any maps of Iraq, especially with troop movements, here. Thanks.
031
WUUS01 KWNS 280047
PTSDY1
DAY 1 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK AREAL OUTLINE
CENTCOM...DOHA, QATAR
FOR THE OPERATIVE AREA: THE NATION OF IRAQ...INCLUDING THE CITY OF BAGHDAD AND ENVIRONS
0039 HOURS GMT FRI MAR 28 2003
VALID TIME 280100Z - 281200Z
Probabilistic Outlook Points Day 1
... BUNKER BUSTER ...
SLGT 34899270 34679470 34909579 37479471 39139418 40149338
40839113 40578998 38538983 36149082 34899270
0.02 24908071 25518032 26018015
TSTM 28648261 30108130
TSTM 42178011 39258218 39128436 38088753 36038942 33189288
32419466 31659724 32899806 36209583 39529492 43999022
45718387
... DAISY CUTTER ...
0.05 34899270 34679470 34909579 37479471 39139418 40149338
40839113 40578998 38538983 36149082 34899270
0.05 28088071 27968126 28158153 28518155 29008155 29408107
0.15 35689536 37219445 39059404 39599354 39149258 38789227
37779278 36279303 35379371 34919447 35059563 35689536
... MOAB ...
0.05 25298055 25828030 26258015 27298020
0.05 34899270 34679470 34909579 37479471 39139418 40149338
40839113 40578998 38538983 36149082 34899270
0.15 35529431 36979364 38609337 39629284 40659115 40499013
39028999 36509136 35809191 35099279 34819466 35529431
Categorical Outlook Points Day 1
... SHITSTORM PROBABILITY ...
SLGT 34899270 34679470 34909579 37479471 39139418 40149338
40839113 40578998 38538983 36149082 34899270
TSTM 28648261 30108130
TSTM 42178011 39258218 39128436 38088753 36038942 33189288
32419466 31659724 32899806 36209583 39529492 43999022
45718387
OPERATORS: RUMSFELD...FRANKS...POWELL...STRAW
AUTHORIZED: BUSH...BLAIR
At least our troops will be cool for the next couple of days.
LOL, Michael! Looks like substantial noise pollution for tomorrow.
With the weather fast improving, US and British air attacks against the Republican Guard units south of Baghdad are moving into high gear.
BBC defence correspondent at Central Command headquarters
Military sources also say that US marines have pushed northwards closer to the town of al-Kut on the Tigris river.
But the difficulties of fighting a multi-front war could well slow the pace of this military operation.
"The enemy we're fighting is different from the one we had war-gamed against," says Lieutenant General William Wallace, the senior US ground commander in Iraq.
His comments, made yesterday during a visit to the 101st Airborne Division, have reportedly caused some unease at the Pentagon, as they seem to illustrate that this campaign is not turning out quite as the US war planners expected.
Bad weather exacerbated the problems of long supply lines - a factor that could lead to a pause before the full-scale ground assault on the Republican Guard is launched.
But it is the level of opposition on the ground from irregular Iraqi units that is causing the greatest delay.
The Americans have had to battle to keep supply routes open.
The Euphrates valley is still far from secure and another thrust by the US Marine corps towards al-Kut on the Tigris river is facing similar resistance in towns like Qalat Sukkar.
Different views
Perceptions as to how this war would unfold seem to be very different in London and Washington.
There is a feeling here that the Pentagon's assessment of a rapid Iraqi collapse was based upon a poor understanding of the dynamics of Iraqi society.
As one senior British source put it, the United Kingdom's contribution was configured for medium-term success, although it could equally exploit a rapid Iraqi collapse.
That does not seem to be quite how the Pentagon saw it.
Weather and resistance are not the US planners' only problems.
The absence of a heavy US mechanised division moving southwards from the Turkish frontier means that it will be harder to pin down - or fix, as the military put it - the Republican Guard divisions protecting the northern approaches to the Iraqi capital.
Building up a force with any real combat power in the north is going to take time.
Many more US troops are on their way, but the first unit to arrive, the 4th Infantry Division, will not be ready for battle for some weeks yet.
Its troops are beginning to fly into Kuwait, but much of its heavy equipment is still at sea.
All the signs are that this war could be longer and harder than many people expected.
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