War ReportJonathan RhodesWar Report 27 March 2003 Consolidation/Preparation

efreedomnews ^ | 27 March 2003 | Jonathan Rhodes

[efnwriter]

To all concerned re: Vanity Post:
First, thank you all for reading and commenting. Second - let's keep the fight in Iraq - not here.

My intention in posting to Free Republic is to address what has always been an appreciative audience. I welcome commentary and have learned a lot from freepers. I did not intend to insult the site or any of the readers. I posted this to Breaking News because the catagory seemed an appropriate vehicle to address the nonsence in the major press outlets. This is NOT an advertisment. I post to Free Republic because it is the most intelligent, informed forum on the web. I don't mean to sound rude, but there are much better ways to "advertise" than posting to Free Republic.

The guidelines for posting state: "Do keep "vanity" posts to a minimum - Free Republic is primarily a place to discuss news, articles, and editorials. Vanity posts, creations of the poster him or herself, should meet a high standard of quality before one is even considered worthy of posting."

I believe the posting meets these requirements. I have not found any specific guidelines on choosing catagories and I welcome guidelines from the Admin.
Replies Welcome.

Jonathan Rhodes

[ArneFufkin]

This seems odd to me. I would hope that the Commmanders would have anticipated this moment when setting up their game plan. You've got your Marine and the 4th Light right here where they rolled like demons to reach.

They must have anticipated the RG positions and defenses and formulated a plan to eliminate them. 30,000 troops doesn't seem THAT large a force to me. Didn't the bombing satisfy the mission it was originally slated to achieve?

What is the 4th Infantry going to bring to the table except an Army heavy metal stake in this game? Is that why the advance has been stalled, is it weather or an unforseen chemical threat?

I'm hoping that there aren't some vicious power politics being played here to get that Infantry crew into the scorecard. I'm puzzled why the original plan has been modified.

It's obvious that this slew of retired Generals and planted stories are designed to create a need for that 4th Artillery capability. It's really transparent and clumsy, the Army guys are threatened by Rummies new Armed Forces and they are fighting back. I hate that, these guys are all Clinton scumbags. Creating doubt among the American people, on TV and in newspapers, about the wisdom and effectiveness of the Operational Officer of our Military - in the middle of a shooting war? That's outrageous to me. STFU Clark, McAffery et al.

[Sir_Ed]

I appreciated this column...thanks.

Ed

[dennisw]

We will win in Iraq in a few weeks. But this will be the last massive intervention for a long, long time. The last GWBush war, and I support him. Iraq has shown the way for nations to avoid being pushovers (cakewalks?) for the USA.

What do we do about the rest of Axis of Evil now that we see the fight that Saddam has been able to mount?

[rebel]

This is the best report/analysis yet.

I believe it to me right on the mark.

[Alas Babylon!]

I disagree with you Diddle E. Frankly, Breaking News is a mess with all the over-hyped reports that constantly pop up every time Fox News reports a rumor. How many threads have we seen that tell us that chemical weapons have been found, or 20,000 Iraqis surrender, or Saddam is still dead, that turn out to be wrong only a few minutes later? On this particular thread, however, we get a mature and positive wrap-up on the overall sitiuation as it currently is, and this is desperately needed amongst all the breathless hype Breaking News has become.

[efnwriter]

In defense of the Army, I don't think the war would stop just to let the cheerleaders for the 4thID to have their way. WHen the British took Baghdad in WW1 (1916) under General Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townsend, They used "economy of force" and got stuck at Al Kut for months. A year later a force four times the original resumed th e campaign and finally took Baghdad.

[Travis McGee]

I appreciate all of your posts and have found them superior to the vast majority of what I read in the mainstream media.

[wardaddy]

That was pretty concise and well written....even I could understand it. Nice perspective as well.

Thanks!

[Travis McGee]

I think Iranians will be heartened, and win freedom from within. Syria will either turn into North Korea, or implode like Iran. North Korea, who knows? Sanity does not rule there.

[wardaddy]

EFN,

You needn't explain DiddlySquat.

Your posting is no more of an advertisement than a link to any other website from Drudge to Fox to Print Media to even Lew Rockwell et al.

I'm glad Travis pinged me to it....I agree with the other poster that Breaking News is all out of whack. This is living history (as I was reminded last nite). The forum can settle back to "normal" structuring when we're done.

I don't know about you guys but my TV is about all news right now at home....mainly FOX or some filler if FOX has some cretin on momentarily. I've got 2 decent VHS rentals just sitting there....they'll be returned unviewed.

Your analysis is appreciated by this layman.

[houstonian]

Thanks for the post.

The aversion to vanity posts here comes from those 30 watt posters with a single 25 watt idea. Those extended posts by Freepers which sustain insightful, factual thinking really don't fall into the "Vanity" category even though they may not be published in a (more or less) mainstream outlet. Your post obviously doesn't fit into the former class, and is welcome here.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Amen to that!

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[Travis McGee]

Let me bump your bump list.