U.S. Orders 4-6 Day Pause in Iraq Advance-Officers

The Washington Post ^ | Saturday, March 29, 2003 | Reuters

[Tulsa Brian]

CENTRAL IRAQ (Reuters) - U.S. commanders have ordered a pause of between four to six days in a northwards push toward Baghdad because of supply shortages and stiff Iraqi resistance, U.S. military officers said on Saturday.

They said the "operational pause," ordered on Friday, meant that advances would be put on hold while the military sorted out logistics problems with long supply lines from Kuwait.

[TLBSHOW]

Sure we are, what bs!

[dawn53]

Last night Geraldo was leaking information about some massive resupplying campaign.

I thought it was info he should not have been disclosing, but looks like the Wash Post must not watch Fox, LOL.

[LarryM]

If this is true, it is disastrous. It will give Iraq time to reorganize and launch a war of attrition against us (like today's suicide bombing).

[dawn53]

US CentCom Denies this

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/879162/posts

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I thought the CENTCOM briefing this AM said "no pause".

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

As General Tommy Franks once said: "No plan survives contact with the enemy."

[MEG33]

This is not an accurate story.The hunt and destroy missions go on, the air campaign goes on, some units are getting supplied,some are fighting,There are vehicles that need repairs,a sponge bath and a bit of sleep for marines.New plans according to what they see in the iraqi positions.

[jos65]

Just another embedded "military startegist WANABEE"

[Clara Lou]

Keep in mind that this is Reuters reporting-- happily and subtly anti-US on this matter. I read the article. It gives no source whatsoever for this "information." This very morning, CENTCOM said that there was no pause. Whom shall I believe?

[goldstategop]

There is some disinformation. Its good for us if Saddam thinks we're getting discouraged and our morale is dropping to the bottom. After all what he sees may lead him into falling to our trap.

[Keeper of the Turf]

I believe the northward push will pause for a few days - while we bomb the crap out of the Republican Guard.

[m1911]

This is the flip side to the embedded reporters - it's much harder for CentCom to BS. When the guy with the troops says "We're getting 1 meal a day" and CentCom says "oh no, everyone has full supply", I tend to believe the guys up front.
I'm not denying the possibility that we're pulling a little rope-a-dope, but it doesn't make much sense when we could try to encourage the civilians by showing our strength.

[MEG33]

Of course there may be a section not getting supplied that were cut off around that fierce fighting,but it's getting there. Armies outrun their supplies and must wait.

[Vigilanteman]

After D-Day, it is often forgotten that Allied forces spent nearly two months fighting within a narrow perimeter around the Normandy hedgerows. When Patton was finally put in command (he had been shuttled to the sidelines for making politically incorrect remarks), American forces not only broke out of the hedgerows and rolled into Paris two weeks later, but they begin to outrun their supply lines.

On the outskirts of the border, Patton was ordered to halt his advance and await resupply. While the politicians dithered in Washington about how far Patton's Army could be allowed to advance without making the Russians, still fighting to get into German occupied Poland, look bad, Hitler decided on a final bold desparate gamble. In December 1944, the nazi armies launched a surprize attack in an attempt to drive through the mountains of Belgium, Luxemborg and France and cut off the American from the British armies. The gamble was bold, well-calculated and threw in the finest and the final of Hitler's best forces, but the rest of the story is history.

[kabar]

Reshaping the battlefield. Whatever the basis for the story, it is a good idea to give our troops a few days rest before taking on the Republican Guard and then on to Baghdad. These guys have been operating 24 hours a day in the bold rush to the outskirts of Baghdad. They will need all the rest and supplies for the next phase of the battle. In the meantime, air power will continue to degrade the RG and our planners will develop the tactics to take on what is left. There is no pause--only a consolidation of forces to take the next objective. This is not Vietnam redux.

[MEG33]

The Battle of the Bulge.

[SamAdams76]

Fact is, nobody but General Franks and his immediate circle know exactly what is planned. All this hand-wringing on the part of the media (and some Freeper even) is pretty pathetic.

The campaign is a big success so far. Only nine days into this war and we own the skies over Iraq and are conducting bombing raids at will. Troops are on the ground and massive supplies are being trucked in. Iraqi forces are being dealt with on the ground as soon as they pop up. No organized assault of any significance has been made by Iraqi armed forces upon coalition troops and maybe never will. Not a single Iraqi air force plane has gotten into the sky and likely never will.

Don't really see a whole lot to complain about here.

[MEG33]

Good post.

[may18]

surely its common sense having grabbed so much land so uickly

To secure what you have, get supplies reorganised

I think people are making too much fuss

war is 10 days old.

Gulf war one was..6 weeks? and that was just expulsion from kuwait