Posted on 03/29/2003 3:20:07 PM PST by Common Tator
For some time the Media has been howling about pausing in our attack on the Republican Guard. Their stories show their total lack of knowlege of all things military.
Eveyone, even the media, agrees that success in this war hinges on taking Baghdad. So how would you propose to do it when attacking from Kuwait? The first task would be to move troops to a position from which the Republican Guard can be attacked. That is a distance of 300 Km. It would seem obvious that we must move troops tanks and artillery to that position from which an attack could be launhced. How many troops would you initially move to that position? You would need enough so that the Republican Guard could not hope to attack them and win. How many troops would you use to defend this 300 Km. supply line? Enough so any Iraqi troops could prevent our supply lines from being able to supply.
Then what would you do. First use air power to destroy 50 to 90 percent of the Republican Guard. Secondly move more Troops, Tanks, Attack Helicopeter, and Artillery to the attack postion.
Would you attack before you had enough of the Republican Guard destroyed from the air to ensure easy victory? Not if you had a brain. Would you start the air attack before you had an army in the attack position? Not likely. If you did, as the air attack started to work, the Iraqis would use the first bad weather spell to retreat into Baghdad proper.
Would you use troop resources to provide 100% safe root from Kuwait to Baghdad? Or wouuld you use enough to make the supply route work and place most of the intial troops in the attack position.
Would you try to send all your toops and machinery from Kuwait to out side Baghdad at once even though the limited roads would not support them? Perhaps you would send what the road could handle and not enough to make the road a major city rush our traffic jamb for days.
In any major undertaking commanders use enough force to do the job. They do not use enough force to make it 100% safe. That takes way too many resources. Commanders can't send more troops than the roads can handle. Commanders do not attack with less than the force required. Commanders do not attack before the defenders are severely reduced by air power.
In Desert storm, the object was to make the Republican Guard run for Baghdad. They did. In this war the Republican Guard is at Baghdad. That won't work.
Ground attacks require preparation using air forces, and a rested well equiped superior attacking force. Only and Idiot would call for troops to attack taking 300 Km. in 3 or 4 days and then launch an attack against a dug in defending force. A commander that would do that should be court marshalled. Media people who infer that failuure to follow such a course is a mistake, should be boycotted by thinking Americans.
The American media is for the most part is both stupid and biased against the USA. I certainly won't stop watching CNN and MSNBC, but I certainly will not buy products advertised on those networks. The same goes for the papers and networks who employ the questioners at the press conference.
It would seem to me that the attitudes of the Networks should make any advertiser to question why it is good business to buy ads that reduce sales. Nothing will change until most advertisers understand understand that buying time on stations that trash the USA and supporting Saddam is bad for business now and in the future to. Buying spots to reduce sales will not get anyone the award for CEO of the year.
The disaster that awaits, will not be a military failure.
What awaits, is the deluge of stories about the human suffering under Saddam Hussein's fascist Islamicism. It will overwhelmingly point to the failure of the "liberal" media to apply themselves to the primary duty of a free press:
To protect the people from the abuse of government power, from the excesses of government, and from the tryanny of government officials and supporters.
The legacy of the "liberal" media, is the millions who have suffered because of the "liberal" media's petty arrogance.
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.