*** Operation Iraqi Freedom - Situation Room - Day 15 - Live Thread ***

Multiple ^ | April 3rd, 2003 | Various

[AFPhys]

you said much earlier in this thread as a reply to blondee123:
>>> but (before this, we had NO idea what war was really all about!!)

I take some issue with this. Plenty of material going back to almost the beginning of warfare that explains it well! But I get what you mean!

I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but what we are witnessing here through the embeds is not any where near what real warfare is. Our military is so overwhelmingly superior that these reporters are nearly completely insulated from real battle scenes. It is far more instructive to view a classic war film such as "The Longest Day" or even "Battleground".

War is not only hot, dusty, dirty, freezing cold, nasty, bloody, confusing, dull, sickening, and terrrifying, but it is also very brutal. That which we are witnessing is little more than an easy police action due to our superiority. The day we have to go to war against a more evenly matched opponent we will have to revert to a more classic, and more brutal, approach. At that time, whole cities will again be destroyed, and whole populations decimated.

If anything, this war is being waged in a manner which is too clinically clean, and that threatens to serve not to discourage our opponents, but to give them heart.

[Fledermaus]

Unless your pets give blood, I doubt.

I know they have pets in Iraq, you can hear roosters..and dogs barking. Some jerk was kicking his dog one night.

[Consort]

Those Iraqi Army caps could become a craze.

[An.American.Expatriate]

CRUSHING DEFEAT FOR ENEMY ELITE ^

[An.American.Expatriate]

Iraqi deserters describe front-line despair ^

[The Wizard]

you're showing your age and your TV Knowledge.....very impressive

[spectr17]

FNC saying POW JEssica shoot several Iraqis and ran out of ammo. Investigation ongoing into how many.

[Tree of Liberty]

but to give them heart

I disagree. This kind of warfare will assuage some of the concerns of the civilian non-coms, but enemy regimes will likely be even more fearful since we have shown we can and will topple their respective governments. Despots don't care about their population, they care about their own lives, and those are the lives put under direct threat by U.S. military action.

[Fledermaus]

And computer knowledge.

I'm so clueless on how to make those...even though this system has all those fancy programs. Once I figure out what the 2 million little icons do, I'll get around to making some myself!

[The Wizard]

thanks

[oceanperch]

Good point and I agree that women should hold titles if they have a talent in an area. Same for men who choose fields traditional for women.

However that will never change how my heart feels about it. Being a mom has a lot to do with it. Lord knows I am not a mom in the traditional sense either. I would never allow my views to interfear with another persons freedom of choice but I certainly will voice my opinion.

[Tree of Liberty]

There's more to women in the military than them just knowing what they're signing up for. There's also the psychological influence they have upon the men around them. That makes them a hindrance, not a help, regardless of their prowess with a rifle.

[spectr17]

Just as the news gets good I have to bail. Hope we have Baghdad by tomorrow.

nite all.

[Tree of Liberty]

I would never allow my views to interfear with another persons freedom of choice

I'm sure you wouldn't, but we're not talking about freedom with regard to women in the military. There's no right for ANYONE to be in the armed forces. Optimally, they get to choose who does and who does not join among the volunteers.

[Tree of Liberty]

Later, spectr. Have a good one.

[Fledermaus]

I'm following spectr. I'm going to continue watching the tv vertically.

And my allergies are killing me and I took the best medicine...pills that put me to sleep!

Thanks for another great day online FReepers!

USA! USA! USA!

[Tree of Liberty]

G'nite, Fledermaus. See you later.

[AFPhys]

Finally having caught up, I'll get to some other things:
BBC is reporting:

• that we are nearly surrounding Baghdad's large airport - soon to be renamed.
• Within minutes of rolling in toward Baghdad, should we so choose.
• "We don't know what's happening on the road up from Kut" (Ollie does... watch Fox, bbc)
• "you know, though, the Americans haven't actually taken any of these forces out, so... [drivel]"
• Basra: looking for missile launching facilities with Phoenix drones.
• Basra: Brits not swarming it... trying to capture by wearing it down with selective military actions hoping to get an uprising. This is disturbing much of the population who are concerned they'll be let down again by the allies.
• Great BBC concern about the use of artillery cluster bombs - about 95% of the bomblets explode, others may be a problem later on.

Oh, one more "Chicken Little" item from BBC... paraphrased: "It doesn't add up" "Where is the Iraqi military? Are they going to trap the US military? They may be secretly waiting for the US to get into Baghdad where the regime will hold all the cards."

[HarryCaul]

Hmm. BBC reporter in Baghdad reporting no large military units in the city. No major checkpoints, no tanks, nothing. Scattered small units here and there. He sounded confused and maybe a little worried. "Something, to me, just doesn't add up.", he says.

I wonder if this last surprise is good or bad...

[Tree of Liberty]

Fox - Rick Levanthal back live. Currently 98.4 degrees at his location, according to a digital watch thermometer.