ABC Radio is reporting the Coalition is on the tarmac, opposition is nowhere to be seen

ABC News - Radio | 04/03/03 | ABC News

[BaghdadBarney]

ABC radio reporter Bob Schmidt, tells listeners via phone, that tanks and other armored vehicles broke through the barriers of Saddam Intl. Airport and has yet to experience any resistance...

[LS]

Again, don't OVER estimate people.

a) Saddam ain't doing nothin' except drawing maggots. He's dead as a doornail

b) His remaining sons (if alive) are struggling to maintain control, with the generals each looking to cut the other's throat. I'd pay to watch that show.

c) NONE of them can get out, and they aren't brave enought to nuke or chem themselves.

d) I think our special ops guys have a pretty good idea where they are, and what they are doing. Every day that passes, we get more information.

Remember, these are numbnuts who had an entire oil field wired and couldn't blow it; who had bridges wired and so far haven't blown ONE. Let's not be a McClellan here!

[TexasGunLover]

This is too weird. Yep... let's pray they have no fight left in them... but no one should be surprised if they do still put up a fight....

[zarf]

This very strange. Ted Koppel, traveling with the 3rd ID as they crossed the Euphredes, said the resistance was virtually nil. I wonder if this is good news or bad.

[rintense]

I don't know about you, but all this unfettered access into Baghdad makes me really uneasy...

[728b]

Where in the world are the 10's of thousands-strong RG and ERG units we've heard so much about.

Pushing up Daisy cutters.

[Portnoy]

Its quiet...too quiet.....

[ThinkingMan]

did anyone else see the bizzare sequence that just played out on the bagdad webcam from msnbc? first- night vision shot, lots of traffic. Then the traffic died down. After that night vision shot gone, and what looked like a female reporter standing in front of the camera. Afterwards, there was a large group of men raising rifles into the air, and finally a shot of some guy sitting down. Then he got up, walked off and the background shot is bagdad, without the night vision.

[MeekOneGOP]

So how many dinars is it from the airport to downtown Baghdad? . . .

[voicesinthewilderness]

I hate to think negative, but Saddam is the father of many suicide bombings and encourages them. What if he had a plan to wait and draw as many US and colition soldiers as close to Bagdad as he could and then explode the nuclear device or use the chemical.
If he did this he will be looked upon as the ultimate suicide bomber by all fanatics.
I just pray that I am wrong and this never happens. But I think the man is desperate if still alive and will do this.
I am sure our leaders have thought of this.

[PISANO]

The LEFT as usual will attempt to re-write history. They will say the lack of resistance is the REASON for our staggeringly rapid advance to Baghdad. Certainly it was nothing in the "PLAN" that can be credited. You KNOW that the LEFT WING/Socialist Media is PRAYING for a GRAND STAND by the ELITE/SPECIAL/GLORIOUS IRAQI Forces in Baghdad.

[LS]

I did see him, and I've seen others. I'm telling you, these thugs can't even walk the streets now without looking over their shoulders. There is no way they could fight an effective guerilla war.

Remember, the VC had assistance from SOME of the Vietnamese because Diem was highly unpopular in some areas, and therefore they made friends with "the people." That ain't happening here.

[728b]

Note to self- read before posting. :O)

[American in Israel]

Where in the world are the 10's of thousands-strong RG and ERG units we've heard so much about.

They have been playing catch with 1000lb smart bombs last couple of weeks and are too tired to play. In fact most of them are dead tired.

[b-cubed]

and don't tear the mask off the ol' Lone Ranger

[Wolfstar]

Where in the world are the 10's of thousands-strong RG and ERG units we've heard so much about.

A great many of them are dead or wounded. Of the survivors, many are surrendering to U.S. forces. As I was getting ready for work this morning (Pacific time), I video and a report from a field reporter who showed BUSLOADS full of Iraqi soldiers surrendering. I mean large commercial buses.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

Where in the world are the 10's of thousands-strong RG and ERG units we've heard so much about

Like all Arab/Islamist armies when confronted with a real army, they've soiled their pants and headed for the hills.

[babyface00]

More negative still...

A nuclear device would erase all traces of anyone. If SH has the cash he supposedly does, and could escape in the confusion, a little plastic surgery for him and his sons and we'd never find him, nor even suspect he was still alive.

Couple it with a suicide tape sent to AJTV and the Arab world would eat it up - he'd be a martyr and alive too (and rich).

[BlueNgold]

Tooting my own horn here - I still believe that part of the strategy was to allow the regime to maintain an appearance of control (I.E. Iraqi TV/Radio) in order to keep the RG organized for as long as possible. From what I can see it worked, they mostly stayed with their commands, and most of them died between the pincers of the 1st Marines and the 3rd ID as the US Navy/USMC/AF rained hell from the skies. [similar comments posted over the last few days in response to the 'Why is the TV still on?'.. and 'Why are their troops sitting out in the open?' questions]

It still remains a likelihood that a good many were able to retreat to Baghdad, and that a fair amount of street fighting remains. However, I do not believe that thousands of dedicated troops remain to fight. Remember Gen Brooks comment of a few days ago that air superiority was being employed to 'cut off' the retreat lines to Baghdad. We did not allow most of them to fall back into the city.

So can anyone tell me ... if a 'failed' battle plan can allow us to control a hostile country in 2 weeks with less than 100 friendly casualties, what would happen if we had a 'successful' battle campaign?

[Oldeconomybuyer]

FNC reports elements of 4 regular Iraqi army divisions are engaged at Baghdad Intl Airport. Possible fight?

[88keys]

"Best to prepare for the worst & be pleasantly surprised. "

That's excellent advice...along with "the media can't be everywhere", etc....we don't/can't know the half of it, and if we're a bit "skittish" about this latest scenario, we can bet our troops are watching their backs (and their fronts, and their "everything else"...!)!

Wouldn't a pleasant surprise be wonderful, though?! ;)