Dash To Baghdad Leaves Debate In Dust

The New York Times ^ | April 4, 2003 | R.W. Apple Jr.

[Eagle9]

WASHINGTON, April 4 — Even by the standards of the Third Army's headlong dash across France under Gen. George S. Patton in World War II, the allied invasion of Iraq has accelerated with stunning speed in less than a week.

No less remarkable has been the transformation of the political atmosphere at home and, to a lesser degree, abroad. The dramatic, lightning-like thrust of the tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, their way eased by the devastating application of air power to the Republican Guard, has taken the political heat off President Bush and his hard-nosed Pentagon boss, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

[Eagle9]

What a difference a week makes.

[JennysCool]

has taken the political heat off President Bush and his hard-nosed Pentagon boss, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Said heat, of course, applied by Mr. Apple and other media nitwits. They should have just asked about 95 percent of us on this board, who have faith in our president and our troops.

[arkfreepdom]

I feel dirty clicking on the NYT site but had to see their recipe for crow.

[Dog Gone]

There is no reason to excerpt this article.

---

ASHINGTON, April 4 — Even by the standards of the Third Army's headlong dash across France under Gen. George S. Patton in World War II, the allied invasion of Iraq has accelerated with stunning speed in less than a week.

No less remarkable has been the transformation of the political atmosphere at home and, to a lesser degree, abroad. The dramatic, lightning-like thrust of the tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, their way eased by the devastating application of air power to the Republican Guard, has taken the political heat off President Bush and his hard-nosed Pentagon boss, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

The burgeoning debate over the size of the American force in Iraq has been tamped down. Should taking Baghdad prove easier than expected, that debate may re-emerge when American and British troops turn to the chore of occupying and administering a postwar Iraq.

But for the time being, domestic discussion of the war is going in favor of the Bush administration, and there are signs that some heat is easing from the debate in Europe. It remains to be seen what problems the expected fall of Saddam Hussein's government will cause for the United States in the Arab world.

Last weekend, only the first tentative probes toward Baghdad were under way. Military officers in Washington and the Middle East spent the day fending off suggestions that coalition forces had executed an "operational pause." There were widespread suggestions that the American battle plan was fatally flawed, and that insufficient troops were available in Iraq.

As this weekend begins, the picture has changed out of all recognition, if not necessarily definitively. Elements of the Third Infantry Division are encamped at the Baghdad airport, a cab ride from the nexus of Mr. Hussein's power; other American troops stand at the gates of the ancient capital. They have arrived there faster than either critics or supporters of the war imagined that they could, after only episodically heavy fighting, suffering only relatively light casualties.

"By any standard," former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said tonight, "it is a remarkable military achievement."

On Monday, officers on the battlefield were criticizing Mr. Rumsfeld, comparing him to Robert S. McNamara, one of the architects of failed United States policies in Vietnam. One colonel said Mr. Rumsfeld had got what he wanted — a war fought "on the cheap."

The next day the secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard B. Myers, hit back, commandos rescued an American prisoner of war for the first time since World War II and American columns pulled within 50 miles of Baghdad.

The tide turned. Not that the war was over, by any means. Mr. Rumsfeld cautioned that though weakened, parts of the Iraqi forces remained lethal.

As the Iraqis threatened to surprise the Americans at the airport with something "unconventional" — suicide attacks, perhaps, or some other new tactic — leaders of the coalition forces were still debating how best to complete the job and ensure the ouster of Mr. Hussein and his lieutenants.

What changed? It is too early to say with any certainty, especially with the battle for Baghdad still to come, whatever shape it takes, whether a protracted war of nerves or a more rapid clash of arms.

But so far at least, the vaunted Republican Guard has proved to be a washout for the second war in a row. Some units may yet fight fiercely, but many have melted like blocks of ice in the desert sun.

Some commanders reported that fighting was stiffening as they neared central Baghdad. In extremis, with the war lost, Mr. Hussein might try almost anything, up to and including weapons of mass destruction, Pentagon officials warned. One said: "The last hours could be the most harrowing."

Still, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, a man who chooses his words carefully, said today that "the day of liberation is drawing near."

Politicians and reporters began turning their attention to the structure of postwar Iraq, perhaps prematurely. Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, reflected a bit ruefully on the change of tone at his daily briefing.

"Just days ago," Mr. Fleischer complained, "people were saying we were bogged down, and now they're saying, `Describe for us and give us the names of the government that's going to be running Iraq in the future.' We're still in the middle of war."

For his part, President Bush felt relaxed enough to leave again for Camp David for the weekend, and to plan a meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, to be held near Belfast in Northern Ireland on Monday and Tuesday.

The meeting has the earmarks of a further bid to help Mr. Bush's most reliable ally: Mr. Blair is pushing hard for an expanded role for the United Nations in postwar Iraq, just as he pushed hard for its involvement in the run-up to the war.

In addition, the two leaders will be able to point to the successful Anglo-American peace efforts in Northern Ireland, a useful symbol at the moment.

European criticism of Mr. Bush has eased somewhat as the battlefield situation improves for the coalition, but anti-American sentiment in Arab countries appears to have hardened.

A bloodbath in Baghdad could inflame Arab opinion, one reason the allies are moving gingerly there.

Already, King Abdullah II of Jordan has felt constrained, probably as a result of domestic pressure, to say: "No country has supported Iraq like Jordan. We had said 'no' to attacking Iraq when many said 'yes.' "

[Savage Beast]

Whew! I'm glad we finally extricated ourselves from that quagmire!

[VRWC_minion]

Dashcle surrendered to Bush last week, The New York Times surrenders today, can the French and Hussein be far behind ?

[Mr Rogers]

What changed? It is too early to say with any certainty, especially with the battle for Baghdad still to come, whatever shape it takes, whether a protracted war of nerves or a more rapid clash of arms.

But so far at least, the vaunted Republican Guard has proved to be a washout for the second war in a row. Some units may yet fight fiercely, but many have melted like blocks of ice in the desert sun.

Still clueless. They didn't melt - they were blasted to hell by the thousands of strike sorties flown during the "operational pause". It was like watching a boxing match "Notice he hasn't hit with his left hand for two rounds now. Yes, the right hand is battering his opponent into a bloody mess - but the left is in a quagmire!" What a bunch of idiots.

[Travis McGee]

This is what the war has looked like to one field grade Army officer who has been all over the theater.

******************************************************************

Subject: Update from the front

C****** update- can you forward to those who may care, I will only get one NIPR email out, What I do: I am the fires planner at Division, I spend most of my time at the DMAIN, but daily fly with the CofS up to the Assault CP and/or DMAIN to huddle with the CG and ADC-M (kind of cool flying over the battlefield in a blackhawk escorted by Apaches)- I wrote the plan that the Division is executing, at least the fires portion. I write the Fragos that give orders to the BDEs in the Division to execute (tell them where to go and what to kill) would rather be executing myself, but understand the importance of my job.

3ID is making history once again, we LD'd and attacked across Iraq to fight at An Nasyriah (Tallil once again), fought at As Samawah, put forces on the East and West of the Euphrates and fought up to An Najef (250 miles of constant fighting and maneuver which has never been done in history, especially in 48 hours). We destroyed 2 Divisions and 6 Divisions have decided not to fight or have formally capitulated (news never reports this, though), probably have killed close to 10,000. Progress slowed up for the logistics (ammo and fuel) to catch up and for the light guys 101/82nd (augmented with some heavy forces/ a TF for the 82nd and a TF for the 101st- not wanting to repeat Somalia- in fact Delta/rangers/seals used some of our heavies in their raid last night into Nasyriah) to get a handle on the LOCs and to secure the towns (Nasyriah, Samawah, Najaf, etc). We are continuously sniped at and receive periodic mortar fire, bottom-line, they shoot, they die- every soldier, regardless where they fight on the battlefield, is getting a chance to engage and kill the enemy. Iraq has these maniacs, death squad guys (Saddam Feddyen), DGS forces, IIS, and Ba'ath party forces that we spend most of our time killing, they continuously make suicidal charges at our tanks, brads, and checkpoints, we are ha ppy to send them to hell! You would not believe the carnage, imagine your street you live on with body parts about knee deep, with hundreds of vehicles burning to include the occupants, we fill up trucks of body parts.

daily- this is every checkpoint we run. There really is no front line, the battlefield is non-contiguous with an asymmetrical threat, I sleep in a fighting position. The plan is going exactly as scripted, the news is full of shit, we have control of central Iraq and south and have attacked with basically two forces (3ID and 1MARDIV), 3ID has had 1 KIA to a sniper, 4 to a car bomb, 2 to traffic accidents, and 2 MIA (lost in the ambush at Nasyriah (probably dead). We highly encourage all Arab freedom fighters that want a piece of America to come to Iraq so we can send you to hell with your brothers (send some Democrats over too!). Drink a beer for me or a glass of sweet ice tea. If you are looking at the news today, you will see that we have now isolated Karbala, you should be able to start figuring the rest out. Game on! The Medina Division and whoever else decides to deploy south of Bdad will die shortly. Don't know how long our Division will be able to keep up this pace, but we are prepared to do it. I must go, pray for our soldiers and their families............. C*****

[Eagle9]

Thanks.

I wasn't sure, so I chose to err on the safe side.

[dighton]

If I recall correctly, Mr. Apple was peddling quagmires a few days ago. No mention of it in this column.

[Chirodoc]

"No less remarkable has been the transformation of the political atmosphere at home and, to a lesser degree, abroad. The dramatic, lightning-like thrust..... has taken the political heat off President Bush and his hard-nosed Pentagon boss, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld."

Translate: The hysterical media started reporting the reality of the war.

[Savage Beast]

It was touch and go there when the Arab Street erupted!

(You know that the so-called "journalists" of the "elite media" are sick with grief, having to admit such good things about President Bush, his courage, his judgment, his intelligence, and his successes.

They're going to be even sicker with grief when the economy soars and President Bush leads the Ruplicans to a landslide in the next election!

They'll be in intensive care when they have to report that George Bush's countenance has been carved into Mount Rushmore!

You could almost feel sorry for the stupid, worthless, decadent, leftist, anti-American slobs.)

[UncleSamUSA]

Further translation:

Despite what the NY Times fervently hoped for and erroneously reported, the American side really IS winning the war. Decisively.

[Dog Gone]

If I recall correctly, Mr. Apple was peddling quagmires a few days ago.

You recall correctly. Apple was one of the worst offenders.

[WOSG]

Militarily, this has gone much more smoothly than WWII did.

JMHO.

[Zon]

Why almost all newspapers get it wrong when making corrections

They bury their corrections in the Saturday editions because it is the least read paper of the week.

A reader has to ask themselves whether the newspaper is more interested in hiding that they do make mistakes, after all, nothing is perfect in the news business, or -- which is too seldom the case -- that the newspaper made an error and because they are committed to honest reporting in respect of their readers they print their corrections in the Sunday edition, or whichever is the most read.

It's the same with eating crow.

[Husker8877]

Great post. It appears genuine, but even if not, it can't be far from the truth.

[sirchtruth]

What a difference a week makes.

What was so dispicable about that specious argument was that it was created and fueled by leftist biassed media deception.