[ken5050]

Ya know, the war plan was great, the strategy, and the flexibility of our troops was wondeful, but whoever decided to do the "thunder run" on Saturday, when the first armored column took a tour of Bagdad, well, he's a genius....that showed that the whole city and the regime was week..it probably avoided two weeks of combat and thousands of casualities...I hope we find out who thought it up..

[Robert A Cook PE]

Good point.

Ya know, it ALSO gave OUR TROOPS and our commanders a boost of confidence and assurance.

AFTER that run through Bagdad, THEY knew it wasn't going to be a house-to-house close quarters fight that could kill thousands. THAT knowledge let them change plans and take and hold the airport the next day with "only" the few troops (and there weren't but a couple hundred!) that were stationed there.

But the airport gave us immediate access, re-supply (without vunerable truck convoys, and a rescue point for choppers and damaged aircraft. Kinda of like taking Iwo Jima in the Pacific from the Japanese: instead of their fighters taking off while our bombers were in route, our bombers could land and save their crews.

The first B-29's actually landed in Iwo BEFORE the Japanese were defeated. By war's end, I understand MORE B-29 crews had landed under emergency conditions at Iwo than Marines had been lost figting for it.