Iraqis almost "decapitated" US land forces HQ during war!

Cnn.com ^ | May 29, 2003 | Henry Schuster

[lib-r-teri-ann]

CAMP DOHA, Kuwait (CNN) -- The Iraqi military came within seconds of possibly wiping out the headquarters of the coalition ground forces with a missile on March 27, U.S. military officials said. The missile was intercepted and destroyed by a U.S. Patriot missile shortly before it could have hit its target.

[lib-r-teri-ann]

Good Lawwwwd! Strike one for the need for missile defense! What a God-awful propaganda coup this would have been for the Hussein regime, and what a blow to Allied morale!

[BagCamAddict]

"We've been operating out of these two buildings that are together here at Camp Doha for 10 years.

Ummmm.... Note to Commanders:
Move Command Post before going to war.

[FairOpinion]

"The missile was intercepted and destroyed by a U.S. Patriot missile shortly before it could have hit its target. "

----
Paging Ted Postol, infamous MIT professor, who "proved" that the Patriot and missile defense in general don't work.

[petuniasevan]

Kudos to the news crew for not leaking this info prematurely. (Credit where credit's due - even to CNN)

Note that Patriot missiles saved the day. If the government's just GOTTA tax me, let 'em spend my money on defense missiles and military R&D.

[weegee]

Embed those journalists and make it clear to them that if they reveal their location while missiles are incoming, they will be part of the "collateral damage". They won't have their careers because they won't have their lives.

[Tin-Legions]

Thankfully, unlike most other national armies, such a strike would only have very limited potential for harm. We could have replaced every brain in that HQ in less than 48 hours, and have CM'ed within another day or so. That includes every general and staff puke colonel in that building. They are rather easy to replace. The tech specialists are the ones that would take longer to replace.

[metesky]

Iraqis almost "decapitated" US land forces HQ during war!

Iraqis almost "resisted" US land forces during war!

[risk]

Patriots. PAY-TREEE-UTS. Patriots!
Missile defense systems are cooooooooooool.

[BagCamAddict]

Yes, thankfully that is true. And though it would be a shame to lose the command talent, equipment, and resources, the bigger damage would be to American psyche. Can't you just picture it: "If they can get our Command, what else can they do? We should pull out now, before all our boys are annhilated!"

I realize it would simply piss off our Military, resulting in even more resolve on the part of the Military... but you know what would have happened in the media, and to half the country (or more) that believes all the crapola that the media puts out. Remember how many people bought the reports of a "strategic pause"? LOL

[ido_now]

They should have sent the warhead by Federal Express or better still in a COSCO shipping container, much more effective.

Ever since Sir Issac Newton's ballistics (weapons trajectory) is a simple mathmatical equasion. Why then fire a missle which can be traced right back to you?

We can't keep out drugs, and won't be able to keep out atomic bombs either.

[jrlc]

This is CNN, right? The Communist News Network -- what's their angle here -- to bitch that they couldn't air whatever they wanted -- that's probably it. Why didn't they leak to Reuters -- Peter Jennings would have broadcast anything remotely anti-american. Or maybe they could have sent it over to a socialist at the NYTimes who was on the hunt for their next bogus "story." Sounds like BS to me.

[RockBassCreek]

Actually, the impact of one explosive would have been limited in the same way as the Gulf War I missile that killed the PA Nat'l Guardsmen was limited. Had it been chem or bio filled, it would have had a greater impact. If that had been the case, we would have heard about it at the time.

That said, there are always alternate Tactical Ops Centers (TOCs). There's main, rear, and jump (mobile.) Then there's a plethora of higher and lower commmands. Our system is built with backup upon backup.

You cannot decapitate an American Corps. All you can do is kill some people --- some of whom are leaders. There will immediately be an alternate TOC and alternate leaders.

[Quix]

i STRONGLY BELIEVE that tax law should be rewritten to allow 50% of an individual's tax bill to be designated for

(A) a government department

and/or

(B) a major government project--such as a defense project (or environmental, for that matter) --such as the Patriot or other missile defense system.

Let the spendthrifts protect their public troughs and pork barrels with a lot less, IMHO.

[I_dmc]

Note that the Patriot missles in this conflict were Patriot II's and III's, not the ones used during Gulf War I.

[SkyPilot]

Iraqis almost "decapitated" US land forces HQ during war!

How about they report with the real headline:

US Patriot Missile System Vaporized Iraqi Attack During War!

[CholeraJoe]

If the government's just GOTTA tax me, let 'em spend my money on defense missiles and military R&D.

No kidding. Talk tough and deploy the 1st Cav to Korea.

[anniegetyourgun]

Repeatedly.....

[2timothy3.16]

This was Saddam's decapitation strike," said CNN national security analyst Ken Robinson, part of the CNN crew embedded at ground forces headquarters.

cnn, likie the nytimes is NOT, a reliable source! In other words, this is pure horse dung!

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Iraqi missile targeted coalition HQ during war

[Joe Driscoll]

(Credit where credit's due - even to CNN)

I agree, so I cut and pasted yours. It looks painful to type.