Posted on 08/04/2002 2:33:02 AM PDT by kattracks
CAIRO - For all Saddam Hussein's bluster, his regime would quickly collapse under a U.S. military onslaught, experts in the region say.The Iraqi Army is so weak and demoralized after defeat in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and years of doing without new weapons that it would "fall like a sandcastle" if attacked by the U.S., said Egypt's former chief of staff, retired Gen. Salah Halaby.
Defense analysts say Iraq's equipment is largely of pre-1990, Warsaw Pact vintage. It has about 2,000 tanks, including a few hundred relatively modern T-72s, and a few hundred jet fighters and interceptors.
It's unclear how effectively maintained they are. United Nations sanctions imposed after the invasion of Kuwait have made spare parts hard to get.
The Associated Press
I wasn't sure if that was intendedly ironically. It's my understanding that all the heavy fighting after the 1968 Tet offensive was done by the NVA, the VC having been proven to incapable of defeating the US and ARVN, give their spectacular defeat. Tet was a propaganda victory but a military debacle.
Perhaps your memory needs prodding. Do you remember what happened a decade ago? We pretty much destroyed their whole "army" in 72 hours.
Sounds too Machiavellian and too dangerous for me. The NVA had logistical problems, which were ameliorated when the U.S. "Stopped the Bombing". A resolute US would have been undefeatable. They couldn't seriously attack US might, so they undermined US resolve.
The importance of your fact (above) cannot be stressed enough. That propaganda victory:
1) demoralized Johnson into not seeking re-election.
2) emboldened a Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
3) emboldened the N. Korean hijacking of the USS Pueblo and the imprisoning of the crew.
4) led to the Marxist Yippy riots at the Democrat National Convention, the first step in the subsequent Leftist takeover of that party.
( Others on this forum can probably add to my list. And I wouldn't be surprised if intelligence showed that there was a link between the Tet Offensive and the Assassination of Martin Luther King and the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. )
- Bimbo.
The reason is simple. Iraq is indeed very weak when compared to the military might of the US. However when compared to its neighbors Iraq is not weak ...it is quite strong!
Think of it as simple strength progression! The smallest adult African lion (or Indian Gir lion for that matter) will see even the biggest German Shepherd as PATHETICALLY weak, even though the pooch is on steroids and psychedelics! However put that same German Shepherd next to a Chihuahua and the story gets flipped.
Same thing here.
The US may see Iraq's army and airfoce and 'manned target drones' and 'mobile AGM targets,' but that does not mean Iraq is weak to Saudi Arabia. Actually weren't the Sauds scared stiff during events leading to the Gulf War? Why? Because Iraq could overwhelm them if they did not receive any US help (although part of me would actually enjoy Iraq smiting Saudi Arabia ...although first i think we should start getting Russian oil before that happened).
Turkey does have an outstanding military. So does Israel, obviously ....remember how Israel managed to defeat several Arab nations at the same time. Egypt too has a huge military capability since it receives the second largest military aid after Israel from the US.
However the only nation that can easily (eliminating such luminaries as Russia and Israel) go in and smack Iraq is the USA. Whcih is why Iraq may be weak to us but still a gorilla to its neighbors.
Trust me, if THEY could have gotten rid of Saddam they would have (and although Israel could easily take care of that problem with the nuclear weapons 'it does not possess' it has prudently chosen to back off and let Saddam get taken care of by the US since that would cause less problems. After all the whole world seems to be against Israel nowadays).
... January 23,1968 ... near the start of the TET offensive - likely a coordinated effort between the Communist nations, don't you think? So technically you are correct. My point was that the TET Offensive and the Communist propoganda victory had repercussions far more historically significant than many people realize.
Undoubtedly, 1968 was the ugliest year in American history, for me. My cousin was killed near the start of the Tet Offensive when the Communists overran Lang Vei; he wasn't even 20 yet, and I still miss him.
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