Posted on 08/15/2002 12:40:41 PM PDT by kattracks
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug 15, 2002 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Iraqi authorities have ordered Baghdad residents to stay put and warned that their money and property will be confiscated if they leave the city without permission, according to a well-informed source. The measures were taken, the source said, to prevent people fleeing in anticipation of a U.S. military strike.Copyright 2002 by United Press International.
How's this? "If we did not nuke all of Baghdad when we did, then we stood a significant chance of losing Tel-Aviv."
What is totally ironic in all of this is that it is Saddam who has assured that Sharon has nothing to lose by nuking Baghdad. Sharon would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6, as would all Israel.
IIRC, the bible talks about a scenario where Baghdadis are given one hour warning of the destruction of Baghdad so that they can escape. Perhaps Israel will do just this? We will see...
Soon to be dead people.
If the publications are not enough warning, then Saddam's order certainly is...
But I don't care about the world either!
Bush can't lose- because he aint got nothing to lose! Oh, I love it!
Because they won't be shot by our government when our press reports their findings?
This is the mind of a desperate loser.
You're close. It destroys unprotected semiconductor junctions. Tube-type equipment would not be damaged. Neither would vehicles or generators that did not use electronic engine controls -- although alternator-equipped (as opposed to generator-equipped) engines might lose their battery charging ability (i.e., if the diodes in the alternator take a hit).
OTOH, if the military equipment is hardened against EMP (which I think it not that unlikely), then it will keep on chuggin'.
Care to elucidate?
The weaponized Anthrax was made with clay as a dispersal agent. That is the method Iraq developed. It was sent to a few senators and congressmen to get the point across, whereas a release of the same in the windy tunnels of a subway station in New York would have killed hundreds. It was a message by Sadam that we have you by the short hairs, agents are placed inside America ready to release bio warfare.
America did not think that was funny the use of a WMD inside its borders, and has decided that containment is obviously not working. We are calling his bluff, not wanting to wait till he can release Ebola or Smallpox, as that type of bio agent does not have a self limiting factor and could at this point destroy civilization as we know it. We may loose thousands inside America, but Sadam is going to loose everthing, and never again be in the position to blackmail us, or the rest of the world again.
End of Elucidation...
Ah yes, as they say, "therein lies the rub".
As Americans, we traditionally try to conduct military operations that minimize civilian casualties. Nobody looks with glee to the prospect of killing a lot of civilians when we go after Saddam.
We should note however, that Saddam has no similar humanitarian concerns, and that he looks upon our desire to avoid collateral damage as our weakness and his strength. Using his own people as human shields is not a policy that can be permitted to work.
.... who are otherwise powerless to change their political circumstances. Saddam and his minions are our enemies;, not the entire poulation of Baghdad! Had the total destruction of the city been our objective, we could have done that long ago, with impunity!
Absolutely right. Our military planners are aware of this and their strategy will reflect this reality.
Saddam, in spite of all his posturing, is much weaker than he was in 1990. He is propped up solely by a few divisions of the Republican Guard, and without them to support his despotic rule, the people of Iraq would no longer be powerless to change their political circumstances. For that reason, we can expect the annihilation of the Republican Guard to be a top priority, right after taking out air defenses and command and control.
Military assets located in civilian neighborhoods can be taken out with close to pinpoint accuracy, but mistakes are sure to happen and civilians will suffer if they remain in the immediate area. Such is the nature of war, which is one reason it is against the rules of war to locate military assets in the middle of civilian areas, not that Saddam gives a damn about that, or his own people.
When we drop the leaflets on Baghdad telling the people that the Republican Guard no longer exists so they can do as they like, we just may find our entry into Baghdad feels more like the liberation of Paris than battle of Stalingrad.
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