Attack on Iraq Betting Pool

Friday, August 30, 2002 | Momaw Nadon

[Momaw Nadon]

It seems like an attack on Iraq is coming soon.

Place your bet as to when the attack will begin.

Whoever gets closest to the date and time wins.

Attack time must be specified in Month, Day, Year, Hour, and Minute

For the hour, don't forget to specify what time zone you are referring to.

There is no decision on a prize to be awarded yet except for bragging rights.

[Once-Ler]

Feb 14th 7:00 pm central

[balls]

It's going to be 6:00 PM EST February 15, 2003.

[zone32]

Never happens. Saddam will cave
and go in to exile. Iraq will be taken over by modern market driven forces.

[rboatman]

Grampa,
I agree with a substancial part of your scenario but think the start of the airwar will be on Jan 29 at 11:50 pm Iraq time. I expect to see Bagdad lit up as before and all power plants and C&C taegets taken out immediately after the Iraq air defences are neutralized. There will be more use of precision guided bombs and less of cruise missiles. I don't think we have replinished our inventory enough yet.

As before, the ground war will really start after the air attack has softened up the defenses, maybe 5-8 days later. But Iraqi territory will be invaded and occupied and held right away. The initial areas will be mostly unoccupied areas that will be used for staging and to exclude them from Iraqi use. I would expect the border area with Jordan to be occupied early along with the main crossings with Syria.

boatman

[rboatman]

To be brief, January 29, 2003, 11:50 pm Iraqi time.

I missed the start of the Gulf war by 2 hrs in a bet with some friends. Look to the moon's phase and the need for the approach flights to be in darkness.

[Imal]

Upon consideration of a likely U.S. deferrment for "Friday prayer day", I now predict the first full scale air attacks (i.e. "a coordinated assault", not "returning fire against SAM and AAA batteries, et al) will take place:

Saturday, February 1, 2003

0130 Baghdad Time (UTC+06)

[Grampa Dave]

I have a feeling that one of is close here.

My prediction is: The first stealth attack will happen on 1 Feb 2003 between 2217 to 2317.

[Grampa Dave]

The pilots need those hours after sunset to eliminate the possible glare or shadow from the sun setting hundreds of miles away and hours away. When your plane is way up there, even after sunset below you, you can still have sun effect on your plane.

That is why I posted, The first stealth attack will happen on 1 Feb 2003 between 2217 to 2317.

The world has never seen what will happen in those first 48 - 72 hours. It is the new warfare, where we kill the leaders of those who would kill us in the first day or two while we destroy their war toys and loyal thugs.

This new warfare where the bad clymers are targeted first and accurately will send chills up the backs of the Islamofascist thugs around the Middle East. They will know that they are next, not the millions of the poor people living in their country.

All of the Islamofacist thug leaders are super rich elite POS. They have no problem having millions of their own people die for their hatred while staying alive and super rich. That will change when we remove Uncle Soddomite and his Islamofacist thugs in control of Iraq.

[Imal]

At either time, both the moon, and, I suspect, the politics, will be right for us to make our move.

And if there is ever a place not to be, it's at the business end of the United States military when it's mobilized for war.

[Imal]

Oh, and from one Navy man to another: Non sibi sed patria, shipmate!

Thanks for serving in the greatest Navy the world has ever seen, and ever will see.

[FreeTheHostages]

March 20, 2003, 22:00 EST

[Grampa Dave]

Aren't the current sailors and officers in our Navy just incredible?! Look at what they did to off the goat humpers in Afghanistan.

Now they have months for rest, reloading, revamping and more training.

The Navy we have now is so awesome, it has been great since a few months after Pearl Harbor. However, this current group of sailors and officers is truly great!

Non sibi sed patria, shipmate!

[Momaw Nadon]

The first stealth attack will happen on 1 Feb 2003 between 2217 to 2317

Could you specify the exact minute for betting purposes?

Make sure to include the time zone you are referring to.

[Grampa Dave]

Lets say at 2231 Bagdad time, the late evening of 1 Febuary, 2003 for the bet.

I believe that they will allow a window of the actual attack starting from 2217 to 2317 Bagdad Time on 1 February.

[Imal]

Many a year has passed since I last punched holes in the water for Liberty (I was one of Hymie's Boys in Reagan's Navy -- God bless them both), and I can't say I was sorry to rejoin the civilian world, but I'll be damned if we haven't left our Navy in the very best of hands.

Funny you should mention Pearl Harbor, as I used to be based there. Each time our boat passed by Ford Island, on our way to or from "Papa Hotel", we rendered honors to USS Arizona (though it was quite a few hundred yards away from our course), and it was always sobering to remember that the men who went down with that ship were just like my buds on the boat.

Especially poignant for me, being a bubblehead, was the WWII Submarine Memorial at SUBASE, a nice little park with trees and grass, and which had monuments with plaques listing the ratings and names of the officers and crewmen of the 52 submarines lost during the war, "Still On Patrol". I used to go there (it's right down the hill from my old barracks) quite a bit, read the names, think about the men behind them and what it must have been like to go down in one of those pig boats, and I still can't think about it without getting pretty choked up.

My boat also came within a gnat's ass of joining them on one mission (I don't name my boat for security reasons), so I really have an appreciation for what a serious business being a sailor in our Navy is -- despite all the clowning around us squids are known for.

When Stark and Cole got hit, I felt it almost physically, like a wound to my body. The final moments of Thresher and Scorpion, not to mention some close ones on my boat, sometimes haunt my dreams. And I am not blind nor deaf to those who have died in so many "routine" operations over the years, either.

So when I see the clouds of war gathering, I know it ain't all fun and games. Sons and daughters of our great nation will die, and we should never cheapen their sacrifices by sending them forth in vain.

But God help those who wind up on the business end of our guns, missiles and torpedoes, because no one else can once the word is given!

And now, with a man of honor once again as CinC, a man who seems to understand what sea power is all about, knowing what it means to send our best into harm's way, and knowing why we must do so, I feel no compunctions in saying, with profound pride, to those who today carry on the Navy tradition with poise and distinction:

Give Them Hell!

[Grampa Dave]

I'm in total agreement with you in all that you had to say.

Thank God our Navy today has a great CIC in President Bush. One can only imagine what our Navy will become under this CIC in the next 6 years!

[Imal]

I went ahead and posted those sentiments here. I figure our good shipmates deserve mention now and then.

Sincerest regards,

Imal

[CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC]

2/10/03 - 3:07AM Baghdad time

[goose1]

Feb.11 2003 02:05 pm EST