SADDAM'S DEADLY PLAN

Sky News ^ | 03-20-03 | Sky News

[Beck_isright]

SADDAM'S DEADLY PLAN

Saddam Hussein has turned Baghdad into a "hornets' nest" ready for a bloody showdown with British and American troops, US officials said.

The Iraqi capital is expected to witness the most fierce fighting if war breaks out.

Saddam's generals are expected to try to drag invading forces into a messy urban conflict in the city.

Military experts say urban warfare gives Iraq its best chance of inflicting a high number of casualties and causing a stalemate which would save it from defeat.

Major General Dan Leaf, the chief US Air Force officer in the headquarters of the allied land command, said:

* Baghdad has been ringed with air defences more formidable than the 1991 Gulf War.

* Almost all Iraq's heavy weaponry has been pulled back to Baghdad to protect the capital.

* Baghdad is packed with surface-to-air missiles, heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft artillery.

* Trenches surrounding the city have been filled with oil ready to be set ablaze to hamper British and US air strikes.

* Clusters of anti-aircraft artillery have also been deployed along possible attack routes for cruise missiles.

"It is a hornet's nest right now. There is nothing subtle about it," General Leaf told the New York Times.

"The volume of it is significant. They will be able to put a lot of missiles and a lot of bullets in the air and that will make Baghdad a very tough problem."

Saddam has several Soviet-designed missile systems, some of which he has been upgraded and put into strategic positions, said General Leaf.

"If you put enough lead in the air somebody is going to get hit if they are at the altitudes that those bullets can reach. That's a robust air defence system," he added.

Last Updated: 18:25 UK, Monday March 17, 2003

[eccl1212]

We still have the leadership to worry about.. the Ba'ath party. THey are terrified of the retribution that is coming their way via the shias and kurds... they will not give up without a fight even IF sadaam and co are dead...

[Tredge]

I'm wary of the junk Hussein was spewing in the Gulf War (mother of all battles, invaders die, etc.).

There must be some cultural thing I don't understand about lying. Is anyone else getting that? Is their some facet of their culture that says "Lie until they catch you, then take a step back and tell the next lie"?

If I'm naive, then I don't know what to call Dan Rather. I watched his interview with Saddam or whoever the hell that was, and the one thing that I kept wondering was, "Does it register that he's being used?" They trumpet their honesty the loudest of any culture I've encountered, but I've yet to find a culture that lies more. Shakespeare must have had something to say about all of this.

I think of myself as cosmopolitan, but the outright lying that comes from this culture makes it impossible to take a single word from this quadrant seriously. Especially since "trust the intel, and damn the rest" has worked so well. You all must think I'm naive.

War predictions? Baghdad is the nucleus, a hard kernel in the middle of a gelatinous mass. Saddam's death doesn't stop anything. One of his sons was the official protector of the city, I forget which son. He might be dead too. Not enough info here. But I can say, when I try to predict how this war will come out, I don't watch what the Hussein regime does, I watch Rumsfeld.

[Ingtar]

Put conventional warheads on all the old sub launched ICBMs. Fire them all for simultaneous detonation about 40 or 50 feet above the city. That should drop the whole city about 12 feet when the tunnels and caves under it collapse. Or so goes the theory of a friend of mine.

[AmericanVictory]

Therefor her plagues will come in one day -- death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

Let's hope not, for the sake of the suffering people in her. But you just never know when one of these things is going to come to pass. Read the next verses, and then think about France, Germany, Rssia and China.

[Bobby777]

I'd get H3 and perhaps Mosul airport under control and forward deploy at least some aircraft, Apaches and Longbows if nothing else ... surround the city with armor at a prudent distance ... and be prepared to back off if a tactical "special" is called for to put down a bio weapon ...

[Bobby777]

yep ... the factions will be a problem ... Iraq might have to be divided ... IMHO ... perhaps a 3- or 4-way split ...

[apeman81]

Gloom and Doom is good. Never want the youngsters in the unit to think it's going to be easy.

I sincerely doubt their will be a concentrated defense. But plan for the worst.

AAA is ineffective against cruise missiles. Targets can be IDd and defeated form UAVs. The idea of a siege is an anachronism. Unless, of course, you’re Janet Reno and you’re
dealing with Americans with children in their home.

All kidding aside, an effective way to draw friendly forces into a classic, street to street siege would be Iraqi forces to imbed themselves in Baghdad and begin a horrific campaign against the citizens of Iraq. In this case, it would not go over well to circle the city and pick them off slowly from the air, while they slaughter the people we are there to liberate.

[Porterville]

Uhm, the Republican Guard and high level Iraqi type are rummored to be negotiating surrender...I believe it. Stalingrad was under attack from empire, Baghdad is under attack for liberty. Who is going to fight??? Who would fight not to be free??? Stalingrad, hardly, just a bunch of gangsta's with rpg's who can surrender or die.

[2rightsleftcoast]

Yes, it's ain't over till it's over.
Also, I don't have to know every detail of where they are etc. I don't get that. We have sleeper cells in this country, I keep thinking of them watching and reporting to their friends in Iraq by cell phone. Am I crazy? Maybe.

[Professional]

I'm with you. Haven't we all heard the "you can't do that" crap from the doomsayers enough times to know they are WRONG? We have the weapons, the intel, the technology, the leadership, and God on our side. We shall prevail.

[babygene]

Those new e-bombs will render all of their intresting weapons useless...

[Centurion2000]

We better pray he didn't, somewhere along the line, get his hands on a nuke or two. Because he was just nuts enough to let Baghdad get surrounded by as many US troops as possible and then say "eff you" and go out with an atomic bang, taking Baghdad and lot of the US military with him.

FYI, To completely destroy Baghdad and the surrounding areas would require a 25 megaton plus bomb or a series of strategic nuclear warheads placed in rings around the city.

The only country that made a 25 megaton bomb was Russia for use on the SS-18 mod 1 ICBMs aimed at Cheyenne Mountain (NORAD)

[Bobby777]

well they don't have to be here ... the feeds will travel quite a bit ... depends upon the footprint of the satellites ... and CNN and most of the biggies are world-wide anyway ... you can get the Iraqis are watching the news in their C³ centers ... though I doubt many will rush out to the cameras to say "Hi Mom!" ...

prayers for our troops ...

[Centurion2000]

There must be some cultural thing I don't understand about lying. Is anyone else getting that? Is their some facet of their culture that says "Lie until they catch you, then take a step back and tell the next lie"?

It's an Arab thing .... truth literally has no meaning to them as they will speak only to further their interests.

I've heard that the Chinese negotiate this way as well in business but can't confirm it.

[MJY1288]

BINGO, To use GWB's words.....

"The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain. Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them." George W. Bush, 9/20/01

[dixiechick2000]

Self serving bump!

[cynwoody]

All kidding aside, an effective way to draw friendly forces into a classic, street to street siege would be Iraqi forces to imbed themselves in Baghdad and begin a horrific campaign against the citizens of Iraq. In this case, it would not go over well to circle the city and pick them off slowly from the air, while they slaughter the people we are there to liberate.

But unless you're Saddam or in his inner circle, what would be the point? If you surrender, the Great Satan will make you a POW, feed you a hot meal, and let you go home after a while. If you fight, you die, and no 72 virgins, either! Saddam is secular, remember? He spouts the Islamofascist platitudes to gain support in certain quarters, but no way do he or his Republican Guards believe any of that crap.

[rwfromkansas]

One NBC reporter made this point....that the troops rightfully are not complacent (this is what the journalist was saying, which indicates at least he understands nothing should be done to lull them into it by reporting). Anyway, I largely am impressed with the reporters imbedded; they have not divulged too much info in the reports I have seen.

[InHisImage]

What does "NBC attacks" mean?

[apeman81]

Agreed. Illogical. Unlikely.

I believe this will end with much less fighting than we ever expected. Shock and Awe may have worked without being executed.

That would be wonderful all around