[mikegi]

Why attack with low-flying Apaches??? Why not use our strength: B-52s, B-1s, and B-2s? Our Apaches were shot up seriously in Operation Anaconda, too.

[max_rpf]

They have a division of Iraqi armor dug in, I don't know why they don't just scout it out and cluster bomb the entire area.

[ffusco]

Let's Kick it up a Notch!

[rwfromkansas]

Send the planes in people.....geez.

[Salvation]

Prayers for our boys.

[Thane_Banquo]

Political leadership is trying to fight a politically correct war. Trying to avoid killing the enemy. We think they are trying to surrender, when in fact they are lying to us. We must kill all enemy soldiers and leaders now, and only accept a surrender when it is given unconditionally.

[First_Salute]

Bump.

[republicanwizard]

Don't know what is going on in Iraq. I'm starting to get very concerned about our our losses. We could end up losing significantly more lives as we get closer to Baghdad.

[cake_crumb]

Considering the source is CNN, where boobly-traped, barbed wired chemical storage facilities are called 'fertilizer plants', I'll await details from a more reliable source.

Prayers from our troops. They're under fire from the Republican guard AND from media.

[dighton]

If CNN said it went badly, it must have -- right?

Let's not panic just yet.

[Travis McGee]

Read this the right way.

Apaches are earning a well deserved rep for taking an incredible amount of battle damage, and returning safely to base.

That is a GOOD THING.

[ApesForEvolution]

B-52s and stick bombs aren't available anymore?? I try not to get too worked up about the Communist News Network, but it would appear that our objective is to deplete our military assets sometimes...

[Blood of Tyrants]

Remember the fiasco of x42 trying to bomb "tanks" from 15,000 ft in Kosovo? The result was hundreds and hundreds of bombs dropped and and maybe two tanks destroyed.

[11B3]

I posted a vanity on this very subject a few hours ago, and many of the replies made it sound as though I don't support our efforts. That really pi$$ed me off. Please visit this post to see my comments on this - I agree with you.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[VeniVidiVici]

I agree. Apaches conducting an attack for THREE HOURS in the middle of "a heavy, heavy barrage" and taking fire. No other mention of supporting attacks by other coalition aircraft or ground forces AND the reporter cannot confirm all the Apaches made it back.

Something doesn't quite jive with this.

Anybody got the order-of-battle for an IRG division?

[Paleo Conservative]

Why attack armour with Apaches instead of A-10's?

[Spruce]

I caught the tail-end of this CNN "piece". The reporter did (paranthetically) quote the American commander as stating over 70 T-72s were destroyed.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

We are wasting American lives. We lost fewer combat deaths in Desert Storm. We are trying too hard to be nice. At the end of the war it won’t matter. The usual b@st@rds will hate us. It is better that we kill as many of the Republican Guards as we can before the war ends. There will then be fewer of them to cause problems after the war. The Republican Guards are not going to hang their weapons up and fade away. After the war, they are going to sell their services to other Muslim states. Exterminating them will send a more forceful message to the remainder of the Muslim world. B52’s to the air. MOABS away. Screw precision bombing. Just drop a lot of the good old big stupid bombs on them.

[Stavka2]

For that matter, where is the carpet bombing? Where are the B-52s. Regardless of my view on the politics of this damned war, if you're going to fight it, damn it, do it right.

[rotorhawk]

Apaches were "strewn around" instead of being parked neatly. He wouldn't confirm that all our Apaches made it back.

The reason the Apaches were strewn around is because they are returning to an unimproved field site in the desert. When they return at night and given the dust conditions, each aircraft picks a spot and goes for it. They look to separate about 50 meters apart to stay out of each others dirt cloud.

Additionally, this is no longer training. They try to land in a dispersed pattern to prevent all being destroyed in the event of an artillery or mortar attack.

The reason for using AH64s is because they are attacking a dispersed and dug in armored division that is using alot of deception, cover and concealment. I don't doubt that the Iraqis have learned the lessons of the Serbians very well in how to deceive fast movers. MOABs won't get a division that is dispersed over 10 miles of terrain.

Somebody has to be able to go in, detect the targets, verify the target and take it out. This take time, patience and deligence.

I doubt very seriously that the AH64s are "all shot up." That they took fire is not in doubt but the Iraqi's aren't good enough to find and fix and take out AH64's sitting out at max stand off. If you are in doubt, email me your SIPRNET addy and I will explain it further.