Warplanes attack Basra column

BBC ^ | 3/26/2003 18:24 GMT | Clive Myrie

[LouisianaJoanof Arc]

The line to hell will be long tonight.

I LIKE that saying.......and agree

[Ichneumon]

The incident is believed to have been suicide. Friends said the column had been "very depressed lately."

ROFL!

[twigs]

From what I've heard and read, there are Republican Guard or Fedayeen soldiers "embedded" in the midst of a lot of the groups of soldiers. They are shot unless they fight. Provides abundant motivation. Looks great for the cameras (less surrenders).

[RGSpincich]

die by the mob or die in battle.

Bastards better not have packed up portions the mob and brought it with them.

[w_over_w]

Deja Vu all over again.

I remember reading about that attack. We dropped bombs that released thousands of hot razor shards just above the columns of Iraqi convoys. Makes you feel warm and fuzzy all over . . .

[Charles Martel]

Heading toward the Gulf!? This would have been a good scenario for a battleship.

And how. Drat... now you've started me pining for the Iowas again. :^\

[Doctor Stochastic]

Okay, you're being callous about civilian deaths. Does this make you feel more American?

[BurbankKarl]

Only makes sense if they arent aware of what is going on in other cities...perhaps they bought the party line.


>>Makes no sense otherwise, since they are moving away from Baghdad and away from resupply.

[Bob]

As a CH-47 Chinook pilot I can appreciate "ugly".

I've heard pilots who say that helicopters don't really fly -- They're just so ugly that the Earth repels them. :=)

[Blessed]

MSNBC just called this a setback for coalition forces.Then the reporter described them as being attacked by artillery and air assets.

[bootyist-monk]

The idiot newshole on MSNBC just said that this is a setback for our "bogged down" military.

[San Jacinto]

tatical retreat..

Well, it's a tactic I can't figure out. They were in the best possible spot--causing us problems in the important job of taking over Basra. So they move out into the open to become exposed targets? There simply is no knowable explanation at this point.

[bootyist-monk]

I think we may be channelling each other.

[Keith]

I know this will sound self serving, but you and I are on the same page...

[over3Owithabrain]

Even this biased column reveals we are kicking ass. And 14 civilians dead, IF it was our bomb, is no big deal. We have more dead soldiers than that, so I couldn't care less.

[Ichneumon]

I am suprised the Iraqi's are making this all out effort and are trying to put up a fight still.

The hardcore Saddam troops know that if their regime falls, their only future is death or imprisonment for war crimes or "crimes against the people" (in a post-Saddam Iraqi court) -- or a lifetime of being on the run, like some of the Nazis who ended up getting caught and tried decades after WW II was over. They've got no choice but to fight to the death, and we're happy to oblige.

[johnb838]

Okay, you're being callous about civilian deaths. Does this make you feel more American?

Fake-pacifist kraut alert...

[Azarona Joel]

I've always thought they were one of the most beutiful planes in the sky after working on A-7 Corsair's. They just are not as fast, but a heck of alot more deadly. Remember in G-1 when an A-10 was out of ammo and took out an Iraqi helicopter in flight with the 500 pounder! I still get a smile out of that every time I think about it!

[Antoninus]

I'd guess one of the following:

1. The Iraqi units in Basra are in dire straights--boxed in and taking sniper casualties from the Shi'ites in the city and are attempting a breakout because they realize they are dead no matter what they do and they may as well go out guns blazing. I favor this option.

2. The Iraqis believe our forces around Basra are not very stout and are launching a coordinated assault at the same time as the columns coming down from Bagdhad to break the British encirclement and spread our air power thin. If this is the case, it could be Saddam's blowing his whole load on a coordinated counter-attack gamble.

3. The intel is faulty and they're actually moving north to retreat out of Basra.

Other options?

[JeeperFreeper]

I think they are trying to get to their nearest forces. It really doesn't matter though. The first vehicles in line are hit, then the rear vehicles. The road is blocked and off the vehicles go into the sand. Air strikes, naval gunfire, artillery, rockets, strafing literally make the ground ripple and shake and the air shimmer. The violence is undescribable.
These fedayeen, Republican Guards or whatever will die in wholesale lots.