CNN reports that Iraqi column of vehicles leaving Basra have been mostly destroyed.

CNN news

[jacksonstate]

Nothing follows

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Highway of Death, Part Deux

[MainFrame65]

Communique from "Brag-dad:"

Infidel ammunition cache destroyed by Iraqi armored column south of Basra. Minor casualties and equipment damage sustained.

[eyespysomething]

but Coalition Forces expend more rounds than planned.


They always have to leave it with a negative, don't they?

[Semper Vigilantis]

"Maybe the guy at the head of the column got his directions screwed up as they were leaving town."

Maybe they bought GPS receivers and compasses from Russia.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Ah yes, the copter and the "golden b-b scenario!" very good for mythology. I wonder what they really used, to make it crash? We destroyed it, of course, and can only hope the pilots will be rescued, so they can tell us what happened.

[Dirk McQuickly]

Earlier this morning, MSNBC insisted that the arriving column was "yet another setback" for the coalition. How can anybody take that Playskool network seriously?

[Yankee]

Highway of Death, Part Deux

No French please.

[Shermy]

Actually it didn't "crash". It set down. Whether due to mechanical failure or hits from, say, a 20 mm, I don't know.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Politically, wouldn't this look worse for Saddam's forces, than for us?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

You're correct, my mistake.

[Darksheare]

The press would spin it so that it's worse for us.

[r9etb]

Iraqi column hit hard by British troups

British Trouper.

The Iraqis are just lucky they didn't call out the Royal Scottish Mimes.

[Calpernia]

Chemical Weapons = Area Denial....

Chemical Suits Found

Atropine (sp?) Found

Wasn't there fires set around Baghdad?

[SCR1]

Maybe they were trying to surrender this time??

[Pan_Yans Wife]

The sandstorm gave some of our troops a breather, I hope.

[michaelt]

Maybe a half hour ago, Mike Tobin of FNC, who is at Centcom in Qatar, said that the Brits let this force go out of Basrah so they could be hit from the air.

Looks like that happened. Repeatedly.

[wideawake]

I would think so - don't these sandstorms whip around in various directions?

One of the reasons why the Germans in WWI stopped using poison gas on the battlefield was the fact that their own troops would sustain significant casualties when they were used.

Not that the Iraqis would never use them - but I think it would be a last resort because they want to avoid the blowback.

[AHerald]

Maybe the Iraqis are poor tacticians but nobody's that dumb.

These are the same people who are attacking tanks and Bradleys with AK-47's and pink pickup trucks. Yes, they're that dumb.

[Enterprise]

Said Daschle, "I am deeply Saddammed that this Iraqi column was destroyed."

[Cyber Liberty]

Does the sandstorm also inhibit their use of chemical weapons?

You better believe it does. High winds would dissipate the agents. Really high winds will disintegrate the cloud before it gets near the ground.