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

CNN news

[jacksonstate]

Nothing follows

[July 4th]

Powell eased off in Gulf War I after the destruction on the "Highway of Death" came to light. I'm guessing there will be no such respite this time around.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Not really. (According to some British historians) the Japanese saved the Americans lots of mopping up on some of the islands by a suicidal Banzai charge. Maybe the Iraqis will save us some trouble by exposing themselves. Or maybe the Iraqis have the silly idea the Allah is on their side and sent a sandstorm to blind the allies. (Their theology may be as poor as their strategy.)

[TexanToTheCore]

I think they were trying to make a run for the desert and get lost in the sandstorm. They probably felt that they had no choice. Tough darts, farmer.

[ASA Vet]

and I have no doubt she could kick my butt.

Oh stop protesting, you know you'd like it.... ;-)

[stands2reason]

LOL!!! Ya think?

[buwaya]

Doesn't seem likely. This attack was too small for that.

[capitan_refugio]

"Crossing the T" is an old naval maneuver where one battle line cross in front of the other battle line. In doing so, the crossing lines brings all of their broadside guns to bear on the opposing line.

"Doting the I" has been used, tongue-in-cheek, to refer to a well place thermo-nuclear device.

Six of one, half dozen of the other.

[OldFriend]

Methinks the Iraqi forces are leaderless.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Powell eased off in Gulf War I after the destruction on the "Highway of Death" came to light. I'm guessing there will be no such respite this time around.

Nope. This time around it'll be the "Superhighway of Death".

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Wipe the drool off your chin. If it drops, its bad for the keyboard.

;)

[PhilDragoo]

"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.

Too funny.

Makes the Chinese Su-30's less formidable somehow.

[brewcrew]

This whole operation has been pretty much like shooting fish in a barrel. A whole week in with less than 20 U.S. KIA, Bill O'Reilly reported last night that his sources told him we've killed 25,000 Iraqis (which seems a bit high to me). I'm still not too sure how much credit they deserve for operational-art. I hope you're wrong, but I believe we are prepared for the worst if it comes to that.

[epluribus_2]

100's of iraqi vehicles destroyed - coalition forces obviously "bogged down" in "quagmire".

[tracer]

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

Now that would be an utterly unspeakable gesture....

[Flint]

What do you think the chances are that all of those trucks were filled with women and children and that the next TV footage the A-rabs are shown is their dead bodies. Along with some kind of drivel about the great sodaminsane was only trying to sheild his women and children from those Yankee infidels. That the Yankees had been told that all that was in the trucks were non-combatants and that they are so blood thirsty that they bombed them anyway?

[Southack]

"Not really. (According to some British historians) the Japanese saved the Americans lots of mopping up on some of the islands by a suicidal Banzai charge. Maybe the Iraqis will save us some trouble by exposing themselves."

One of my friends is buds with a Las Vegas casino owner. I went out with him to play the tables out there one day, and the owner told me an interesting thing. He said that once a BlackJack player gets it into his head that he's way behind or that he's lost, he'll go into a Darwinian mode of making extremely poor bets until he's broke and kicked away from the table.

I've thought alot about that phenomenon, and I wonder if such self-destructive behavior isn't going on in other human endeavors, such as ridiculous bayonet charges against machine guns, etc...

[jacksonstate]

It would not surprise me if those vehicles were filled with civilians.

Pure Evil exists!

[TheLooseThread]

You can't report the news like that. I'll do it for you:

Reuters - Coalition forces were taken by surprise during attack from Iraqi forces in Basra. The Iraqis were able to catch the coalition forces off-gurad and attack into the flank of coalition forces. Some military analysts have been critical of the American military plan because it leaves the supply lines and flank of the advancing forces exposed. Despite this, coalition forces were able to respond to the Iraqi attack. Ground forces entered into fierce fighting and became bogged down each time they had to pause to look for the next undestroyed target. Some military analysts have wondered outloud if the Pentagon had taken into account the fact that Iraq might have ground forces in Iraq.

[capitan_refugio]

Ah yes. The business end of an A-10

[Doctor Stochastic]

I like to call it the "Custer Syndrome."