***Operation Iraqi Freedom - Situation Room - Day 11 - LIVE THREAD***

Everywhere! | 30 Mar 2003 | An.American.Expatriate

[null and void]

Good Morning.

This is the Daily Thread of Operation Iraqi Freedom - LIVE THREAD.

It is designed for general conversation about the events of the day. In depth discussion of events should be left to individual threads - but links to the threads or other articles is highly encouraged. This allows us to stay abreast of the situation in general, while also providing a means of obtaining specific information.

Please have mercy on us dial up limited FReepers! Limit the big graphics, post links instead. A breif description of what the graphic is would help:

To all who helped this get started, thank you!

Special thanks to An.American.Expatriate for staring the daily threads, Mo1 for the screamer, the AdminMods for their tolerance, mhking for the video links, and, of course, Belly Girl...

[DollyCali]

thanks AFP - Ragtime appreciates your "subbing"
Welcome Back
Did you have a good trip?

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

I trained at Ft. Lewis and served in Viet Nam as a sniper.

[muslims=borg]

90% of the reporters questions are just rehashed old questions. These briefings are almost beginning to seem scripted at this point.

[mystery-ak]

....now you're talking!

[Miss Marple]

As a side issue, it occurs to me that the journalists don't like Franks because he rose through the ranks, attended Texan schools, and sounds like a good ol' boy. Therefore, he is obviously a dim bulb, according to their template.

[vapatriot98]

My hat is off to you for your service....Thank you...

[Green]

to add to your comments....he told them to pay attention to the deployment orders and see if they could find any that had been issued in the past 11 days...he said they would find none and that should tell them these deployments are coming in just as they were set in the initial plan and the orders were signed before this ever began...hence there has been no change so SHUT UP ABOUT IT ALREADY (my comments about shutting up...lol)

[Right_in_Virginia]

I've missed Rush's show lately (darn job!).

I think the Brigadier General does a terrific job. For the media to complain about him just exposes their over-inflated egos. I'm hoping the dustbin of history awaits these "journalist".

[Miss Marple]

Lauratealeaf had that information earlier this week, from personal knowledge. I have been repeating it over and over to the whiners on other threads, but they apparently prefer to listen to Reuters and CNN.

[vapatriot98]

Germany, DSI, Bosnia 92-94,

[The Wizard]

This is the General today.....no prisoners

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

The press are losing their grip on this country and they can't handle it.

The more rhetoric they spew, the more the public sees their illogical demagogery

[MEG33]

I am watching this in spite of the press. I like his style.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

CENTCOM - Sun. Mar. 30:

 

Gen. Tommy Franks:

 

"We're in the eleventh day of combat of Operation Iraqi Freedom....one day closer to liberatibng Iraq."..

 

"We're in fact on plan."

 

"Where we stand today is not only acceptable in my view, it is remarkable.:

 

"Coaltion has securd the oil fields in the South from regime destuction...

 

"We have air and ground control of the west...

 

"We're now staging operations from no. of Iraqi airfields now under (our) control...

 

"Entire coastline of Iraq has been secured....(humanitarian aid coming in..)

 

Report that a member of the Iraqi forces met his mother for the first time in 10 years...

 

Two surrenders yesterday were trained as suicide bombers...when they heard free Iraqi forces speaking they chose to fight for the future of Iraq..

 

"A large and capable ground force has (approached Baghdad from every side)...

 

Coalition forces working w/locals in Nasariah...death squads have come under fire...Iraqis around there are helping us by providing records on Baath P. officials and regime members....

 

We see Iraqis coming to us daily, linking up w/ free Iraqi forces...discussing the future...

 

"Gains..never come without cost."

 

"We mourn the loss of our fallen."

 

"We will attack the enemy ...at times and places of coalition choosing...

 

"We'll continue to surprise the enemye by attacking at all times of day and night all over the battlefield...

 

'The regime will continue to locate civilians..near hospital sights, schools....may well destroy the Iraqi infrastructure...

 

"We'll do our best to protect the Iraqi citizens while the regime continues to use them as human shields...

 

Food, medicines...delivery already begun..

 

"Lots remains to be done..

"We don't need to remind ourselves that the outcome...is not in question."

 

Questions:

 

"I did not request additional troops before the beginning of what you refer to as the ground war.."

 

Re. the truck.."It's obvious that the modus that the second attack is (not like the first)..

 

"About the first one....not at all remarkable...that a dying regime would undertake such tactics as suicide bombers...(remarkable that the direction comes from the top of the regime...).

 

"What it means is that all of our troops will exercise caution...things that I think would be common sense to anyone in order to protect (themselves)..

 

Re. Spec. Ops raid on camp not finding ricine or other WMDs: "Present a big problem I wouldn't want to comment on because it hasn't happened yet.....exploitation of (the most recent HUGE raid analysis.. in it's intitial stages...don't know results yet)..

 

"Coaltion forces have been up and down the (Al Fa (sp))...coalition forces under control (of the peninsula)...(suicide bombers)...what effect does it have on non-coms?..."doesn't change the rules at all"...."Greater attention will be made of stand-off vehicles..."

 

Re. are the attacks against our forces legitimate resistance, "I guess it's in the eye of the beholder.." having called Iraqi regime tactics terrorist-like attacks yesterday...repeats similarity today....

 

"No one has driven the timing of this operation except the operational commander (and few have seen the actual battle plans..re. reports from elsewhere)..

 

"Look to see how many "deployment orders"...have been issued w/ respect to this theater over the past 11 days. I don't know of any. ..the plan you see is in fact the plan we have been on."  Re. people judging particular military operations...will say there are not enough Spec. Ops., or excessive ground forces, or insufficient air power....I've said on a number of occasions...This plan will be unlike any plan anyone expects...the best plan...a military plan which (guarantees) sure success, but permits early success..the military commander should always look for enemy vulnerability (and take advandtage)...(but make sure, in the end) to gain victory..."those who would seek to drive a wedge between the varoius leaders among us...will (not be likely to)..the chief (benefit of the plan is the flexibility)...

 

Re. Saddam's whereabouts: "I don't know....whether the leader of this regime is dead or alive. Perhaps someone knows but I don't know...I have not seen credible evidence...that this regime is being controlled from the top.."

 

Re. how would you react as an Iraqi if big bad USA was on your doorstep?: "Out around my home in Midland Texas there is no regime that is ..as ruthless as that regime we see in Baghdad..."

 

"We have absolutely no assurance that this regime does not haves WMDs....continue to brutalize the Iraqi people...we'll continue  to (follow the plan that "my Boss laid out")...

 

"There are two ways to look at this...an operational pause which means that military operations move and then take a break....pundits have said we're in operational pause...that's not the case...there's a continuity in this (pause) will be manifested on the battlefield in the time and place of our choosing"  ..sometimes air, sometimes ground...

 

Re. not having enough manpower on the ground and making adjustments: "One should take a look to see how many forces have been requested since the beginning of the plan..." "(original plan, we) begin to flow this many forces....and we'll stop it when no longer necessary.."

 

"The way I issue guidance by day...is to reduce the amount of enemy (capability) over time....command and control capabilities...are orders coming in to the enemy? From where? ...that type of assessment...'Most of us pay attention to the output (rather than the input...ie # of bombs)...

 

"I suppose that one of the blessing of all of you here is the free media and the ability of all of you to form whatever opinion you choose....(resupplying -I regard as remarkable) "Both from the angle of the plan and the execution of the plan..." Re. MREs....in terms of classes of supply...to be able to support an operation of this size...we have sufficient stocks..all across the battlefield..of food, water, ammo...but (one guy in battle may not have gotten his share)...form an operational perspective, the lines of commun. are open"...

 

"This is an incredible, precise military operation. You have seen time and time (and time) again, military (targets fall while civilian targets stay in place)...

 

Re. reserves, why not closer to theater rather than in TX: "One takes a look at how much (air, ground...) "We're not interested in fits and starts..we're interested in a steady flow of forces..." Re. forces in the North, movement not related to Turkey:..."the fact of the matter is that it was quite important strategically to have that (big) force precisely where it was until it was moved."

 

"When one thinks about just how important these oil fields are to Iraq...(one thinks about securing them)..."We saw evidence that the regime was intending to destroy the s. oil fields, (had not fully set it up...we had opportunity to disrupt...we did.)..

 

(Point to map...from south to Baghdad...250 miles...the regime has occupied the center of cities...able to terrorize the Iraqis in these cities and to move out to attempt to interdict our supplies...they have NOT been able to do that." "These bands of thugs...face more and more of our capability every day." "At times and places of our choosing...all those operations are ongoing..everyday we see more and better connection (between our guys) and the local Iraqis."

 

 

[muslims=borg]

Let em spew...I love it. The more successful Dubya is the more left the left goes and the more they marginalize themselves.

[glock rocks]

g'mornin.

[AFPhys]

=====

More questions
sorry --- missed two-three good answers

different reporters giving different answers... we've had sufficient stocks of food, water, ammo --- but a particular soldier may not have gotten what he needed that day due to contingencies -- we take care of that as it arises.
----

there is appreciation of our effort in Baghdad as there is elsewhere, we believe. The people of Iraq will welcome their livbareation ...
----

RE: was Primary timing based on saving oil wells... if enemy had not a threat to destroy oil fields, we may have deployed differently... we sensed an opportunity to get these oil fields and took advantage of the flexibility of our mosaic to deploy forces as we did to secure these... using ground rather than air first.
----

As we look at the mosaic of infrastructure , decide when and where to put Air ower... until we decide we have enough.
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Regarding 4thID - it was improtant to have 4thID where it was until it moved --- precisely there --- Turkey not allowing it to move in not disasterous - you can speculate why these were true --- now it has been replaced by a ground force with the capability to leverage enoumouus air power in the north...
-------

They have occupied the centers of cities, so put themselves in position to terrorize cities and will attempt to interdict our supplies -- they hav failed in doing so. The bands of thugs face more and more of our capability eery day --- theyr'fe facing pockets within these towns sometimes simultaneously sometimes sequettially - coalition more and more capable every day.

[Quilla]

Superb! Thank you.

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

I SALUTE YOU BROTHER!

With al honor and respect! We carry our mission with the only hope we protect our own kind so that we may all return home together to preserve freedom.....

[Green]

as usual...great job again