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Iraq |
Oil filled trenches around Baghdad explained |
2003-03-03 |
First there was this story in the Guardian about a football game: It is well known in Iraq that the country's most devoted football fan is none other than Uday Hussein, President Saddam's eldest son. Unfortunately for Iraq's hapless sportsmen, Uday is also known for torturing players who fail to perform on the pitch. So it was hardly surprising that when a football team from Baghdad made a rare trip yesterday to opposition-controlled northern Iraq they expressed their complete support for Uday's beleaguered father. "We love President Saddam very much. We will stay with him to the end," Baghdad's 20-year-old goalkeeper, Saif Aldin Zammer, explained before yesterday's match with the Kurdish side Irbil. "If there is war we will go and join the fidayeen Saddam [the Iraqi president's volunteer militia]," Mista Qalan, a defender, said in the away team dressing room. "We will fight to the death." Saif's team is Al-Nafid, the Oil team. Their opponents yesterday, Irbil, are the best Kurdish side in Iraq's national league. The country may be divided into two distinct chunks, but Kurdish and Iraqi sides play each other most weekends. Then, burried in the middle of the story was this line: To reach Irbil, the Baghdad players had to travel across a reinforced Iraqi frontline, past freshly dug army trenches filled with oil, and up into the mountains of Kurdistan. Now, the Iraqi blog, Where is Raed ?, explains: Remember that story about the explosion and fire at a Baghdad oil refinery that the Iraqi's said was just a accident? If you believe Raed, it sounds like thay have been testing a smokescreen to provide cover for their troops. Sorry, Sammy, our night vision devices using infrared see through smoke. And satellite guided bombs don't care. Might cause problems with laser guided bombs. |
Posted by:Steve |
#5 and if you have the GPS co-ordinates of everything that stands upright in the entire country, what difference does it make how much oil smoke you hide it behind? |
Posted by: Frank Martin 2003-03-03 23:55:08 |
#4 I don't think Sammi and the rest of the Baath party structure are really concerning themselves much lately with long-term health issues ...heh heh |
Posted by: Frank G 2003-03-03 17:43:26 |
#3 Not all that smart. After the first couple hours, the only air defenses that will be left around Baghdad will be the flak. Once those fires start, the flak will be essentially useless. It will effectively be permanent nighttime in Baghdad. Also, this is likely to cause incredible health problems down the road. |
Posted by: Dishman 2003-03-03 16:47:43 |
#2 All the more reason to take those oil wells fast. |
Posted by: RW 2003-03-03 13:16:21 |
#1 actually, no they do not. I'm not so sure about flir since it uses heat and smoke, is HOT. but flir is very sensitive so maybe it will still be able to discern body heat from smoke as for the ir stuff. negative, smoke of that nature has parafinic qualities which produce particles in the air. which will block our lasers from getting to targets (again it was used in the former yugoslavia) and our NVG's only amplify ambient light, we couldn't use them in the first gulf war, and if it's thick enough we wouldn't be able to use them here. it IS an effective tactic. it's smart, very smart. -DS "the horns hold up the halo." |
Posted by: DeviantSaint 2003-03-03 11:28:00 |