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| Iraq |
| 'Time to stop being Mr Nice Guy' |
| 2003-03-24 |
| 'I lost a scout this morning to sniper fire and my first sergeant was hit by a mortar round yesterday. That means I am taking it a little bit personally. How am I meant to protect my men when the generals are denying me the ability to bomb enemy positions?". This sounds too familiar for comfort... On the outskirts of the central Iraqi town of Samawah, Capt David Waldron and his company of tanks are locked in a defensive formation. His men are under intermittent attack by snipers and mortar fire. They are also increasingly angry and frustrated. From Basra to Karbala, south of Baghdad, coalition forces are under attack from soldiers in civilian clothes and Saddam Hussein's shadowy Fedayeen paramilitaries. And yet 50 per cent of the coalition's desired targets are being vetoed by high command for fear of hitting a sensitive "no combat zone". "Nope. Nope. You can't bomb them when they're in Laos. Just isn't done, y'know..." In the latest insight into the resistance, one of Capt Waldron's patrols stopped a civilian car on a routine search and found an armed Iraqi in the back seat. This was not a trained soldier but a 12-year-old boy, his face stricken with terror as he hugged an AK47 to his chest. According to the unit that detained him, the boy said he had been given the weapon by men from Saddam's paramilitary forces. They entered his home, forced it into his hands and then told him to confront the American invaders. I guess we should consider it a blessing that they don't round up the little girls the same age and send them out, too... US intelligence now believes that the Fedayeen, a paramilitary group under the control of Saddam's second son, Qusay, and loyalists from Iraq intelligence services are issuing weapons to citizens in the cities at the forefront of the American advance. They are ordering them to fight or face brutal reprisals not only upon them but also their families. In one incident at Samawah, a city with a population of 200,000 halfway between Basra and Karbala, captured PoWs have told American soldiers that they were herded into taxis and ferried to the front. There they were forced out at gunpoint and told to charge the stationed Abrams tanks of the 3/7 cavalry unit. The Americans, seeing that their attackers were in civilian clothes, at first shot above their heads but, as they came closer, they opened fire, killing several Iraqis before the rest surrendered. The unit commander described the assault as "almost a suicide attack". Yeah. We've seen that before, too... From Basra to Karbala coalition forces report facing not the formations of Iraq military they had expected - and which their Abrams tanks and air power could easily cope with - but men in civilian clothing riding in non-military vehicles. The centres of cities are being held by the Fedayeen, preventing the advancing army from using the main roads to ferry fuel, ammunition and water to the troops further ahead. Before the invasion, US military intelligence learnt that some Iraqi units were packing their civilian clothes with their uniforms. At the time it was thought this was an indication that they were planning to desert. Now it appears that it may have been an order from high command so that they could blend into the crowd to confuse the Americans. Mortars and artillery are reported to be positioned by hospitals, schools and mosques. Which can legitimately, in those cases, be flattened... Other targets are being identified by special forces operating in the urban areas - and yet the targets are being vetoed as too "sensitive". As one of Capt Waldron's tank commanders, Sgt Robert Byrd, put it: "It's time to stop trying to be Mr Nice Guy. They are bombing us. Let's start bombing the hell out of them." |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #11 Priorities: 1) Win the War 2) Liberate Iraqis Winning is paramount - if the city of Bagdad is going to resist, flatten it. Priority 2) is clearly lower than 1) |
| Posted by: flash91 2003-03-25 00:40:10 |
| #10 I hope that we can send as many militant Muslims as possible, as quickly as possible, to be with Allah. I think they would prefer to relax a bit with all those virgins (even though it wouldn't involve killing), and we could use their guns. If Saddam uses VX or any WMD, I think we should use nukes on Baghdad. Even little nukes make great deep bunker busters and tunnel flatteners. The world would be better off without these vermin. And GET SADDAM, and his murderous sons if they're still alive. It's payback time. It's time to roll the Koran up REAL TIGHT, and shove it where the sun don't shine. |
| Posted by: Screw political correctness 2003-03-24 23:47:35 |
| #9 Yeah right, let's liberate Iraq... from its population. That will show 'em! |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-24 23:31:22 |
| #8 Has anyone here ever done any research on the results of firebomb raids on Tokyo? These did as much as atomic bombs to break the back of the Japanese. Killed and maimed more people, too, but took 100 or more B29's to accomplish. I think George Bush should draw a "Red Ring" around Baghdad, too - one of fire. Anyone left inside the ring has 48 hours to get out, or sayanora. The world won't like it, but it'll sure save a heckuva lot of OUR people. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-03-24 22:57:30 |
| #7 You got it Bone. |
| Posted by: RW 2003-03-24 22:33:25 |
| #6 It's time from Gen. Franks to call the Israelis, get a copy of that standard press release: "The hospital/ambulance/house was no longer being used for civilian purposes . . ." |
| Posted by: Bone 2003-03-24 21:46:12 |
| #5 You do NOT let your enemy dictate how you fight. That's a losing proposition. Make them fight on your terms and destroy them. The faster it's over, the better off everyone is. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-03-24 21:45:36 |
| #4 I'm sure the second time we flatten a city where the Fedayeen are hiding among the citizens, that will become a very difficult thing for them to do That's what I'm talkin about. MOAB! MOAB! MOAB! |
| Posted by: g wiz 2003-03-24 20:50:44 |
| #3 House to house, guys. House to house. Tedious but necessary. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-03-24 20:43:02 |
| #2 IF Sadsack is going to force every citizen of Iraq to be a soldier, then the best thing to do is to treat them as soldiers. Either they surrender or we stomp them. I'm sure the second time we flatten a city where the Fedayeen are hiding among the citizens, that will become a very difficult thing for them to do. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-03-24 20:18:19 |
| #1 The Fedayeen Saddam are sick evil bastards. Saddam's reservation in hell will be soon: ---snip--- The Fidayi Saddam include a special unit known as the death squadron, whose masked members perform certain executions, including in victims' homes. The Fidayi operate completely outside the law, above and outside political and legal structures. It is difficult to establish the exact date when the beheading of women campaign began in Iraq. Witness accounts report the public beheading of women from June 2000 through to May 2001. Saddamâs Fidayi conduct the beheading operations, which take place in two stages. Accompanied by the leaders of the Baâth party, the Fidayi make a night raid on the district. The latter is gone through with a fine toothcomb to eliminate any hints of revolt and in order to discover any weapons. The population is summoned for the next day at prayer time. They arrive at the stated hour at the home of the victim, who is dragged out in the clothes she is wearing. She is then stretched out on an iron bench, her head hanging down, in front of her children, her family and the whole population of the district. The executioner and his assistants are dressed in brown bearing the logo âSaddamâs Fidayiâ and usually do not come from the district or the region. The Feddayi detailed to carry out the beheading takes his sword held out by an assistant and cutâs the victimâs head off. According to the scenes described, the head is exhibited or the body and the head are thrown into black boxes and taken away. Women belonging to families suspected of being hostile to the regime or whose members are in prison as âopponentsâ (the term of course covers a considerable number of definitions) are particularly targeted. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-24 21:32:00 |