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| Iraq |
| U.S. Force Plans Taking Kirkuk Oil Fields |
| 2003-03-28 |
| After falling out of the sky and sleeping in the mud, American paratroopers grabbed a strategic air base on Thursday and began plotting how to cross 80 miles and thousands of Iraqi troops to seize invaluable oil fields in northern Iraq. ``Kirkuk is key,'' said Maj. Mike Hastings of the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade. ``The Iraqis want it, the Kurds want it, the Turks want it and various other ethnic groups also want it. What this drop means is that we can secure it until we are relieved by other forces.'' Nearly 50 percent of Iraq's vast oil supplies are pumped in the northern fields of Kirkuk and neighboring Mosul. More than 1,000 troops parachuted into Iraq late Wednesday, accompanied by tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. It took hours to dig out the behemoth weapons after they plummeted into vast mud fields created by heavy rainstorms. I can only imagine. A C-130 transport plane landed Thursday, as did 200 more Americans soldiers as the Army began stockpiling the airstrip near Bashur with weaponry and supplies. Warplanes from U.S. ships in the Mediterranean patrolled the skies over the north as transport planes came in. One sortie of aircraft struck Iraqi mortar and artillery positions. ``Now, with paratroopers in control you can start flying in the various armored vehicles and various support you need to expand your operations,'' said Rear Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., commander of the battle group including the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. The paratroopers descended because Turkey, a longtime U.S. ally, has refused to allow some 60,000 U.S. ground troops to cross into Iraq. That left coalition troops with no northern front. That changed Thursday. American troops began the day wearing muddy uniforms tinged with frost. They fanned a valley nestling the airstrip, surrounded by snowcapped mountains. Gotta get the northern oil fields before Sammy has them blown. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 "it is true that Kurds will surprise you, you’ll never know which tribe is friend or foe" Ah. Like the Germans, French, and, yes, the Turks. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-03-28 14:33:24 |
| #5 "Well 173rd Airborne Brigade just make sure to walk behind the Kurds and keep an eye on them before you get shot in the back. " Well Murat, maybe if back in 1920 the allies had established a unified Kurdish state, and if they had succeeded in dividing Turkey among its neighbors, and Turks had gone through 80 years of what the Kurds have gone through, you'd also be unreliable and put your own interests above loyalty. Oh wait a minute, you do that anyway, dont you? |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-03-28 11:14:16 |
| #4 Patrick Phillips You don’t have to put the words in my mouth Patrick, I never said impossible, but it is true that Kurds will surprise you, you’ll never know which tribe is friend or foe. For the record, I have a hard time believing that the current Coalition forces in the North -- even reinforced with a Mechanized brigade -- will be able to take Kirkuk. So either we're planning something very unexpected (what is the 101st up to?), or this force's main job is to keep the Iraqi northern forces fixed -- particularly the Nebuchadnezzar and 1st Adnan divisions? That seems like something worth doing to me. Yes I agree |
| Posted by: Murat 2003-03-28 08:33:30 |
| #3 Uh, Murat? Am I remembering wrong, or didn't you have a post a few days back where you suggested that we were going to take those bloodthirsty Kurds all the way to Baghdad and use them as assault troops in the fighting there? But now taking Kirkuk (ca. 150 miles north of Baghdad and in the Kurdish backyard) is impossible? You're original theory seems to have been a bit of a "Rumsfeld picnic scenario". But to be fair, since English isn't your first language, maybe I misunderstood your post. For the record, I have a hard time believing that the current Coalition forces in the North -- even reinforced with a Mechanized brigade -- will be able to take Kirkuk. So either we're planning something very unexpected (what is the 101st up to?), or this force's main job is to keep the Iraqi northern forces fixed -- particularly the Nebuchadnezzar and 1st Adnan divisions? That seems like something worth doing to me. |
| Posted by: Patrick Phillips 2003-03-28 07:42:45 |
| #2 I don't think the guys on the ground -- the SpecOps guys who have been there for weeks if not months -- are that stupid. Kirkuk will fall to the coalition, just like everything else in Iraq, given enough time and ordnance. |
| Posted by: jrosevear 2003-03-28 05:38:10 |
| #1 Oh god, another Rumsfeld picnic scenario? Does the US really expect that Kurds will form a reliable northern front, yes seemingly she does. Well it wont take long and the 3th surprise next to the Shia will be that also some of the Kurdish tribes fight the US-British invasion, according to MIT Saddam provided weapons to 7 Kurdish tribes loyal to him. Well 173rd Airborne Brigade just make sure to walk behind the Kurds and keep an eye on them before you get shot in the back. |
| Posted by: Murat 2003-03-28 04:36:49 |