Archived material Access restricted Article
Rantburg

Today's Front Page   View All of Sun 08/03/2008 View Sat 08/02/2008 View Fri 08/01/2008 View Thu 07/31/2008 View Wed 07/30/2008 View Tue 07/29/2008 View Mon 07/28/2008
1
2008-08-03 Iraq
Iraq Getting M-1A1 Tanks
Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.
Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2008-08-03 17:41|| || Front Page|| [3 views ]  Top

#1 > (and is unable to upgrade much because of all the arms embargoes)
I thought Russia ignored that.
Posted by Bright Pebbles 2008-08-03 17:48||   2008-08-03 17:48|| Front Page Top

#2 regional power, democraticaly elected. Arab dictatorship sphincters must be puckering
Posted by Frank G">Frank G  2008-08-03 17:58||   2008-08-03 17:58|| Front Page Top

#3 Iran could upgrade from one Russian tank to another, but that won't do them much good against M1s.
Posted by Mike 2008-08-03 18:16||   2008-08-03 18:16|| Front Page Top

#4 M1's won't have to fire a shot. They can just run over the "new" Iranian tanks.
Posted by ed 2008-08-03 20:19||   2008-08-03 20:19|| Front Page Top

#5 I'll bet Persian sphincters are tighter than Arab.
Posted by Nimble Spemble 2008-08-03 20:47||   2008-08-03 20:47|| Front Page Top

#6 I love it. Proof we are truly interested in seeing Iraq function as a country. Iran's mullahs must be having kittens.
Posted by DarthVader 2008-08-03 21:17||   2008-08-03 21:17|| Front Page Top

#7 I dunno about them persian sphincters. having good tanks, and being able to engage effectively in armored warfare are different things - in the last Iraq-Iran war tanks were mainly used as semi-fixed artillery by both sides, right. Leaving aside difficulties in terrain in launching an armored attack on persia.

Not to mention that politically Maliki and pals dont want to make an enemy of Iran. OR of the Sunni states. They want to balance between them.
Posted by liberalhawk 2008-08-03 21:24||   2008-08-03 21:24|| Front Page Top

#8 I don't think Iraq would invade Iran, but having a few hundred M1 tanks would certainly give the Medes and Persians pause about attacking Iraq. Particularly if the Iraqis learn to use them properly. Given the progress of their military over the last couple years, I'd say that's more than possible.
Posted by Steve White 2008-08-03 21:29||   2008-08-03 21:29|| Front Page Top

#9 I would say more than probable. If they keep up this pace, in 2-4 years they could put on a good blitzkrieg attack into Iran.
Posted by DarthVader 2008-08-03 21:44||   2008-08-03 21:44|| Front Page Top

#10 Selling the M-1 to Iraq creates the possibility (although remote) of M-1s fighting M-1s.

An interesting thought from a war nerd point of view. We would get to see who has done their homework and who fights like a traditional Arab army.

I say sell 'em. The Soviet T-55 was a decent machine in its day, but it is embarrassing for a modern army to have to buy spare parts on eBay.

And yes, all this talk of puckered sphinters, Persian or otherwise, is creeping me out.
Posted by SteveS 2008-08-03 22:34||   2008-08-03 22:34|| Front Page Top

#11 "it is embarrassing for a modern army to have to buy spare parts on eBay"

Snark o' the Day! :-D
Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut  2008-08-03 23:01|| http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/]">[http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/]  2008-08-03 23:01|| Front Page Top

#12 Several important qualifiers:

1) MBTs are a LOT less effective with the assortment of sophisticated tank killing weapons around today. It is far better and cheaper to have a large number of troops in anti-tank companies. The Germans very successfully held off huge Russian armored units with just Panzerfausts.

2) That being said, the best use for MBTs is domestic, against militias and insurrectionists.

3) The Stryker is the god-awfullest tank killer around, because of its superior C&C. But Reapers are its evil twin in the air. With either about, the LAST place I would want to be is in a tank.
Posted by Anonymoose 2008-08-03 23:35||   2008-08-03 23:35|| Front Page Top

23:51 Anonymoose
23:35 Anonymoose
23:18 Barbara Skolaut
23:16 Barbara Skolaut
23:11 Barbara Skolaut
23:09 Barbara Skolaut
23:01 Barbara Skolaut
22:45 Mullah Richard
22:34 SteveS
21:53 Pappy
21:51 McZoid
21:44 Pappy
21:44 McZoid
21:44 DarthVader
21:43 Frank G
21:42 DarthVader
21:31 Steve White
21:29 Steve White
21:24 Nimble Spemble
21:24 liberalhawk
21:19 liberalhawk
21:18 DarthVader
21:17 DarthVader
21:13 Zhang Fei









Paypal:
Google
Search WWW Search rantburg.com