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Iraq
MSNBC: Iraq smarter than US, all is lost
2003-04-02
They are outgunned, outclassed and have almost no air defenses, yet the Iraqi armed forces continue to fight the world’s most powerful military force. Although the tide of battle has always been on the side of the coalition, the Iraqis have not been defeated in an often-cited “cakewalk.” Indeed, they have had some battlefield successes.
Ummm... No battlefield successes I can think of. Holding out in Basra, Nasiriyah, and Najaf, but not on the battlefield....
THE IRAQI armed forces, severely battered during the first Gulf War, were able to reform themselves fairly quickly into an effective fighting force. This was due to the fact that most of the destruction of the Iraqi military at the hands of the 1991 coalition was focused on regular army units rather than Saddam Hussein’s better equipped and trained Republican Guard...
This "think piece" stinks, and must have been written 6 weeks ago...
More important than the reorganization of the Iraqi armed forces and the development of new missile systems following the 1991 war was the adoption of new tactics aimed at American ground forces, including their supply lines, judged to be the most vulnerable piece of the American war machine...
Yup, brung the 3ID to its knees... and the genius concludes
"Now, lookee here, Mahmoud. Here's the plan: we're gonna fall apart and let these here Merkins outrun their supply lines. Then you and the boyz, you sneaks up on 'em from behind and explode!"
"Duh! Hokay, boss!"
... As American forces poured across the border from Kuwait, Iraqi forces did not try to take on American armored units in the field. Instead, they melted back into the cities, having learned the lessons of 1991 perhaps better than the Americans did.
Dunno about you, but I'm surrendering to the next T-72 I see in San Diego.
Posted by:Mark IV

#9  Wetzel... Please head back to Indymedia and take another Zoloft.
Posted by: Targus   2003-04-02 22:04:33  

#8  " Rick Francona, an NBC News military analyst, is a former defense attaché to Baghdad and author of “From Ally to Adversary: An Eyewitness Account of Iraq’s Fall From Grace.” "
Cripes - how long ago was this, the 80's??
Posted by: Frank G   2003-04-02 20:55:19  

#7  Also included in the article, describing GWI,
"Force-on-force engagements and open desert fighting resulted in destruction of entire units due to the overwhelming superiority of the U.S.-led coalition’s equipment, technology, tactics, training and logistics support."

Hmmmmm. Yep, that's what's happening in Iraq as we speak. So what have they learned? Not to mention the fact that the guy writing that statement above left out "well-trained, well-equipped, knowledgable, experienced soldiers". The only thing that's 'changed' is sadsack's use of "terror" squadies, who, once they've exposed their 'tactics', have been rounded up or crushed.

It's a good thing the 'author' of this piece of slime isn't 'embedded', or he'd be 'enbalmed'.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2003-04-02 20:52:55  

#6  I swear to Koresh this is the most idiotic echo chamber on the web. Because of the ridiculously incompetant diplomacy of this administration and their rosily ignorant strategic planning, we have already lost the political battle. All we can do now is quell the unrest and prepare for three generations of occupation. 2004 can't come soon enough. I only hope there will be something left to salvage from this catastrophe.
Posted by: wetzel   2003-04-02 20:47:43  

#5  What bugs me about all this reportage on the Iraqi Army being Soviet equipped with Soviet tactics and doctrine, I have yet to read about the Iraqi Army reacting to this invasion using any Soviet doctrine and tactics. I saw one of Fox News' advisors/general tell the audience the Iraqis use Soviet doctrine. Where, for chrisrssake?
Posted by: badanov   2003-04-02 20:44:54  

#4  Good God.. is there no limit to the ludicrously biased reporting at CNN and MSNBC? This is simply beyond belief.
Posted by: Targus   2003-04-02 20:30:54  

#3  Dear God... what a load of nonsense. I realize this has been a long, long war (in another half hour, it'll be entering its third week) and I may have forgotten parts of it by now, but has anything gone Saddam's way so far at anything above squad or platoon level?

This sounds like it must have been written weekend before last, amidst all the hand-wringing over the first speed-bump.
Posted by: Dave D.   2003-04-02 19:41:12  

#2  I chopped this baby down for brevity, it gets even better: Based on their successes in the use of ballistic missiles, specifically the modified Scud, or Al-Hussein, against Saudi Arabia and Israel, the Iraqis embarked on a missile development program that technically kept them in compliance with U.N. restrictions.

Now there was a good use of their time, and look what a runaway success the missile program has been for them this time around, with all those "lessons learned"...
Posted by: Mark IV   2003-04-02 18:56:59  

#1  More important than the reorganization of the Iraqi armed forces and the development of new missile systems following the 1991 war was the adoption of new tactics aimed at American ground forces, including their supply lines, judged to be the most vulnerable piece of the American war machine...

Translation: Supply convoys aren't staffed with combat troops of the character of actual fighting units, so that's what the Iraqi armed forces (or what passes for them) will go after.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2003-04-02 18:53:03  

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