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| Iraq |
| Sammy micromanaged the Iraq war |
| 2006-03-12 |
| As American warplanes streaked overhead two weeks after the invasion began, Lt. Gen. Raad Majid al-Hamdani drove to Baghdad for a crucial meeting with Iraqi leaders. He pleaded for reinforcements to stiffen the capital's defenses and permission to blow up the Euphrates River bridge south of the city to block the American advance. But Saddam Hussein and his small circle of aides had their own ideas of how to fight the war. Convinced that the main danger to his government came from within, Mr. Hussein had sought to keep Iraq's bridges intact so he could rush troops south if the Shiites got out of line. General Hamdani got little in the way of additional soldiers, and the grudging permission to blow up the bridge came too late. The Iraqis damaged only one of the two spans, and American soldiers soon began to stream across. The episode was just one of many incidents, described in a classified United States military report, other documents and in interviews, that demonstrate how Mr. Hussein was so preoccupied about the threat from within his country that he crippled his military in fighting the threat from without. Only one of his defenses — the Saddam Fedayeen — proved potent against the invaders. They later joined the insurgency still roiling Iraq, but that was largely by default, not design. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #5 JosephMendiola, if the report says that Saddam said that he didn't, that's what goes on the record, not "Saddam had WMDS." You fail. On a more on-topic note, I'm sweatdropping at the details (on Saddam's end) of his "command" during the Major Combat Operations (MCO) campaign... |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2006-03-12 23:47 |
| #4 Saddam had WMDS - the only thing this article says is that even his own Army, Party, and or Loyalists were "expendable", "collateral casualties/sacrifices" to Saddam iff it meant only HE controlled the WMDS. The new SADDAM TAPES make it clear that pre-planned asymmetric warfare , as coupled with anti-American international diplomacy and politics even from within America itself, was always the primary or preferred method of resisting the USA and its Allies. DITTO FOR IRAN, SYRIA, NORKOR, NK-TAIWAN, etal. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-03-12 20:34 |
| #3 That strategy led to mutual misperception Teheran might want to think about this. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-03-12 14:31 |
| #2 "Saddam was concerned about internal unrest amongst the tribes" Smart guy. |
| Posted by: Perfessor 2006-03-12 09:48 |
| #1 It is amazing how detached from reality people become when they live in an echo chamber. Even with the full war plan on display on CNN 24/7 these turkeys lied themselves into believing it was all the evil Joooos. The Persians will prove to have even greater cognitive dissonance. The problem is trying to figure out what wacko reality they are living in. Rationality through Superior Firepower. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-03-12 08:23 |