Article

2003-03-25 Iraq

British Forces Fight Tank Battle South of Basra

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 Steve 2003-03-25 07:47 am|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I am disturbed by the reports from the field of the problem of distinguishing the Iraqi soldier from the the Iraqi civilian.

In addition to dropping leaflets advising Iraqi soldiers to surrender, we should have also dropped leaflets advising all Iraqis that anyone carrying a weapon of any kind is a legitimate target. That, it seems to me, would alleviate the need for the soldier vs. civilian distinction that our rules of engagement apparently is causing our troops.

It is going to be a tough and bloody fight, no doubt about it....with many thousands of American and coalition deaths in street to street fighting. For the sake of the future of the free world, it is a sacrfice we have to make. Once this regime is toppled, it will send a clear message to ALL of the rogue regimes that the Americans are not the same people they were prior to September 11. I personally see no end to terrorism. However, if we can make the price for support of terrorism by Rogue nations the toppling of their govt., then, in that event, one may think twice about doing so.

Posted by Mustang 2003-03-25 09:13:10|| 2003-03-25 09:13:10|| Front Page Top

#2 "but it is very difficult to winkle them out"...
Sorry for being an ugly American here, but did he really say "winkle them out"? Would it be correct, using the Kings English instead of the "pig english" used over here in the states, to say "we are in the pro'-cess of winkling the wankers out"?

Posted by Capsu78 2003-03-25 09:16:42|| 2003-03-25 09:16:42|| Front Page Top

#3 Yep, Capsu. Does "winkle" mean something else your side of the pond?! Over here to "winkle out" means to extract something, with difficulty. It comes from the name "winkle", short for "periwinkle", which is an edible snail-shaped shellfish, so you winkle them out of their shells.

Posted by Bulldog 2003-03-25 09:27:27|| 2003-03-25 09:27:27|| Front Page Top

#4 Bulldog,
It will take many more generations for us Americans to culturally develop our linguistics to the fine precision of your dialect... and one could argue we have taken a serious detour on the way to elequence with Rap music, but that is another rant. Thank you for a fine cultural exchange. You have educated an American today with not only verification, but a fine background explanation.
To answer your question, no "winkle" in common use here, and no shellfish I have come across named periwinkle either. Thanks again!

Posted by Capsu78 2003-03-25 10:14:53|| 2003-03-25 10:14:53|| Front Page Top

#5 ok pardon me for being dumb but -

youre the iraqi commander at Basra. Your forces are all INSIDE the city, where the coalition forces can't hit you easily by air cause of the civilians, and where if they come in with ground forces you'll use the urban terrain to make them pay. Your mere presence is an embarassment to the coalition. So, you send 50 tanks OUT of the city, to be slaughtered in the open by helicopters. WHY??????

Theres something going on here we dont know about.

Posted by liberalhawk 2003-03-25 10:39:07|| 2003-03-25 10:39:07|| Front Page Top

#6 LOL Capsu, there's no need to be hard on yourself. There's no 'proper' English. In many respects US English is more faithful to the English used centuries ago than ours is over here now. Languages evolve and we can get as much from you as you can from us, if not more so.

PS "Winkle" can also mean "penis", apparently. I suppose you could "winkle out the wanking winkles".

Posted by Bulldog 2003-03-25 11:02:26|| 2003-03-25 11:02:26|| Front Page Top

#7 "winkle out the wanking winkles".

sounds like a Barbara Walters interview

Posted by Frank G 2003-03-25 12:00:36|| 2003-03-25 12:00:36|| Front Page Top

#8 Cross our fingers that the uprising now being reported in Basra means the Basrarians have begun the "winkling process" and there will be "wankers" swinging on lamp posts by sundown...you know, before the Brits can establish a security perimeter and reestablish human decency. Look for that image on Al Jezzera...

Posted by Capsu78 2003-03-25 12:02:03|| 2003-03-25 12:02:03|| Front Page Top

#9 Ay! Bugger the bastards!

Posted by Domingo 2003-03-25 12:37:13|| 2003-03-25 12:37:13|| Front Page Top

#10 Where are the A-10's? This is their specialty - hitting difficult targets with massive firepower in limited space.

I know, I know, the US Air Force pilots don't like to be saddled to anything that doesn't do mach 12 upside down in a climb, but the A-10 IS the preferred tank-killer.

Posted by Old Patriot 2003-03-25 13:20:17|| 2003-03-25 13:20:17|| Front Page Top

#11 Old Pat,
I believe the Warthog might be a little "too much club" for close quarters fighting, don't you?
Sneek over and see what Tiger's pulling out of his bag!

Posted by Capsu78 2003-03-25 14:52:36|| 2003-03-25 14:52:36|| Front Page Top

#12 Just to be totally silly, wasn't there a comic strip titled "Winnie Winkle"?

Posted by Craig 2003-03-25 16:29:19|| 2003-03-25 16:29:19|| Front Page Top

10:11 raptor
08:38 raptor
01:28 R. McLeod
01:13 R. McLeod
00:54 R. McLeod
00:46 R. McLeod
00:44 R. McLeod
00:20 Bill
00:07 (lowercase) matt
23:45 OldSpook
23:29 tu3031
23:29 tu3031
23:20 tu3031
23:12 tu3031
23:08 tu3031
21:59 (lowercase) matt
21:50 eric
21:44 (lowercase) matt
21:39 eric
21:13 Dar Steckelberg
21:10 Dar Steckelberg
21:09 RW
21:07 Alaska Paul
21:02 Brew