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2008-05-28 Iraq

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Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2008-05-28 02:44|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top
File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1 Catch him digging the holes, and you solve multiple problems.

Does the Army still use blimps?

Posted by Cleting Black1202 2008-05-28 09:04|| 2008-05-28 09:04|| Front Page Top

#2 Perfect example of miltary utility of a barrier - its not there to stop enemy action completely, but to hamper it and increase the cost/time/effort of traversing certain routes, as well as increasing the chances of getting caught.

Kinda like a border fence here in the US, if we could ever be bothered to build one.

Posted by OldSpook 2008-05-28 09:31|| 2008-05-28 09:31|| Front Page Top

#3 The blimps used today are tethered, unmanned platforms called areostats. only one problems--It was discovered that the hajjiis like to use them for target practice, necessitating frequent downtime for repairs.

Now the military uses tall (102+ ft.) crank-up masts with cameras & designators on them. Word is that they work real good, range of 15 miles or so.

Posted by N guard 2008-05-28 09:35|| 2008-05-28 09:35|| Front Page Top

#4 Thanks, interesting info - need to arm the blimps so they can fight back, still better to draw fire to a cheap gasbag than an valuable GI.

Masts seem better suited for the pure recon needed in this instance, but an armed blimp would still be interesting.

Posted by Cleting Black1202 2008-05-28 10:26|| 2008-05-28 10:26|| Front Page Top

#5 Put some Hellfires on those blimps ;^)

Posted by Spot">Spot 2008-05-28 10:39|| 2008-05-28 10:39|| Front Page Top

#6 Soldiers build the berm. The insurgents make a hole. Soldiers fill the hole. The insurgents plant a bomb in the next hole they make.

how about we plant the bombs in the berm to start with.

"At least we can identify their routes and pick em off easier," said Sgt. 1st Class Rodney Lerue, a platoon sergeant in the company.

Man I love the way our military think ;)

Posted by Jan 2008-05-28 12:01|| 2008-05-28 12:01|| Front Page Top

#7 Put a UAV on patrol over the berm at night. A predator with a Hellfire or two should slow down any jihadis who try to break through. Or they could be used to call in an artillery strike at an appropriate moment.

Posted by Rambler in California">Rambler in California 2008-05-28 12:50|| 2008-05-28 12:50|| Front Page Top

#8 Well put, OldSpook. The analogy is, in fact, exact. Barriers (whether passive like berms or a bit more exciting like minefields) limit and channel enemy activity - that is, they're a part of seizing and maintaining the initiative. To digress to the domestic thing a bit, as many here and elsewhere have noted, a few simple and seemingly disconnected actions like making the border less passable, targeting huge illegal labor magnets such as specific manufacturing centers, and allowing immigration status to enter into some local/state law enforcement actions will, together, produce instant and dramatic changes in behavior by the target population.

In Iraq, one can only repeat the quiet refrain of "why only now?" WRT berms around Mosul. The strategic level is very similar to the illegal immigration issue: change the temperature of the water more to your liking, and only good things flow from it. Without the demonstration of will that the "surge" represents, or something similar, trying to pacify Iraq was doable but only in a horribly wasteful fashion.

The words "counterinsurgency strategy" should be banned from intelligent discourse, because they mask, as most such phrases do, the fact that only common sense is required. Berms to limit/channel enemy movement, systematic identification of enemy personnel through mass detentions/screenings of military-aged males, extreme differentiation in punishment/incentives meted out to hostile/cooperative neighborhoods, and like measures would produce much wrong-headed and morally narcissistic howling from the usual suspects (sadly, including many in uniform), along with instant and dramatic results. Weak versions of these measures have now been used, though not usually in conjunction with each other, and still have produced results.

On a micro level, beyond the surveillance issue (what about cheap distributed observation nodes connected wirelessly to an ops center?), I do wonder about other technical possibilities. Mines seem too indiscrimate considering the huge size and number of Iraqis who probably will have opportunities to be stupid around it. But how about passive fiber-optic sensors, wireless IR or visual cameras, all linked to UAVs and rapid-response teams.

Posted by Verlaine 2008-05-28 13:10|| 2008-05-28 13:10|| Front Page Top

#9 If the berm ranges from 4 - 8 feet. Make the 4 foot sections where you can set up traps with snipers. For a while, at least the jihadis would probably try to breach the berm in the easier 4 foot sections. This could develop into some target rich environments. "Pathways to Paradise."

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2008-05-28 13:23|| 2008-05-28 13:23|| Front Page Top

#10 It would be easy enough to put a remote weapon system on the masts for immediate, light impact response. The light impact aspect comes from using small arms (7.62mm) rather than mortar, artillery or UAV-based missile fire. Not appropriate in all cases, but certainly in many of them.

Posted by remoteman 2008-05-28 13:43|| 2008-05-28 13:43|| Front Page Top

#11 better to draw fire to a cheap gasbag than an valuable GI.

Anyone in particular in mind? ;-)

Posted by gorb 2008-05-28 15:15|| 2008-05-28 15:15|| Front Page Top

#12 Just train the Iraqis to respond to trip flares and seismatic sensors. Station them in bunkers with good overhead cover. Hand them a field phone hooked to the US TOC.

On our part, have an alert5 helicopter gunship on hot standby, and a few tubes of 155 airburst pre-registered for immediate fire, and a platoon of Stryker Cav on warm ready (Soldiers up and equipped, vehicles PMCS'd but off).

That'll secure the berm for the most part if they want to really lock it down.

Posted by OldSpook 2008-05-28 15:39|| 2008-05-28 15:39|| Front Page Top

#13 Stake down some tanglefoot and concertina in the top of the berms as well.

Posted by OldSpook 2008-05-28 15:42|| 2008-05-28 15:42|| Front Page Top

#14 Gorb - Any number of cheap gasbags come to mind. I'm just taken with the idea of barrage balloons returning fire as needed. Even better would be an armored blimp!

Posted by Harcourt Jush7795 2008-05-28 16:18|| 2008-05-28 16:18|| Front Page Top

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