The War Plan in Iraq
There continues to be complaints, mostly by journalists and some former military, that the attack in Iraq has bogged down. They explain this rationale by pointing to the near static position of the troops around the city of Baghdad as their proof, especially given the previously rapid movement of troops earlier when moving from the Kuwait-Iraq border to where they are now.
These individuals apparently are looking for the coalition forces to suffer high casualties in this conflict. The attack is just where it should be and the troops around Baghdad should remain nearly static for a considerable amount of time for the coalition forces to complete the removal of the Hussein regime and minimize coalition and civilian casualties. The point of the war plan was to quickly bypass any opposition in the southern part of Iraq - letting the British forces methodically clean out any military forces - and surround the Republican Guard encircling Baghdad. With superiority in the air, the coalition forces can decimate the Republic Guard forces until there is virtually none left to oppose the coalition forces. If we had continued the attack into Baghdad, with the Republican Guard at full strength, this would have resulted in 100's or even 1000's of coalition casualties and would have been foolhardy. The current strategy contains the Republican Guard where their only options are to attack and be destroyed by coalition air forces, or to remain static in defensive positions and be decimated by constant air attacks. Remember, the defensive positions of the Republican Guard are designed to thwart a ground attack and not air strikes from above.
With the exception of the "Saddam Brigades" in the south, everything is going as planned. The brigades in the south are complicating mop-up operations in the south and movement of materials up to the troops up north (i.e. lines of communications), but are merely an annoyance and will not affect the outcome of this conflict.
Those complaining about a "bogged down" attack, should just shut up. They don't know what they are talking about and other than exercising their freedom of speech, are simply making fools of themselves.
03/31/03 ( 426 )
© Copyright 2000-03 www.mypov.org - All rights reserved.
Post Your Views On This Topic