Monday Afternoon War Quarterbacking

theski · Post by **theski** » 2003-03-24 03:44pm

To look back on the first days of the war, I am seeing a sliping into a PC war.. I have to wonder if things would be a little different if we had started with "shock and awe" insted of try to leave the infrastructure intact.. Why are we failing to use maxium convention force to shorten the duration of this war..Why not take down the TV system.. These are just a few of the questions I think will be asked if this thing bogs down.

Strafe · Post by **Strafe** » 2003-03-24 03:49pm

Well presumably we don't want to bomb the crap outta the city cause in the end that is stuff we need to rebuild later. But on the other hand I do feel like we're holding back a bit too much. We're still kicking their ass left right and center, but maybe the TV reports are simply lacking or we just haven't seen enough BDA's, but it doesn't look like we're using our abilities to the utmost potential.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-03-24 03:56pm

we should see very soon. Army, USMC and Royal Marine forces ahould be going at it with the Republican Guard within the next 24 hours.

Raptor 597 · Post by **Raptor 597** » 2003-03-24 04:58pm

And you also the B-52 Cluster Bomb effect on an Republican Guard Division.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2003-03-24 05:13pm

I think part of the reason why there is such a gloomy atmosphere about yesterday's events is a combination of military wishful thinking and media coverage. The militay seriously expected to see military units surendering en masse al a Desert Storm. What they failed to grasp was that in Desert Storm you had troop concentrations being bombed round the clock for forty DAYS not four hours. That HAD to have a detrimental effect on troop morale. Secondlt they were fighting for Kuwait NOT their homes. Add to that the disastrous (and shameful) US decision not to support the Iraqi rebels when they did rise up and you have to wonder why we even thought they would surender.

The media is also partly to blame because they started to almost immediately portray this as a route. They insisted on the first two days that we were rolling in unopposed and that things were looking greta, some even likening the bombing campaign to a big "show". They made the war seem like fun and almost surreal so when those first casualty reports came in....it was like a punch to the gut.

Right now the military needs to clean up their rear areas and secure their lines of supply. Wrong turn or not, that mechanics unit should not have been taken prisoner if their supply chain was fully secure. They need to get the job done but stop pussy footing around, release shock and awe and get this over with but do it well. Speed does not serve us if we take more casulties out of trying to get this over with quickly. We cannot go into this with a hundred hour ground war mentality. If you take the air campaign into account, Desert Storm lasted nearly two months. We're on day 5, let's take a breath and put things in perspective.

theski · Post by **theski** » 2003-03-24 05:19pm

Well said Stravo!! Hope winter ends soon for you in NY

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2003-03-24 05:22pm

theski wrote:Well said Stravo!! Hope winter ends soon for you in NY

Actually it's like Spring here now with temps in the 60's and sunny. Gives me a chance to oggle the ladies since they've been bundled up all winter as soon as we get our first taste of Spring weather they like to let it all out if you knwo what I mean.

Enlightenment · Post by **Enlightenment** » 2003-03-24 05:31pm

Iraqi 'gunmen' (gee, shouldn't that be troops) actually managed to temporarily cut off the US supply route earlier today. Portions of the southern oil fields have also now been classed as too unsafe for firefighting operations.

Rear area security is a clusterfuck. Can you say 'overconfidence?'

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-03-24 05:50pm

Stravo wrote:I think part of the reason why there is such a gloomy atmosphere about yesterday's events is a combination of military wishful thinking and media coverage. The militay seriously expected to see military units surendering en masse al a Desert Storm. What they failed to grasp was that in Desert Storm you had troop concentrations being bombed round the clock for forty DAYS not four hours. That HAD to have a detrimental effect on troop morale. Secondlt they were fighting for Kuwait NOT their homes. Add to that the disastrous (and shameful) US decision not to support the Iraqi rebels when they did rise up and you have to wonder why we even thought they would surender.

The media is also partly to blame because they started to almost immediately portray this as a route. They insisted on the first two days that we were rolling in unopposed and that things were looking greta, some even likening the bombing campaign to a big "show". They made the war seem like fun and almost surreal so when those first casualty reports came in....it was like a punch to the gut.

Right now the military needs to clean up their rear areas and secure their lines of supply. Wrong turn or not, that mechanics unit should not have been taken prisoner if their supply chain was fully secure. They need to get the job done but stop pussy footing around, release shock and awe and get this over with but do it well. Speed does not serve us if we take more casulties out of trying to get this over with quickly. We cannot go into this with a hundred hour ground war mentality. If you take the air campaign into account, Desert Storm lasted nearly two months. We're on day 5, let's take a breath and put things in perspective.

damn right! now if this campaign was run a little more like StarCrossed...

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-03-24 07:35pm

Enlightenment wrote:Iraqi 'gunmen' (gee, shouldn't that be troops) actually managed to temporarily cut off the US supply route earlier today. Portions of the southern oil fields have also now been classed as too unsafe for firefighting operations.

Rear area security is a clusterfuck. Can you say 'overconfidence?'

There have been quite a few comparisons to Nimitz's island-hopping campaign, actually. Unfortunately, it's a lot easier to bypass and isolate islands than some town/village/city on land.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-03-24 09:45pm

Their lacklustre attempt at supply-chain security is a result of overconfidence. They want to get it done quickly, and were lulled into believing it would really be just as easy as the wet-dream jingoists said it would be.

Post by **Vympel** » 2003-03-24 10:12pm

One of the worst decisions was when the fucking intelligence community intervened and launched that fucking feeble 'decapitation' strike and holding off on shock and awe. You don't start off a war with such a feeble pinprick- you start off with massive overwhelming firepower.

Enlightenment · Post by **Enlightenment** » 2003-03-24 11:53pm

The biggest military blunder so far was assuming that the Iraqi population and non-'elite' forces would welcome the US as liberators rather than invaders. Rear security is much less of a problem if the local population is eager--or even willing--to point out where the irregular troops and goon squads are hiding.