Article

2003-03-11 Iraq

War planners would save enough of Iraqi Army to rebuild it

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Posted by Steve White 2003-03-11 12:21 pm|| || Front Page|| [4 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Look at those poor Iraqi who tried to surrender to the Brits. They misread the signals. One would guess that special forces is already working with lower levels of the Iraq Army, otherwise the surrender process is going to tie up operational forces and slow the whole march down. I would think it is much more time consuming to deal with surrender than retreat? These guys have no desire to retreat, they see safety moving forward than going back into Saddam's clutches. Plus handling all the intel they may provide; they will know where the Rev Guard, the boobie traps, and the mines are.

Posted by john 2003-03-11 08:50:22|| 2003-03-11 08:50:22|| Front Page Top

#2 I have a GREAT idea - put these plans into action by GETTING ON WITH THE JOB, instead of engaging in endless talking.

Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2003-03-11 10:37:52|| 2003-03-11 10:37:52|| Front Page Top

#3 This is crazy. It'll get people killed. You want them to quit? Hammer the hell out of them. Whoever's still alive can quit.

Posted by tu3031 2003-03-11 13:07:22|| 2003-03-11 13:07:22|| Front Page Top

#4 You got that right tu3031! The true purpose of war is to destroy the enemy. You only back off when the enemy has had enough and offers unconditional surrender. For cautionary examples of misguided mercy, see any history of early Northern generals in the US civil war. Meade, Burnside and McClellan were especially notable for lacking the guts to finish off the enemy and thereby indefinitely prolonged the war and cost thousands upon thousands of soldiers their lives - entirely due to their misguided reluctance to kill.

Posted by Scooter McGruder 2003-03-11 15:00:28|| 2003-03-11 15:00:28|| Front Page Top

#5 Salvaging the Iraqi army is like trying to fix a car with a bent frame. It is still a car with a bent frame.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2003-03-11 15:06:37|| 2003-03-11 15:06:37|| Front Page Top

#6 The purpose of war is to destroy the enemy's will to fight. Destroying the enemy is one possible outcome of destroying his will, but not always necessary. The NVA won in Vietnam without ever destroying the US Army in the field. They did, however, destroy our national will to continue the war to a successful conclusion.

Posted by 11A5S 2003-03-11 17:56:53|| 2003-03-11 17:56:53|| Front Page Top

#7 Fred, Paul, et al., I hear you. I'm not ex-military and I'm certainly no strategist. I had thought the idea was along the lines suggested by 11A5S: if these guys are already broken and have no will to fight, just move 'em to the side and get on with the principal objectives. If we have a surplus of troops moving it makes sense to grab all of these guys, collect their weapons and head 'em off to prison camp. But if they aren't going to fight and you've got a point to get to quickly (e.g., the oil wells, or a vital bridge, etc.) then just tell the Iraqis to sit still, behave, we'll be along to deal with you in a while, and oh, see that B-52 overhead with lots of bombs in it?

Again, I'm no military genius, but when I first read this I though, "hmmm, clever." But maybe it isn't.

Posted by Steve White 2003-03-11 21:21:13|| 2003-03-11 21:21:13|| Front Page Top

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