Article

2003-02-18 Iraq

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 2003-02-18 01:44 pm|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I know this is naive - but why don't we just air lift our troops and tanks into the NWFP?

Is it because the Turks will come into Iraq anyway and cause havoc with the Kurds?

It seems to me it would be best if we just airlifted our guys in and told the Turks that we were willing to help them with the refugees and Kurds, but they took too darn long - and now they can just deal with it on their own.

Sorry to be so daft - but I'm really curious why we don't just bypass them now that they have become such a pain.

Posted by becky 2003-02-18 14:47:53|| 2003-02-18 14:47:53|| Front Page Top

#2 An airlift would still require use of the airspace, and they have to be airlifted from somewhere. Airlifting them directly from the USA would be an "interesting" (read hair-raising) logistical problem, and the logistics for it aren't in place. It's probably something that could be done, reluctantly, if that was what we originally set out to do, but it's too late in the game to change directions now.

To give you an idea of the magnitude of the problem, one C5 - still the largest cargo plane we have, I think - can carry two Abrams tanks. That's a lot of trips, and while our air fleet is large and capable, it's finite.

There's also the problem of where you're going to put the men and equipment down, necessitating an airfield on the other end. When making rabbit stew, the first item in the recipe is to catch the rabbit. That's why the activity at the airfields in Kurdish-controlled territory now. But an airfield is located in only one place - you can't move it, and its coordinates are known quantities. That means it can be targeted pretty easily, assuming the Bad Guys can get close enough. That means air defense, ground surveillance radars, and artillery would have to be landed first, along with a strong security forces, which probably isn't the order they'd planned on.

Doing a border crossing is a different matter. Everybody doesn't go at once. First out are reconnaissance and intelligence elements, followed closely by engineers to clear obstacles, set up bridges, and the sort of thing. Each crossing will have an alternate route, and each alternate route another alternate. So having staging areas that aren't within the zone of hostilities gives the commanders on the ground a lot more flexibility.

Posted by Fred 2003-02-18 16:56:47|| 2003-02-18 16:56:47|| Front Page Top

#3 Thanks. Those of us without military experience never really grasp the enormity of the task.

Posted by becky 2003-02-18 17:32:32|| 2003-02-18 17:32:32|| Front Page Top

#4 The airlift capacity of the USAF is already spoken for, out into the future 1-2 months. The only way we would get more airlift Here is by taking it away from There. The Austrians denying transit rights is also a nuisance in this Turkish thing. Now the troops will have to either ship out of Germany via the Netherlands or go by rail through the old East bloc. The world turns....

Posted by Tom Roberts 2003-02-18 20:43:12|| 2003-02-18 20:43:12|| Front Page Top

#5 Re:Beckys comment using the word"enormity":it doesnt mean hugeness,it means great evil.Not trying to be a wiseass,but that word gets misused all the time....;-D

Posted by Hugh Jorgan 2003-02-18 23:02:45|| 2003-02-18 23:02:45|| Front Page Top

#6 Well, it was certainly never my intent to imply this deployment is a great evil, so in light of the ENORMITY of my error, I checked Websters and we are both right.

Enormity - 1. the quality or state of being immoderate, monstrous, or outrageous (esp. great wickedness) 2. a grave offense against the order, right, decency 3. The quality or state of being huge: IMMENSITY the ~ of the task of teachers in slum schools.

I assure I meant definition number 3! But thanks for the heads up on the unfortunate double meaning.

Posted by becky 2003-02-18 23:42:58|| 2003-02-18 23:42:58|| Front Page Top

16:47 Anonymous
17:26 Bomb-a-rama
03:50 R. McLeod
03:48 Fred
00:03 Steve White
23:42 becky
23:36 therien
23:25 Hugh Jorgan
23:16 Jabba the Tutt
23:13 Hugh Jorgan
23:02 Hugh Jorgan
22:48 Alaska Paul
22:48 Hugh Jorgan
22:37 Bomb-a-rama
22:35 Hugh Jorgan
22:34 Anonymous
21:09 Steve
21:04 Steve
20:45 Tom Roberts
20:43 Tom Roberts
20:41 Dishman
20:29 Frank G
20:01 Alaska Paul
19:44 RW