The Way We War -

The Way We War - Elder at Fraters Libertas asks:

Where are the massive B-52 strikes? If our troops are encountering resistance we should not hesitate to use any and all force available to us. To do otherwise and expose our forces to unnecessary danger is not acceptable.

Let's assume for a moment that we're hearing a significant part of the truth from CENTCOM's briefings.

From what the UK's general Wall said today, the actual spearhead of the advance is meeting mainly empty positions and abandoned equipment - one of the reasons we're not taking the hordes of prisoners we did in '91 is that the troops, in their own country rather than cut off in Kuwait, are simply deserting rather than surrendering.

Also according to Wall, the troops that ARE resisting are doing it in populated areas, thoroughly intermingled with civilians. I have to wonder if the Saddam Fedayeen didn't watch Blackhawk Down, and note the public relations nightmare that accompanied that brutal streetfight. In any case - loosing the BUFFs against enemy troops holed up among civilians is a war crimes fiasco waiting to happen.

On the other hand, Elder says:

We should also distribute the video of our POWs and dead soldiers to all coalition forces as a sobering reminder of the consequences of losing and the intentions of the enemy.

I think you can count on two things:

• The military will make this an object lesson in navigation and convoy security, among other things, and
• the military's rumor mill, especially among enlisted troops, will get the word around faster than CNN could.

First it was another Brit officer - and now, the networks are predicting we'll be on the outskirts of Baghdad in two days.

Amazing, if true.

Posted by Mitch at March 23, 2003 09:02 PM