Quite a sturdy house of cards by all accounts.
It will still be quick. The rate at which Coalition forces have sheared through enemy territory is almost utterly unprecedented in the history of warfare. This advance has been lightning fast and cripplingly efficient. Anybody who says we’re bogging down after only a few days and very, very few casualties hasn’t the slightest conception of what they’re talking about.
I would love to know the “kill ratio” thus far. I’d be willing to bet that it’s at least 10:1, maybe more like 100:1.
As a friend of mine put it, Iraq’s military will fold like a glass-jawed punk, and nothing I’ve seen thus far contradicts that analysis.
Some people seem to be having a difficult time realizing that.
I agree.
Well, actually the site given said that the tubes certainly COULD be used for nukes, just that it did not seem to be practical. But the tubes I think, were being imported, not manufactered. SH, under the sanctions, isn’t allowed to buy ANY military crap. So, the fact he is buying aluminum tubes and is very likely converting them to convential weapons is another proof of his lies & deceptions.
The bolded parts pretty well cover the administration’s arguments and the anti-war groups’ as well. very likely != proof!
It also proves the, if not clear lies, then at least deceptions of those who were offering those same tubes as proof that he was creating nucular weapons rne therefore represented an imminent threat to US and world safety. That was unnecessary to the point of severe counterproductivity, don’tcha think?
That can’t be right! We planted the chemical weapons there! Tell them to look again! Pay special attention to the east wall, approximately 30 paces from the corner with the north wall. Dig down six feet.
Silly, you don’t plant them at the FIRST chemical plant you find. You have no sense of drama. I’m glad you’re not over there. You’d have all the “evidence” found in the first few days! Then what would we tell the folks back at home on day fifteen? Day fifteen is the toughest day of ANY war. You’ve GOT to save some news for day fifteen!
Enjoy,
Steven
You’re right, of course, Mtgman. I don’t know what I was thinking.
This article also points out that military sites in Nasiriya and al-Khamisiya described by the CIA as part of Iraq’s continuing WMD program are now in coalition-occupied territory, and have so far provided no evidence of banned weapons.
From the no-trace-of-irony department:
I had no idea that understatement was capable of reaching nuetron density.
When directly asked at a press confrence in Qatar today, American Major General Victor Renuart “could not confirm” that the coalition had found any signs of illegal weapons. Apparently he doesn’t trust Fox either, although I’m inclined to disbelieve that he subscribes to Worker’s Daily.
Say, did you ever check the kill ratio in Vietnam ?
Ah, the old Vietnam comparison rears its ugly head, and after less than a week!
Keep in mind that if the Chinese hadn’t been trucking weapons and men into Vietnam on a 24 hour basis, and if the military had been allowed to establish firm strategic objectives and then implement them, Vietnam would have been a very short war indeed. NOT TO MENTION that back then, the technology difference between the two sides was not nearly as great.
I’ll leave the difference between the two conflicts based on those reasons alone as an exercise for the reader.
and just what the fuck does that have to do with the kill ratio numbers?
And what the hell does kill ratio mean in a war to liberate and democratize a country? How many does Ogre think have to be killed to win the friendship of the survivors?
One lesson of Vietnam was that a government that thinks in such terms has lost sight of its mission.
wring, it matters because [bSpiny Norman** is obviously trying to raise the specter of another Vietnam-style slugfest, which is not, by any account, a reasonable assumption. If he were just trying to say that “kill ratio doesn’t necessarily reflect the realities of war,” I doubt that he’d have brought up the specific example of Vietnam.
In any case, to say that the Iraqi operation has bogged down after five days is premature to say the least. In fact, despite “stiff resistance” thus far, Coalition forces are apparently knifing through Iraq like a bone saw through warm liverwurst.
Straw Man: The Straw Man fallacy is committed when a person simply ignores a person’s actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position.
See, you misrepresented my statement. What I said was “Iraq’s military will fold like a glass-jawed punk.” The effort to democratizee the country will no doubt take longer, but the fighting will be over quickly…I predict in a few weeks at most.
As for your other question, I don’t know. Let’s ask a few people in Kabul.
Care to make another run at what I actually said, or did you just intend to distort and misrepresent?