We hear now that the current Iraqi move is a big 1000+ column of vehicles and lotsa Republican Guard fighters moving out of Baghdad and into the desert, with the assumed intent of meeting and fighting with coalition forces.
Huh? Can this be true? Are they really that dumb? It would seem to me that the U.S. could not ask for a more advantageous situation.
WIth the Iraqis exposed in the desert, and away from the city, isn’t it just a matter of “fighter jets, attack heli’s, and bombers, combined with a few smart bombs, basically bury them in the sand”?
How would the Iraqis see this as a sound strategic move? It sounds more like suicide. I suppose they could all be coming out to surrender, but we’ve seen that tactic before…
Perhaps they hoped the sandstorm would hide their movement until it was too late. They seem to be hoping to hit the Marine units engaged in central Iraq.
Lord Vor - The sand storm does not protect anyone from a smart bomb. Smart Bombs are guided by laser or gps. Punch in a coordinate and they are off. Very accurate, moreso than the patriots from the sea.
If the Republican guard is in fact moving out, then that indicates to me they have no idea what is a head of them. Their communication systems must be severely impacted, if this is true.
Phlosphr, I realize that Smart bombs attack a specific latitude/longitude and don’t rely on visual clues. However, those coordinates to aim at must be calculated via visual clues at some point in the process, no? I was also thinking in terms of corrosive action, but admit that I have no knowledge on the subject, and am asking questions rather than supplying answers.
Indeed - it would seem like a doubly bad move on their part.
They expose themselves away from urban centers, nicely isolated in the desert for us to hammer.
And, they are now OUT of the populated areas, which is where we really don’t want to fight them.
Maybe they’re planning to come upon us like a Jove, steed-mounted, sabers arcing high in the air, screaming fearfully, like the furious hand of a willing Allah righteously preparing to smote his enemies.
And then they … die.
It seems so ludicrous that I keep wanting to find the “real” reason for their strategy. Maybe they are just badly informed. Maybe they have a bunch of chems that they want to unleash on us. Maybe they’re gonna surrender en-masse.
Maybe it’s just their time to head to the heavens.
Lord - I sounded a bit authoritative in my post. I am not completely sure, but I think the smart bombs act with laser guiding AND gps. So it would not matter what the weather was, if they were using gps. they’d just punch in a coordinate and let loose. And if the US knows where the repubs are all they need do is call in the air cavalry
After reading the article, it seems they US forces are in fact affected by the sand storms. I just can not believe our B-2’s are not bombing the crap out of them??? It’s like they are just letting them come.
Wouldn’t it be great if the coalition forces were using the media to their advantage?
They put out all kinds of bulletins tha tthey are having a bad time of it in the desert, and that they may be sorta vulnerable there. I mean, if they really ARE vulnerable, would they be broadcasting it around? Isn’t it likely that there are special ops forces scattered all along the route that the Iraqis are traveling right now, providing positional info back to command?
The Iraqis, loaded with stale and misleading info, decide it’s time to come out into the desert and smite the enemy.
Then we carpet-bomb their caravan.
Unfortunately, I realize that I have nothing concrete to back this fiction up. No cites. Nothing. It’s clearly just speculation. I wonder if there is even much in the way of hard info on this right now.
Actually, its quite unfortunate as this would be prime time for the A-10 to come in and kick ass. A column of enemy forces would be decimated by that killer. Remember the “Highway to hell” pic of the Iraqi’s fleeing Kuwait? It was a masacre. And it was largely the work of the Warthog.
I know of none that utilize both, but I by no means am I an authority whatsoever. Sounds kind of like a costly redundency to me, not that the Military would ever be a party to anything costly.
It merely seems to me, that a caravan of 1000 vehicles is a lively, and quite tempting target. Why on earth would we not carpet bomb them? Because of a sandstorm? Doubtful.
Either this is some military genius to get them out in the open that actually worked, or the Iraqi army has something up their sleeves, or thier military command is irretrievably stupid.
I’d say we some how lured them out, and are getting ready for a war ending battle. Or pretty dame close to it.
If true, this mean the RGC is no longer refusing battle. Perhpas they have been reading a little too much Gilgamesh.
In any case, the sandstorm (it ended here over 12 hours ago) will mearly change the exact method we will use to kill them. The optics on American AFVs can zap the bad guys long before they can hit us. Also our (tank) armor is darn close to inpeneratable.
All in all, I still expect these guys to use gas on us in the next few days.
Perhpas this part, the easy part, will be over by Saturday.
(1) Smart weapons are not weatherproof, and need guidance to hit targets. Bad weather will reduce visibility for pilots, aiming systems and ground-based designators. Some weapons may have GPS, but not the majority of tactical air-to-surface missiles or laser-guided bombs.
(2) Carpet bombing? With what aircraft, exactly? The B-52s are back in the UK; I’m sure there are many raids in progress right now – I’m guessing that there is no huge air reserve ready to attack at short notice. And, as toadspittle quoted, technology cannot always beat weather.
(3) Planners and pilots are not suicidal, and I doubt the column is completely unprotected against air attack. Planning a raid requires knowing where the enemy will be by the time you get there, what defences they have (and how you plan to deal with them), how you can manage the logistics of assembling, fuelling and arming your aircraft appropriately, and what specific targets to hit (tanks? AAA and SAM vehicles? command vehicles?). That isn’t a two-minute job.
Sorry, I know this sounds snippy, but the allied forces are not ominpresent and omnipotent, but subject to logistics, weather and other battle commitments too. Would you want to throw your pilots up against a column, only to discover it consists of vast numbers of AAA and SAM vehicles, as you fly low and slow to improve visibility?