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April 01, 2003
The battle for Baghdad
Interesting analysis in this UPI article: They are moving into a killing ground, the flood plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers south of Baghdad. It is a relatively confined battlefield where allied warplanes and combat helicopters now hover like predatory hawks to swoop on any target that shows itself. The clear weather conditions, and the coming of the heat of a desert summer, suggest that coalition commanders are pressing on to Baghdad without waiting for the expected reinforcement of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division.Posted By Meryl Yourish at April 1, 2003 08:42 PM | TrackBack Comments
Really sounds like its started. I guess you just keep fighting until the 4th mech arrives to deliver the final blow to baghdad. There must be something else to their attack though. I know were not just gonna attack from a frontal assault-only, right. I heard we were on three sides of the city. Are we between tikrit and baghdad? Curious. Posted by: Bone at April 1, 2003 09:06 PM It's the dark of the moon, our night fighting capabilities so outclass theirs that I suspect the Brass on the ground couldn't pass up the opportunity. As the situation evolves the coalition will exploit any opprotunities that arise. They'll do everything they can to tighten the noose around Baghdad, or even take the city if they can, and won't for the 4th if they don't need to. If the coalition reports are right about 50%+ degrading of the combat power of Baghdad's defenders, then we can likely look forward to some significant inroads in the near future. Good find, Meryl. This entire campaign has repeatedly reminded me of Epaminondas, who lead a democratic hoplite army from Thebes, past a whiny, nuanced and uncooperative Athens, shockingly and suddenly deep into the territory of Sparta, driving straight for the jugular and setting the slaves of the land free. (For more, you really really should read Vic Hanson's Soul of Battle—I've reviewed it on my site.) Anyway, Epaminondas referred to the great plains of Boeotia where the hoplites of Thebes did so much of their early fighting as "the dancing floor of war"—a phrase that keeps coming back to mind as I look at maps of this end of the fertile crescent. It's definitely a new moon. I think that the U.S. is definitely inflating their numbers for battle damage. I remember back when we bombed Serbia, I read somewhere that a numerically significant amount of our bombs hit decoys. I heard recently on CNN that Iraqi intelligence agents went to Serbia and learned some of their tricks. Perhaps some of the damage that CentCom is claiming was simply decoys being destroyed. Posted by: Ferg at April 2, 2003 01:02 AMPost a comment
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