Registered: Mar 2003
Location: Here
Posts: 181

With all the power and "shock and awe" supposedly residing in the US military, will this war actually be as quick and easy as supposed.

With no northern front, with apparently (todays Times) 1/3 of the ground troops and tanks as in 1991, with Saddam concentrating troops inside defensive rings in cities rather than in the desert, and with the unknown of chemical weapons to get through first, is there not the possibility that a stalemate, or even worse defeat could emerge?

I understand the concept of force multipliers, but dropping a 21,000lb bomb on the outskirts of Baghdad is just not a good way of reducing civilian casualities, and when it comes to street fighting, all the high tech weaponry gets a bit lost ?

any ideas?

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: NH
Posts: 6086

I wouldnt imagine defeat or stalemate, Allied casualties higher then 91' seem to be a distinct possibility and depending on how it goes, Iraqi civilian casualties will probably be higher. I dont think the outcome (win/lose) is really in doubt, do you?

Someone after the 91' war made the comment along the lines of that war being 'A super power waging WWIII against a third world country fighting WWII.' Cant remember who that was but I think it still applies.

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Registered: May 2002
Location:
Posts: 8821

Unless Iraq is hiding more weapons than even President Cowboy suspects, I have difficulty imagining an outcome where the United States fails to maintain military superiority.

This is not to say that we will meet our objectives. We could suffer great casualties both at home and abroad, we may lose Saddam if he goes into hiding, we might be forced to stay engaged much longer than we are forecasting.

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Registered: Dec 2002
Location:
Posts: 3063

While the US may have 1/3 the ground troops it had in '91, Iraq has 2/5ths of his million man army of '91. While the US had little more than gas masks for its troops to deal wih chemical attacks in '91, it now has much more in its equipment. The US is moving in on a demoralized enemy. They remember '91. They understand the technological disparity between the two forces. They're ready to surrender to the '91 technology... and it's 2003 now.

And as to the chemical weapons mmmsivart... sadaam was fully disarmed by inspectors, so we dont have to worry about that at all.. right?

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