i was working out at the gym earlier and i noticed on the TV that, i think ESPN news said " war in iraq predicted to last 2-3 weeks"

thats right, WEEKS not months...
i sure would like to think it would. but only in a perfect world. im wondering if the CIA maybe convinced some Iraqis to overthrow their own leader, and are just waiting for the right time to do it.

i really feel the war is inevitable. why would saddam hussein, a leader of a country for 30 years just "exile" himself on demand? hes not going to give up his power, its going to need to be taken from him, most likely with his life. i know i wouldnt give up, and i have less to lose than Saddam.

lets face it though, this war probably wont be a 3 week deal, but i highly doubt it will turn into another version of Vietnam.

 

I'm sure three weeks would be plenty of time to take them out. We have advanced quite a bit in ten years, they have not. Use 1991 as a gauge. I expect air-superiority within fifteen minutes to one half hour, all major comms out (phone, electric, lights, radar, missile defenses, etc) out within hours.

Finding which cave he's hiding in might take a lot longer. Movies are made about a Japanese soldier hiding on an island that doesn't know the war is over. I expect Allied solders to be shot in the back long after the official surrender.

 

USA Today published the most likely strategy for the US led attack that will probably commence this week, or later this month. They will begin the most massive air attack in the history of the world, and incorporate a Blitzkreig-style armored cavalry and mechanized infantry invasion with a punishing array of cruise and ICBM missiles. In addition to the conventional warheads, special EMP bombs will be used, which basically destroy any electronic circuit within a certain range. This means that we can knock their power stations offline without actually destroying them, so the citizens of Iraq will not have to rebuild their entire livelihood. With the lights out, and all sophisticated computer equipment rendered useless, they will be literally back in the dark ages. Keep in mind also that this is not the same 5th largest in the world army that we fought in 1991, this is a poorly equipped, demoralized and impoverished band of soldiers that will likely not show loyalty in the face of sure death. Military experts predict that an invasion force converging on Baghdad will reach the city within 48-72 hours of commencement, to lay seige to what remains of the Special Republican Guard. Expect minimum collateral damage, such as the burning of oil fields, or destruction of dams, as special forces will be deployed before the show starts to ensure that the "scorched earth" is not actuated. The seige of Baghdad will take several days before they find and kill Saddam, but the beauty of this is that the bulk of the Iraqi Army will not even be engaged, rather blown right by, and left in the dark in the desert should Saddam choose to leave them in their current positions. If he decides to use his lovely bio/chem weapons on either our troops, the Isralis, or his own people, the White House has assured him a nuclear retaliation. Not necessarily strategic nukes, but tactical nukes, which will emit less radiation, and effect a smaller area, so that civilian casualties can be minimized. Weapons such as the GBU-54, carried by F/A-18E SuperHornets or F-16s from Turkey will likely deliver these packages. Turkey's compliance with the American agenda in Iraq is critical however, as it will costs the US forces several days if they must divert around Turkey. If allowed access to Turkish soil, another expeditionary unit from the north would prove overwhelming for the outnumbered and hopelessly outhought Iraqis, as our troops already have several patterns of approach on the Iraqi capital city. I'm predicting that this will happen very soon, as the new moon is in the sky, enhancing the darkness, making our technological advantages shine even more. M1A2 Abrams Main battle tanks don't descriminate against day or nighttime targets, it sees them all just the same, and GPS-guided JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munitions) don't really care what the weather is, or even how hot it is, because you can't hide from our 28 sattelites in the sky that can find you anywhere on earth, 24 hours a day

 

they did mention how weak the Iraqi army is now. i was reading a magazine a few months ago, and i think Saddams' military equipment is like 1/3rd of what it was in 1991. heck, the soldiers then were even surrendering to un-armed camera men.

but still, i do worry about the chemical weapons issue. id hate to see our soldiers go through that. i wouldnt doubt he would use them as a last chance option.

i guess we could probably do most of the dirty work in a few weeks..... we have the eyes in the sky and the big guns. its the clean up effort thats going to be time consuming. i hope we take out Saddams son while we are at it. hes definantly a piece of crap from everything ive heard about him.

 

Quote TK
with a punishing array of cruise and ICBM missiles.

Inter Contintental Ballistic Missile
*************************************
They really said this?

Which *Continent* will they be firing them from then,did they say?

 

...Remember ladies and gentlemen...
The press and everyone said the same thing about WW I...
Personally I hate the "what if's" and "maybe so's" that the press always comes out with at times like this...It's the wrong mind set for combat...
just my $0.02

 

Thanks for asking Dennis, our ICBM missiles have conventional capability, and will likely be launched from strategic locations all over the world, from North America to Asia. The use of conventional ICBMs is doubtful in regular war situations due to the extreme expense of those weapons, but it would be unrealistic to doubt that they could be used on the first night of attacks, to increase the amount of force concentrated on target areas. Strategic bombers, such as B-52s have the capability to carry up to 90,000 lbs. of internal ordinance (which can be anything from 500 lb. dumb bombs to laser guided 5,000 lb. GBU-28E, as well as almost anything else the AF has in house), as well as cruise missiles and other wing mounted ordinance. Keep in mind that the first shots of Desert Storm were cruise missiles launched from B-52s that took off from their base in Louisiana, and returned to Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, a 36 hour combat mission. B-2s are likely to also see such service in this conflict.

I can talk strategy all day and never be bored, but to quote a NASA scientist: "one test is worth 1,000 expert opinions". There's always uncertainties that you just can't model, and you'll never be able to predict, so we'll just have to see how this thing plays out. They [NASA] had about 1,000 expert opinions on how to package the Hubble Space telescope to send it up into space, and even though they followed the procedure recommended by the majority of the world's top scientists, it still did things that nobody predicted, and cost them a terrible amount of money to fix. Now they know.

 

More of my thoughts and ramblings.

Saddam probably watches CNN too and perhaps his generals also. The Iraqi people may be getting this information too. The pentagon is probably telling the news media these figures in hopes of putting some fear into the Iraqi army and boosting the confidence of the people at home. I'm sure the Iraqi's remember our military might from the last time. If they see how confident we are of taking Baghdad and ousting Saddam, they might be more willing to lay down their arms and surrender or even attempt to take out Saddam themselves. What do you all think? The U.S. is telling Saddam he's a dead man. I'm willing to bet that the Iraqi army doesn't share the same death wish as Saddam. Any other opinions on this?

Another thing. Has anybody seen or heard the news of the human shields from England leaving Iraq for fear of thier lives? It seems the Iraqi government is telling the shields to station themselves at specific military targets instead of hospitals, orphanages and among the citizens that they thought they were there to protect. Well it seems the shields aren't having any! LOL! Reality set in big time. Just thought I'd share that little tidbit.

 

Everyone in their right mind knows the USA isn't going after hospitals, orphanages, children and civilians. Are any of these dopes aware of the percentage of Iraqi people being fed by us right now?

To the simple minded Europeans that insist that the USA is planning to dominate the world or worlds oil. We developed 'the bomb' in the early 40's and could have taken over the world way back then.

We made no attempt to dominate the world and resisted invading Russia and let them guide 1/2 of Germany. (Guess which half) We could have erased Cuba off the globe but didn't. We could have made a parking lot out of Afganistan, but didn't.

The military used to pay all the Servicemen in two dollar bills to show the local sand crabs how much the Military in their area helped the local economy. I would like to see the USA stop all payments to EVERYONE for a few months and renegotiate all hand-outs to ingrates.

 

Because the Russians wouldn't let you.

The Cold War was a whole different ball game, it makes a big difference when you have very bit as much to lose as they do.

Waxy

 

> Because the Russians wouldn't let you.

That is a false statement. Gen. Patton, had insisted that we force the Russians back to their previous borders and make them give back all the land they took. He had no sweet spot in his hearts for the commies. He died in a car accident shortly after ...

Eisenhower wanted to push China back and attack them on their own soil. He was forced out.

At the end of WWII we were still propping up Russia and producing OURSELVES something like five aircraft carriers a WEEK. At that time, the U.S. could have easily pushed Russia back to its pre 1939 borders. Russia did not have nukes and we could not have produced that many. It would have been non-nuke warfare for the most part.

The lesson to be learned is WWII was started when the world turned a blind eye to the Spanish civil war. The right thing to do is stop mad men at their borders when they spill out into the world.

When the US was attacked on 9/11, it was time to clean up the spills, same as going after pirates over 100 years ago.

Whatever the mad man does, we should not punish the Iraq people (with over 500,000 Christians) with weapons of mass destruction. Though, imo, we should kill him, every Republican guard, and every technicain that as worked on his weapons.

 

rebocardo,

Notice my reference to the Cold War, not WWII. Your points regarding WWII are well taken and I certainly wouldn't argue them.

As I'm sure you're aware, the US position on engaging China in the Korean war, other than of course Gen. MacArthur, was strictly against it. The US knew they would have proved a VERY formidable foe.

In hindsight, I guess I maybe should have limited the quote to this

Waxy