Posted on 03/27/2003 8:22:25 PM PST by Diddley
Chief of the (Australian) Defence Force Peter Cosgrove denies the coalition has made a strategic error in the number of troops it has used in initial attacks on Iraq.
The Pentagon says plans are underway to send in at least another 100,000 United States soldiers.
But Gen Cosgrove has told Sky television the reinforcement does not mean there has been a lack of planning. "I mean you look at the marvellous rapidity of the campaign to date and the relatively small loss of life on all three sides," he said. "And by that I mean coalition forces and Iraqi military forces, and even though tragically some civilians have been killed, the civilian toll has been kept much lower," he said.
He also says coalition forces have done tremendously well to get close to Baghdad so quickly. Gen Cosgrove says Australian forces will not be playing a major role in the next stage of the assault on the capital.
But he says Australians have been involved in air support missions near Baghdad. "We could say that they're directly involved now," he said.
"But you look at the style of the forces we've sent, and the sort of big armoured clashes that are possible in the next phase of the ground war are not really those for which any of our forces in the Gulf are optimised."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.