HOW LONG?

New York Post ^ | 3/29/03 | RALPH PETERS

[kattracks]

March 29, 2003 -- 'AS long as it takes": That's how long we'll stay in the fight in Iraq. President Bush put it as bluntly and clearly as possible. To the American people. To the world. And to Saddam Hussein.

[Cvengr]

This may become part of American strategy.

Our operational art focuses on pinpoint surgical strikes, but this will shift our enemy's center of gravity towards assymetric warfare.

The enemy will then be identified with terrorist type activity. Our strategy will like then direct events so that our enemies are more focused on their terrorist attacks on their soil than on ours to lessen their immediate risk.

These operations and strategic direction, though will also be favored by socialists within the US because it doesn't force an enemy to change their will. This will always provide fallow ground for further socialist contrivance for future hostilities.

An interesting test begins to appear. If we become less surgical in our strikes and decide to less expose our forces to risk, then why shouldn't that same tactic be applied to socialists here at home?

[You Gotta Be Kidding Me]

General Tommy Franks is a "popcorn fart." If we're going to win, the "Babmi of the Battlefield" has got to go.

[American Soldier]

Main reason this won't be another Vietnam: We are taking the enemy capital and destroying the enemy regime like we should have done to Hanoi!!! It would've cost a hell of a lot less than 58,000 American lives, most likely.

[Lyford]

Ralph Peters bump

[listenhillary]

But I'm dismayed, again and again, by those pundits who seem to be rooting for us to lose, who imply that the Iraqis are doing everything right and we're fumbling the ball. I'm growing weary of pointing out what a success this campaign has been to date.

We need to ask all jounalists and their organizations this question. "WHO DO YOU WANT TO WIN THIS WAR?"

But I guess they would be mortified if we actually asked them.

[Redleg Duke]

The brilliance of this operation is going to become evident post-war. Our initial land phase took most of the country away from the Thugs, leaving scattered elements that are breaking themselves on our forces and committing unspeakable acts on their own people in the process...something routine for Iraq. Now we are in the second phase...the air campaign against forces sequestered in much more confined areas. Tank plinking, if you will. As the Thugs get panicy, they will send out irrational attacks to be turned into desert crunchies. During this phase, we get additional ground forces incountry and ready.

Has anyone else notices the Infantry-heavy nature of the force? Think about it.

This operation is going to be awe inspiring!

[wny]

Anyone that still doubts, or refuses to believe the media is pushing its agenda rather than reporting facts and events, need look no furhter then all these silly stories about the campaign being "bogged down" "slowed" "stalled" "delayed" "held up" yadda yadda. Unless one knows what the schedule is, how could you possibly know if the campaign is ahead, on or behind schedule. Has anyone heard Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice, Myers, Franks etc. ever once mention when we expected to be where we're at? No. The plan may have called for the troops to be where they are 2 weeks from now. So all these stories are PURE opinion and conjecture. Not "news".

[SamAdams76]

Wait until the 4th Division gets into place. They are offloading in Kuwait as I type this. The 4th Division has scores of Abrams tanks, Bradley armoured vehicles, rocket launchers and Apaches that are all linked together electronically (networked) so they all see the same battlefield together in real time and can act as a single weapon. While the rest of our military has plenty of high-tech, the 4th Division takes it a step beyond. It will be really interesting to see what happens when they get into action. I think we are in for a nice surprise (and the Iraqis are in for a nasty one).

[aruanan]

But once the dictator is gone, the passion for the fight will go out of most of his surviving supporters.

Once his billions salted away in overseas accounts have been removed beyond reach, those in Saddam's government who maintain the fiction that he is still alive so as to have continued access to his ill-gotten wealth will have no reason to do so. The same goes for the U.N. misery pimps "managing" the 16 billion dollars in the Oil for Food pipeline. As long as there's a chance they can hold onto the cash and to all the power that gives them, they'll support Saddam and the present Iraqi government and oppose coalition forces. Let's irrevocably cut all of them off from the money.

[Redleg Duke]

Roger that!

[Redleg Duke]

Your ignorance is only surpassed by your poor judgement!