[dirtboy]

They'll be congratulating themselves about driving off helicopters ... until the A-10s show up and give them a primer on depleted uranium 30mm ammunition. We can deliver whatever level of force is needed to destroy whatever level of resistence is encountered, and IMO once the Iraqis realize this they will be less prone to directly confront the troops.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Carpet bomb the area.

[Hugin]

What happens when you send a helecopter to do a jet's job. Next time call in the Warthogs and Hornets.

[RightOnline]

"General Freakly said that in an attack like the one on the helicopters, ``you have 10 guys lying on top of a building firing R.P.G.'s and small arms. You can go in and bomb that building and reduce it to rubble,'' but at the potential cost of many civilian lives."

If the other side doesn't give a s**t, then why should we? I'm being perfectly serious. I'm not willing to see any more of our boys sacrificed in exchange for supposedly fewer "civilian casualties". Frankly, any civilians hanging around are just stupid. You shoot, you die........and if that means taking out a building, c'est la guerre.

[denydenydeny]

How stupid and credulous can the NYT be? The one Apache shown on Iraqi TV has no apparent battle damage, and looks very much like it made an emergency landing under its own power.

And where is the other "downed" Apache? Why would the Iraqis pass up the other photo op? But the author accepts the Iraqi claim at face value.

And on top of everything, the author implies that the Apaches were simply out sightseeing, and doesn't even speculate what damage they might have done to the RG.

[Petronski]

"I am deeply
saddened."

[enemy9oclock]

If this was a "night-time combat mission", I'm surprised the Iraqis were able to target the Apaches so effectively. Any military-types know whether an RPG is radar guided? Or are the Iraqis demonstrating the use of their new Russian-made nightvision equipment? This wasn't a single, lucky shot - it sounds as though all of the Apaches (30+) had at least some minor damage. No mention at all of radar equipped anti-air weapons, only RPG's and small arms fire.

[mikegi]

General Freakly said that in an attack like the one on the helicopters, ``you have 10 guys lying on top of a building firing R.P.G.'s and small arms. You can go in and bomb that building and reduce it to rubble,'' but at the potential cost of many civilian lives.

Yeah, but if you let them get away with it at the beginning then they'll do it even more. Better to (possibly) tube some civilians at the beginning to show the IRG that we will kill them regardless of what they do. Be sure to film the entire episode so that when Iraqi TV shows dead civilians, we can show them why (IRG using their civilians as shields is a war crime).

[Paulus Invictus]

MOAB and Daisy Cutters are needed fo clearing troop concentrations. Puff the Magic Dragon could also help sweep the ground of pests. Then there is the sweet smell of napalm in the early AM. Tends to calm troubled minds (permanently).

[Wavyhill]

My impression is that this was a raid, and that the withdrawal was after they accomplished their goals.

[socal_parrot]

Notice how the Iraqis brag about downing two Apaches whith small arms fire and General Franks denies it. Yet, this reporter leads with the Iraqi viewpoint as if it were irrefutable fact.

[timestax]

You can go in and bomb that building and reduce it to rubble,'' but at the potential cost of many civilian lives.

TUFF, just DO IT !!