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To: DesertRhino

[Moronic. You thinkm
A: That they have no air assets involved.
B: that a full company of Marineinfantry in a defensive position is a sitting duck for the Iraqi army.

Both are laughable.

LOL, go back to gaming.]


The militia that has surrounded the embassy is an arm of the the Prime Minister’s power base. It is possible, even likely, that he will order the Iraqi armed forces into action against the embassy. That means the Marines might have to deal with howitzers, helicopter gunships and F-16 strafing runs and air-to-ground munitions like JDAM’s and Hellfires. In other words, this could be Dien Bien Phu, Arnhem, or, in the best case, Khe Sanh. Except instead of thousands or more soldiers in defensive positions, along with multiple armored and leg infantry divisions available at most dozens of miles away, there are only 100+ Marines. If attacked by the Iraqi armed forces, they will need round the clock, minute-to-minute air coverage.

The Marines aren’t facing the Taliban or even the Iraqi insurgents. It’s potentially the entire Iraqi military and paramilitary gendarmerie. In essence, this could turn out to be a replay of the Iranian Embassy situation in 1979. It might help to hint to the Iraqi PM that he will personally be targeted with a JDAM if things go south, perhaps while he’s having dinner with his family.


111 posted on 01/03/2020 3:54:01 AM PST by Zhang Fei (My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room.)
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To: Zhang Fei

“That means the Marines might have to deal with howitzers, helicopter gunships and F-16 strafing runs and air-to-ground munitions like JDAM’s and Hellfires”

Like I said, go back to gaming. If you think the Iraqi military is going to menace the embassy force with howitzers, gunships, and F-16s strafing and dropping JDAMs, you are delusional.
They barely have the capability to make it to the chowhall.
And what capability they do have will never be turned against our embassy. That would be -instant- death under a swarm of Hornets, F-15s and F-16s with actual skilled pilots, and they are -well- aware of that factoid.

There is not enough military power in all of Iraq to take a fortress manned by 100 Marines.


115 posted on 01/03/2020 7:55:39 PM PST by DesertRhino (Dog is man's best friend, and moslems hate dogs. Add that up. ....)
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