I fear the worst is coming

[azsnowman]

Ya know, I've been sitting here thinking, "HEY, I HEARD THAT!" LOL! ANYWAYS......I fear the worst is yet to come for our men and women in Iraq! The have met very little resistance thus far, is Saddam and his goons waiting until they march into Baghdad and then ambush them with Chem-Bio Weapons in a urban setting??? :o

Dennis :o

[chadtm80]

Hopefully there is no Baghdad when our ground troops get there

[wannabehippie]

we should remember though that there are thousands of civilians that live in bagdhad. i know we are bombing the heck out of it right now, but i hope that not too many civilians get hurt/killed during it.

peace
david

[Amanzi]

It is a little disconcerting the lack of risitance. Let's just pray it continues this way, with no ugly surprises for the coalition forces. I do think however the battle will get more heated as they draw nearer to the repulican gaurd.

[mf_dolphin]

More news of Iraqi military surrenders is encouraging but the true hard core are pulled in close to Bagdad though! If I understand the strikes today, the Republican Guard units were also heavily targeted. Al Qaida training camps along the Iraq/Iran border were also hit. Hopefully the bombardment will convince even the hard core that their position is hopeless and live will be spared on both sides!

[vbhoutex]

we should remember though that there are thousands of civilians that live in bagdhad. i know we are bombing the heck out of it right now, but i hope that not too many civilians get hurt/killed during it.

peace
david

Most of the civilians have already fled to the country, literally millions of them according to the report I heard earlier today.

Also the strikes we have been seeing in Baghdad are against government installations only so far. No carpet bombing or anything like that. The technology the bombs carry today is much better than it was in the Gulf War and allows even better control of the bombs and missles all the way to target. Obviously, there is no way we can protect against civilian casualties, but they are doing all they can, including not destroying the power plants, water plants, etc. Anyway you look at it WAR IS HELL, but with technology available today it has become much more selective as far as casualties go.

Dennis, I, like you, fear the worst is yet to come for our troops, to say the least. Even if the government is crumbling, as reported, there will be heavy pockets of resistance by the elite Republican guard who are trained to fight to the death. These are the troops who will have control of the WMD and chem/bio weapons. Also US troops moving N out of Basra or somewhere in that area are encountering stiff resistance from some "normal" Iraqi troops. Our troops are deep enough into Iraq that they have to guard against being flanked by Iraqi forces now. Also missles continue to be fired at Kuwait, so obviously there is still some fight left in the Iraqis however futile their resistance may be or appear at this time.

[streetsoldier]

The stiff resistance around Basra is due to Saddam sending "Chemical Ali" as the local C-in-C, bolstered by "Golden Division" troops...these guys are among the most brutal Saddam has, and won't shrink from executing any officers and generals, no matter how many, who do NOT compel their troops to fight it out.

Note that it is nearby that Iraqi soldiers "fragged" a bunker full of their officers before surrendering...which says more about the true resolve of the average Mahmoud in Iraq's army than all the B.S. coming out of what's left of Baghdad.

Note, too, that no one has seen any but the same two Iraqi bigwigs on TV feed since Wednesday...not Tariq Aziz, who, as Minister of Information SHOULD be handling the data...and certainly not Saddam, Ubay or Qusay. It isn't what and who we see...it's who we DON'T see that is telling the story here.

[cycloneye]

I hope that when they get to Bagdad the airpower has reduced those republican guard units the sufficient to allow the ground troops to enter with less resistance.

But I see a big problem in northern Iraq with Turkey and it's forces in there because the curds will fight them and that will not please the US.

[streetsoldier]

The Turks, after initial reports, categorically deny that they have sent any troops over the border into Kurdish territory, thank God!

From a Kurdish commander, these words..."If we see any Turks, you will hear the fighting; we will not roll out the red carpet for them!"

The Turks are deathly afriaid that the Kurds in Iraq may team up with those in Turkey, demanding their own "Kurdistan" nation...which is the last thing the Turks want. Also, Turkey is looking at the prostrate body of Iraq and may see an opportunity to take the rich oil fields in the north, down to Kirkuk, for a means to shore up their failing economy...this, the Kurds (and the coalition) will not allow to happen.

[M2]

Well Bill, it is curious that neither of Saddam's sons have released statements, but someone somewhere is making decisions. i.e., the expulsion of the CNN team from Baghdad. However you have all touched on the key facts here - the objective is Baghdad: secure the city and implement the regime change. That's going to be the most difficult group of tasks; Saddam has indeed pulled citizens into the city's core and will use them as human shields. What other sinister plans he has one can only surmise. I'm sure our military planners have contingencies for a number of scenarios. When the bulk of the force get to the heart of Baghdad, that will be the main game: who's left in power, who's running the show...who's alive - who's not.

[JQ Public]

There are two fronts to this war and i really think smthg big is gonna happen here first!