"Shucks!" and "Ohhhh"?

[streetsoldier]

We went about this all wrong...expecting the Iraqi people and military to wave the white flag as son as the "liberators" showed up on the horizon?

NO, it didn't work as the planners thought; and the BS about targeting "military facilities only, while leaving the infrastructure intact" was a BIG mistake.

If you are going to eliminate a regime like Saddam Hussein's, you HAVE to leave the country literally deaf, dumb and blind....NO military/public-consumption communications, NO "lights on", NO "photo-ops" from Baghdad.

Mass communications are as much a tool of war as a tank, a SCUD, or a cloud of VX coming at us. The very existence of those tapes, played throughout the Arab world by Abi Dhabi, Al Jazeera, etc. from Iraq's broadcasting systems (as well as the bounty offered for dead or captured coalition soldiers; does anyone here really believe that Iraq has ANY intention of abiding by Article XIII of the Geneva Convention?) should make us ALL painfully aware of the fallacy of such "touchy-feely" prosecution of a war.

[rainstorm]

i agree

[wx247]

You know, I agree. Streetsoldier, you make very valid points.

[Guest]

Streetsolider - why haven't we done this? Proganda is the fuel that makes this dictators control their people - seems to me this would have been the first positon to take out.

Patricia

[Rainband]

I agree to confuse and disorient them we need to paralyze their resources...water..power..phone..TV and then see if they crack :o

[mf_dolphin]

It was a decision our military/politicians made not to attack the infrastructure. I have to agree with Streetsoldier, not a good idea. We are dealing with people who have nothing to lose by fighting to the death. We better realize that and start pulling out the stops and get on with the war. This will result in more civilian casualties but it needs to be done. We have to hiy the enemy where he lives and breathes. Vietnam should have taught us that lesson once and for all.

[streetsoldier]

Cardinal rule of war = Not only reduce the military means to wage it, BUT also undermine the people's WILL TO RESIST. If this means no water, food, light and power and ESPECIALLY mass communications, so be it.

Ladioes and gents, IT'S TIME TO TAKE THE GLOVES OFF.

[JQ Public]

I like the way the war is being handled. Bush is holding to his word of only going after military targets and i think it is working. Those of you who think one casualty is one casualty too much should have just not supported the war, because war brings death. This is the most righteous way to fight the war and i think we are making great progress. Oh yeh and if we destroy it we gotta put it back together...and since we don't have but a few wealthy allies we'll be paying for whatever we destroy to be rebuilt.

[Stephanie]

I agree JQ. The war is against Saddam Hussein and his regime, not the Iraqi people we're trying to "liberate". Unfortunately, it seemed like they thought that there would be more soldiers surrendering and desserting Saddam Hussein's military.

[mf_dolphin]

While I don't think we need to resort to carpet bombing and such, the selective destruction of basic infrastructure is a prime way of reducing the enemy's ability to wage war. Allowing the communication infrastructure to continue to operate is a mistake in my opinion.

[JQ Public]

Oh i figured out why they couldn't take out the tv station. On O'Reilly Factor they said that the TV Station in Iraq is inside a Hospital like place and in the hospital near the station is a daycare. So we have to go inside and get rid of it.

[breeze]

Streetsoldier, I have been laughing at the reporters......
do they think that the Iraqis actually care that they
broke laws of the Geneva convention??? NO!

I want to shake those same reporters and remind them....
...the very reason that we are IN Iraq is because the Iraqi
government abides by their OWN rules...not by the rules
of the U.N or Geneva Convention! :o

[mf_dolphin]

There are a lot of ways to shut down a TV or radio station that don't require that we blow it up. We could easily prevent the transmission of normal communications electronically if we wanted to.

[vbhoutex]

I know that what Streetsoldier says concerning infrastructure is true. IF we can win this war without destroying the infrastructure of the country, I am all for it. But, I can not understand why we have left ANY of their COMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES INTACT. THAT MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER!! Ticka, we have been waging a propoganda campaign for weeks, having dropped over 28M pamphlets, leaflets, etc. all over Iraq. And like MF said why are we not jamming the hell our of their broadcasts??? I do not pretend to know how to wage war better than someone that is trained to do it or has been in war previously, but I do not understand what seems to me to be some major tactical blunders as mentioned above.

All that being said, our military leaders have been stressing that their plans are flexible. HOW FLEXIBLE ARE THEY?

[PTrackerLA]

I personally think there is just too much media coverage on the war. Yes it's great to find out about all the news but to have a guy filming a battle from the front lines like the one at umm qasar and broadcasting it live all over the world just seems like a little too much.

[PTrackerLA]

Oops, i didn't see the poll in the other thread about that same topic! I guess we think alike around here lol.

[coriolis]

It's time to turn down the hype and turn up the heat.

[coriolis]

I've thought about this some more. It's possible that Bush is taking this one step at a time in a logical sequence, considering that he had to "sell" this war. Since the steps taken so far were not sucessful, he will tighten the screws to increase the pressure.

[Arizwx]

Oh i figured out why they couldn't take out the tv station. On O'Reilly Factor they said that the TV Station in Iraq is inside a Hospital like place and in the hospital near the station is a daycare. So we have to go inside and get rid of it.

Seems to me JQ,we had the East Coast's LARGEST COMM Tower DESTROYED on top of the WTC.It had a 'daycare' and a 'Hospital like Place",whatever that means..I assume a Clinic...AND Schools nearby.
Did YOU FORGET???????????????????????????????????????????????????

BTW,
I have been in Military Strategy Meetings..we called the 'MOTHER'..or 'Mobile Ops Tactical Helo/Fixed Wing Engagement Rooms'
To the extent that our Special Forces are IN the Big'B',we could disable the TV Comm easily without detroying the nice CHINESE installed FIBER OPTICS RING that Also connects thier hi speed Internet..yet another source that Saddam is communicating with his Rep Guard,via his yet to be destoroyed Comm Towers and Microwave Links..Saddam has a sweet heart deal with Russian Sat Birds and Chinese and French/German software and Infrared as well.

[chadtm80]

Seems to me JQ,we had the East Coast's LARGEST COMM Tower DESTROYED on top of the WTC.It had a 'daycare' and a 'Hospital like Place",whatever that means..I assume a Clinic...AND Schools nearby.
Did YOU FORGET???????????????????????????????????????????????????

We are better then them.. DID YOU FORGET?????????????????????? :roll: