[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject:Re: Landmines RE: US Foreign Policy Re: *DO* we share a
civilization?
Dan Minette wrote:
>> One interesting point regarding air power. It is assumed that the US
>> airpower can stop any talk assault. IIRC, the war in the Balkans was
the
>> first war ever won with air power alone. Since the problem in Korea is
not
>> winning a long term war but stopping an assault within 30 miles, it does
not
>> seem unreasonable that a combination of anti-personnel and tank mines at
the
>> border would be a major help.
>While it's true that the Gulf War was not won with air power alone, from
what
>I understand, the ground war was little more than mopping up after the
utter
>devastation from the air war. The point being that air warfare against a
>technologically inferior enemy can possibly be effective enough to
neutralize
>them. If, in fact, as one of the the articles suggests, there are only
>certain mountain passes through which an army can advance, it seems
>reasonable
>to assume that air strikes could easily render these impassable. Mines or
no
>mines, after Desert Storm and the Balkan War, the North Koreans would have
to
>be absolute idiots to attack South Korea.
This is not true, I'm afraid. It is a very common misconception, but it is
not at all true. Although the air war was extremely effective at certain
tasks - severing logistical chains, weakening command and control, and so
on - even the Air Force has now come to admit that the Iraqi forces were
combat capable when the ground war began. In fact, the largest tank battle
since the Second World War was fought north of Basra. I actually know
people who were at 73 Easting, one of the most remarkable - and intense -
ground combat actions of which I am aware. It is still true that the only
thing that can kill a large number of main battle tanks quickly is other
main battle tanks. The reason most people don't realize this about the
Gulf is that American land forces moved so quickly that press coverage was
unable to keep up with them - thus leaving the only lasting images those of
the air war. Needless to say, the Air Force has done little to dispel this
perception. Army veterans who were actually there, however
, tell a very different story, as does the Strategic Bombing Survey
conducted (I believe) by the General Accounting Office after the war.
> Doug
Gautam Mukunda
