-Caveat Lector- Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%7E6439%7E1270198% 7E,00.html Analysts say Iraqi tactics 'impressive' Attack on Baghdad will be big test of coalition forces By Michael Riley Denver Post Staff Writer Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - In upbeat daily briefings over the last week, invasion commanders have reassured the American public that everything is going according to plan in Iraq. The trouble is, military analysts say, Saddam Hussein can tell his supporters much the same thing. "So far, the game is probably going the way that Saddam was hoping that it would," said John Warden, a retired Air Force colonel and the architect of the air campaign in Desert Storm. "He has survived and he's just waiting until the Americans start getting themselves tangled up in the suburbs of Baghdad." Indeed, military analysts reviewing the invasion's opening days say the Iraqi dictator is doing a lot of things right: He has avoided open fights that play to the strengths of American fire power. He has kept control of most of his forces - even if reports suggest he has had to hunt down deserters to do it. And he's using nonconventional tactics and forces that negate many of America's advantages in technology and control of the skies. "The Iraqis really learned a valuable lesson (during the first Gulf War) in 1991, and that's that they couldn't engage U.S. forces in a conventional manner in the empty deserts of Iraq," said Dale Davis, a former counterintelligence officer and now a professor at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. In fact, while frustrated American generals have accused Hussein of discarding the rules of war and using guerrilla tactics, military analysts say his tactics so far are "clever," even "impressive." Paramilitary troops, some wearing black uniforms and masks that show their loyalty to Hussein, have stuck close to cities, keeping American and British forces from securing population centers and stiffening the resistance of the Iraqi army. Early surrenders appear to have been tactical as well. Members of Iraq's 51st mechanized and 11th infantry divisions, parts of which had earlier surrendered, have been found rejoining the fight. "What they've done is given orders to the forces out there that when the Americans and British pass you by, you take your uniforms off and surrender some of your people, then take up guerrilla warfare against the supply routes and rear area," said Patrick Lang, a retired colonel and former intelligence officer. In some cases, coalition forces have been attacked by units that feigned surrender. In others, paramilitary troops like the fedayeen have popped out of buses and taxis and begun firing on American Marines. "Some of these guys get in their vehicles and fly a white flag as they drive from one bunker to another," Davis said. Clearly frustrated by the tactics, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Richard Myers, told reporters Monday that "some of the biggest losses we've taken are due to Iraqis committing serious violations of the law of armed conflict in the Geneva Convention by dressing as civilians, by luring us into surrender situations, then opening fire." Appearing on television the same day, Saddam Hussein had a different view: "As long as the enemy works to make (the war) a short period so that they can get out of this quagmire, we are trying, and we will do our best, to make it last as long as possible" Military analysts and American commanders say the tactics are no doubt troublesome, even if most predicted that the trouble would be temporary. Marine units have suffered substantial but still unspecified casualties trying to secure two bridges adjacent to An Nasiriyah. And the seven Americans taken prisoner last week were part of a lightly defended maintenance column attacked after the main American combat force had moved ahead. Even the Apache combat helicopter downed Monday showed that the Americans were having trouble with the Iraqi tactics. The helicopter was part of a group attacking a Republican Guard division dispersed in the deep vegetation of the Euphrates valley, making their tanks hard to bomb from fighters flying at 20,000 feet. The helicopters fared little better, hitting perhaps five tanks but taking heavy fire. "I'm an old special forces officer," Lang said, "and if I were running the show (for Hussein), I would do what they are doing, only more so. An armored force's lines of communications and supply are extremely vulnerable. You knock off a few oil tankers and your enemy becomes immobile." The test now, analysts say, will come around Baghdad. Hussein has at least three divisions of his best- trained troops protecting two perimeters - the first about 50 miles from Baghdad, the second on the city's outskirts. The Iraqi leader is hoping to inflict significant damage on American troops, eventually forcing them into urban fighting. Coalition forces are hoping to destroy the military support of Hussein's regime in the Euphrates valley, weakening it enough that a fight for the capital won't be necessary. At most, military experts predict, Iraq's guerrilla tactics will prolong the war from a few weeks to perhaps a month or more, depending on how the battle around Baghdad goes. Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article have to stand on their own merits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many genera- tions. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all. Then accept it and live up to it." The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutra <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http://archive.jab.org/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http://archive.jab.org/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
