thedrifter
03-30-03, 06:46 AM
Brace for a Bare-Knuckle Fight
By Raymond Perry
Remember the rosy predictions from just a week ago?
Commentators and retired military commanders saturated the TV news networks with assurances that the battle would go quickly and our technological edge would cause the Iraqi regime to collapse. They predicted that the Iraqi people would be so ecstatic to be out from under Saddam Hussein that they would strew the path of our forces with rose petals.
As the 3rd Infantry Division and I Marine Expeditionary Force now approach Baghdad and the first real encounters with the Republican Guard, things appear much tougher than anticipated when the ground forces began their race up the Euphrates Valley with scant resistance.
This is not a mystery. It is apt to review one basic aspect of war as related by Chinese strategist Sun Tzu, in his book, The Art of War: “If you surround an enemy, leave an outlet; do not press an enemy that is cornered.” Such an outlet gives one a reason not to fight quite so long and hard.
But these Republican Guards, having shown no mercy to their victims over many years, are in a cell of their own making and can conceive of no mercy.
What we know now is what we should have known last week: No war has ever been as quick and easy as first thought, and this one will be no different. Three reasons come quickly to mind:
First, Operation Iraqi Freedom is fundamentally different than Operation Desert Storm 12 years ago. The naked aggression of Iraqi forces by invading Kuwait muted the few anti-war demonstrations that might have fostered the hope of outlasting the United States. The forces arrayed against them now are far smaller than Desert Storm. Thus they harbor a modicum of hope that they just might be the last man standing in their desert.
Second, those manning the Iraqi guns – the Republican Guard and the guerrillas of the Fedayeen Saddam – are just as culpable as Saddam Hussein himself, for they have been the hammer and anvil of his malevolent dictatorship. Saddam Hussein did not single-handedly work his evil against his repressed citizens. The Republican Guard and Special Republican Guard units are his enforcers. They are well aware that they will win or lose with Saddam. They will fight bitterly, for they have no other option but to fight to the death.
Finally, the Iraqis themselves have studied their own “lessons learned” from Operation Desert Storm. During Desert Storm, our radar tracked and computer-targeted artillery counterbattery fire capability was so fast and accurate that for Iraqi gunners to shoot was to die before their shells arrived on target.
Rather than face our armor and air mobile force, like a scythe in a wheat field in Desert Storm, it is clear that that they are fighting a partly guerrilla campaign to slow us down and make city capture costly. Strident worldwide anti-war protests give heart to this strategy.
Also, in 1991, the coalition’s goals were limited. Saddam Hussein knew that he would remain in power regardless of his defeat. Iraq would remain a viable country without occupation.
The people of Iraq – those who we hope will welcome us as conquering heroes – are well aware of Saddam’s brutality toward those who turn against him, whether the Kurds he murdered with chemical weapons in 1988, or the marsh Shiites whom he butchered in 1991. We have already witnessed their hesitance as our units swept through southern Iraq. Rightfully fearing that we could still abandon them to the mercies of the Iraqi secret police, the civilians are watching and waiting. Only once they are sure we have ousted Saddam and will stay, and that we can exercise civil control, will they openly welcome us.
Thanks to a number of factors, ranging from Turkey’s refusal to allow the 4th Infantry Division to enter northern Iraq across its frontier, to the fierce sandstorms that halted most combat this week, it will take a minimum of several weeks of fighting before we do prevail.
And make no mistake: The upcoming battle will be a bare-knuckle fight. Even as we adhere to the laws of war, we must be ready to repel a no-holds-barred counterattack by the Republican Guard divisions and the fedayeen Saddam partisans seeded by Saddam Hussein in the cities. If and when our combat units enter any Iraqi city, it will be to fight door to door.
For 12 years in the uneasy aftermath of Desert Storm, Saddam Hussein has shown himself to be the master of delay and defer. It is obvious that his political goal is to hold out long enough in hopes that the anti-war movement worldwide will begin to hold sway and thwart the United States from fully carrying out Operation Iraqi Freedom, thus enabling the regime to survive. And why not? This tactic has worked so well before.
The American and British people should prepare for a harsh escalation in the savagery of the current fighting. They should brace themselves for Iraqi atrocities against our POWs. They should be on guard for Iraqi deception operations that kill civilians and make it look like U.S. or British troops were to blame.
We will lose many more loved ones. We will face renewed anguish when we see captives on television.
As a free and courageous nation we must steel ourselves to this: it will take tough fighting to break the back of this evil regime.
Each of us, protester and flag-waver alike, must see through the savagery of the hour and honor the dead, wounded and – most importantly, the veterans – when they finally come home from a liberated Iraq.
Lt. Raymond Perry USN (Ret.) is a DefenseWatch Contributing Editor. He can be reached at cos1stlt@yahoo.com.
Sempers,
Roger
By Raymond Perry
Remember the rosy predictions from just a week ago?
Commentators and retired military commanders saturated the TV news networks with assurances that the battle would go quickly and our technological edge would cause the Iraqi regime to collapse. They predicted that the Iraqi people would be so ecstatic to be out from under Saddam Hussein that they would strew the path of our forces with rose petals.
As the 3rd Infantry Division and I Marine Expeditionary Force now approach Baghdad and the first real encounters with the Republican Guard, things appear much tougher than anticipated when the ground forces began their race up the Euphrates Valley with scant resistance.
This is not a mystery. It is apt to review one basic aspect of war as related by Chinese strategist Sun Tzu, in his book, The Art of War: “If you surround an enemy, leave an outlet; do not press an enemy that is cornered.” Such an outlet gives one a reason not to fight quite so long and hard.
But these Republican Guards, having shown no mercy to their victims over many years, are in a cell of their own making and can conceive of no mercy.
What we know now is what we should have known last week: No war has ever been as quick and easy as first thought, and this one will be no different. Three reasons come quickly to mind:
First, Operation Iraqi Freedom is fundamentally different than Operation Desert Storm 12 years ago. The naked aggression of Iraqi forces by invading Kuwait muted the few anti-war demonstrations that might have fostered the hope of outlasting the United States. The forces arrayed against them now are far smaller than Desert Storm. Thus they harbor a modicum of hope that they just might be the last man standing in their desert.
Second, those manning the Iraqi guns – the Republican Guard and the guerrillas of the Fedayeen Saddam – are just as culpable as Saddam Hussein himself, for they have been the hammer and anvil of his malevolent dictatorship. Saddam Hussein did not single-handedly work his evil against his repressed citizens. The Republican Guard and Special Republican Guard units are his enforcers. They are well aware that they will win or lose with Saddam. They will fight bitterly, for they have no other option but to fight to the death.
Finally, the Iraqis themselves have studied their own “lessons learned” from Operation Desert Storm. During Desert Storm, our radar tracked and computer-targeted artillery counterbattery fire capability was so fast and accurate that for Iraqi gunners to shoot was to die before their shells arrived on target.
Rather than face our armor and air mobile force, like a scythe in a wheat field in Desert Storm, it is clear that that they are fighting a partly guerrilla campaign to slow us down and make city capture costly. Strident worldwide anti-war protests give heart to this strategy.
Also, in 1991, the coalition’s goals were limited. Saddam Hussein knew that he would remain in power regardless of his defeat. Iraq would remain a viable country without occupation.
The people of Iraq – those who we hope will welcome us as conquering heroes – are well aware of Saddam’s brutality toward those who turn against him, whether the Kurds he murdered with chemical weapons in 1988, or the marsh Shiites whom he butchered in 1991. We have already witnessed their hesitance as our units swept through southern Iraq. Rightfully fearing that we could still abandon them to the mercies of the Iraqi secret police, the civilians are watching and waiting. Only once they are sure we have ousted Saddam and will stay, and that we can exercise civil control, will they openly welcome us.
Thanks to a number of factors, ranging from Turkey’s refusal to allow the 4th Infantry Division to enter northern Iraq across its frontier, to the fierce sandstorms that halted most combat this week, it will take a minimum of several weeks of fighting before we do prevail.
And make no mistake: The upcoming battle will be a bare-knuckle fight. Even as we adhere to the laws of war, we must be ready to repel a no-holds-barred counterattack by the Republican Guard divisions and the fedayeen Saddam partisans seeded by Saddam Hussein in the cities. If and when our combat units enter any Iraqi city, it will be to fight door to door.
For 12 years in the uneasy aftermath of Desert Storm, Saddam Hussein has shown himself to be the master of delay and defer. It is obvious that his political goal is to hold out long enough in hopes that the anti-war movement worldwide will begin to hold sway and thwart the United States from fully carrying out Operation Iraqi Freedom, thus enabling the regime to survive. And why not? This tactic has worked so well before.
The American and British people should prepare for a harsh escalation in the savagery of the current fighting. They should brace themselves for Iraqi atrocities against our POWs. They should be on guard for Iraqi deception operations that kill civilians and make it look like U.S. or British troops were to blame.
We will lose many more loved ones. We will face renewed anguish when we see captives on television.
As a free and courageous nation we must steel ourselves to this: it will take tough fighting to break the back of this evil regime.
Each of us, protester and flag-waver alike, must see through the savagery of the hour and honor the dead, wounded and – most importantly, the veterans – when they finally come home from a liberated Iraq.
Lt. Raymond Perry USN (Ret.) is a DefenseWatch Contributing Editor. He can be reached at cos1stlt@yahoo.com.
Sempers,
Roger