FallenPaladin 0 Posted March 22, 2003 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (IsthatyouJohnWayne @ Mar. 22 2003,12:02)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">'Saddam to have wired multiple dams with explosives, in order to flood large parts of Basra....' I imagine thats just the kind of thing special forces will be having under surveilance<span id='postcolor'> So there`ll be Navy Seals fighting in Baghdad then Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FallenPaladin 0 Posted March 22, 2003 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (IsthatyouJohnWayne @ Mar. 22 2003,12:59)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Not completly, there have been continuing surrenders since the start with reports of large scale surrender negotiations going on, however there has indeed been medium resistance (with limited coordination)<span id='postcolor'> There might have been surrenders but it could also be propaganda. A few surrenders might been there for sure, but I don`t believe in great scale surrenders of whole divisions. The coalition forces seem to have trouble and relating to that the iraqi morale can`t be too bad. They are fighting invaders in their eyes. If I was one of them I`d give a hell of a fight, especially if I was arabic and grew up hating the USA... Â I also think that even if Saddam get`s killed the fights will go on as long as some of his surrounding group (family, followers, etc.) survive. Something I`m happy about in a sarcastic way is the threat of the turks and iranians messing up the scenery in Iraq even more. Someone mentioned a poll on how long it`ll take for the coalition forces to take Baghdad. I`d rather start a poll on when the US forces withdraw from Iraq because it gets to hot in there with all the kurds fighting turks, iranians trying to get some iraqi terrain, tribes fighting other tribes, islamic fundamentalists on the rise, and so on, and so on... Â May you live in interesting times (ancient curse) . Well, we do now... This post is not meant to be political, I`m just curious how further development will be there in Iraq. I see a bloody mess coming like in Afghanistan. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Balschoiw 0 Posted March 22, 2003 Basra maps: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps...._80.jpg 1:670,000 Basra area map http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps...._91.jpg 1:500,000 Basra area map Royal Marines from 3 Commando Brigade launched a helicopter and hovercraft assault on "Red Beach", where the strategically vital Shatt-al-Arab waterway meets the head of the Persian Gulf. Before the attack, Royal Marine snipers, Brigade Reconnaissance Force and US Navy Seals had infiltrated the peninsular to harass Iraqi positions before and during the assault. While 40 and 42 Commando units swept into the strategically important Al Faw peninsula in the south of Iraq near the Iranian border, 539 Assault Squadron made beach landings and cleared Iraqi mines on land and at sea. The British commando attack was preceded by an intense artillery bombardment by four batteries of light and heavy guns across the six-km wide Khawr Abd Allah river estuary (that separates Kuwait's Bubiyan Island from Iraq). There was also support from naval gunfire in the Persian Gulf and aircraft launched from US carriers in the Gulf. During the nighttime attack's second wave, Queen's Dragoon Guards' Scimitar light tanks landed on Red Beach, the moved forward to set up a reconnaissance screen in preparation for the next phase of the invasion. EDIT: I´m signing off till tomorrow evening. I´m going to where the info is Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bn880 5 Posted March 22, 2003 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (FSPilot @ Mar. 22 2003,01:40)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">edit - he also claims that 250 civilians are wounded. and he's inviting the media to go visit the civilians that were wounded. I don't know about you but I wouldn't get into a car with that guy.<span id='postcolor'> Yah I'm so scared of being in a car with the man, scared only of a hellfire coming up my ass. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Antichrist 0 Posted March 22, 2003 Well by the looks of it Umm Qasr is still not under coalition control and there was definitely a plane crash in Baghdad. Info about the plane comes from a russian reporter in Baghdad who actually saw a crash site and a parachute in the sky. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FallenPaladin 0 Posted March 22, 2003 Wheeee the Iraqis must have manned drones in the air   No, seriously: I wonder when the coalition forces will give an official statement because of that incident? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Antichrist 0 Posted March 22, 2003 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (FallenPaladin @ Mar. 22 2003,14:34)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Wheeee the Iraqis must have manned drones in the air   No, seriously: I wonder when the coalition forces will give an official statement because of that incident?<span id='postcolor'> Definitely not too soon! I mean they can't even decide if they've taken Basra yet or not. American and British commanders saying different things, news companies saying even more different things, and official Petangon still claiming that they "liberated" Basra yesterday Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bn880 5 Posted March 22, 2003 Yes it's wonderfull, we officially don't know 1% of whats going on down there, especially of coalition losses, which I don't think we will ever find out properly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Antichrist 0 Posted March 22, 2003 I just heard that 3 British journalists got killed in the southern Iraq.... no more info available at this stage Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bn880 5 Posted March 22, 2003 And I just heard a 100% success story from General Franks. Hahha, man. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IsthatyouJohnWayne 0 Posted March 22, 2003 im hearing those reports too a British ITN news crew at Imman ammas (sppling?) there are 2 people missing ,one has been recovered alive bn880- i think we know more than 1%, there are multiple news sources for those bothered to search for them (thats one of the good thing about this thread-the pooling of information) US sources say Nasariyah has fallen.Thats possibly premature, but earlier the BBC reported the capture of two bridges in the city From the reports im getting the attack seems to be speeding up not slowing down (after a few hours when the coaltion seemed to be bogged down) There are some reports of troops entering Basra with mass surrenders ,i have not heard confirmation of these reports but i have not heard new reports similar to earlier fighting around Basra. The British have said that Basra is not a military target and there are not immediate plans to enter it substantially if its hostile. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IsthatyouJohnWayne 0 Posted March 22, 2003 Fallenpalladin-"There might have been surrenders but it could also be propaganda. A few surrenders might been there for sure, but I don`t believe in great scale surrenders of whole divisions" As i said the reports about mass surrenders say the negotiations are still underway- i dont know about that- but Tommy Franks reported perhaps a few thousand current POWS and that seems consistent with the surrenders i have seen footage of. ------------------------------------------------------- **-David Willis is speaking right now from INSIDE Basra of burning oil wells, he is with an American convoy which he reports as leaving Basra at this moment He reports that those he is with did not have to fight their way in. He has seen hundreds of Iraqis surrendering at the sides of the road-** i heard reports earlier that the Iraqis had been withdrawing military units from Basra -------------------------------------------------------- In the Bagdad airraids 207 are reported wounded ,3 killed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tydium 0 Posted March 22, 2003 Sky News reported that four US soldier have been killed. </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"> Four US soldiers are reported to have been killed in central Iraq. It is thought that they were in two lightly armoured vehicles and hit by rocket propelled grenades. Sky TV's Colin Brazier, who was travelling with the soldiers from the US Third Infantry Division, said the four reconnaissance scouts were ambushed while driving Humvee jeeps at the head of the column. "Rocket-propelled grenades were fired, one at each Humvee, they killed both sets of occupants," he said in a brief live report on Sky. <span id='postcolor'> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Othin 0 Posted March 22, 2003 CNN just reported conformation of reports from SKYnews and Reuters(I think) that 4 American soldiers were killed in central Iraq. They were at the head of a column in two Humvees. Apparantly the Iraqis were lying in wait and attacked with RPGs as the vehicles passed. What's interesting is that they is a Brit embedded with this group of soldiers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted March 22, 2003 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (IsthatyouJohnWayne @ Mar. 22 2003,12:59)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">"So far the predictions on Iraqi troops morale have been completely wrong" Not completly, there have been continuing surrenders since the start with reports of large scale surrender negotiations going on, however there has indeed been medium resistance (with limited coordination)<span id='postcolor'> Pentagon says that about 8,000 iraqi soldiers have surrendered in the south, and that I think could be seen as real progress. What I meant was that the basic assumption that the coalition forces are operating on is that the Iraqi will be happy to get rid of Saddam and surrender directly. This has cerainly not been the case and while the forces are pushing forward they are meeting resistance. Now, I have no doubts that they will push to Baghdad, but the uncertainty is of what happens then. The resistance of the regular troops is a benchmark of troop morale and if regular troops are willing to fight then the Republican Guard is even more so. Edit: Confirmation of that al-Nasiriyya has fallen comes in. Most of the bridges seem to be intact, which is very important for the coalition. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IsthatyouJohnWayne 0 Posted March 22, 2003 Denoir-"What I meant was that the basic assumption that the coalition forces are operating on is that the Iraqi will be happy to get rid of Saddam and surrender directly. This has cerainly not been the case and while the forces are pushing forward they are meeting resistance" I agree but its impossible to know at this stage for sure whether this is the initial resistance before a great collapse or the first part of a conflict of steadily intensifying resistance leading up to a bloody seige of Baghdad. I certainly hope the first is true. I really do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IsthatyouJohnWayne 0 Posted March 22, 2003 There are reports coming in that Ansar al-Islam (the group with alleged links to Al-Quaida) has conducted a car bomb attack in northern (Kurdish) Iraq in the town of Halabja killing one journalist and at least eight other people. Bear in mind that previous reports from Kurdish Iraq have sometimes been totally wrong- but could this be a bloody spectre of things to come (post Saddam?) ------------------------------------------------- On the resistance offered by the Iraqi regulars- its possible (for example) that many may feel compelled (or forced) to offer some token resistance regardless of their views which may initiate a prolonged firefight and cause the alliance to pause, call in airstrikes/artillery .etc thus slowing down the coaltion advance as we have seen. In the far south where the first surrenders have taken place the officers of some of the surrendering troops have been found dead piled in a bunker- shot by their own men... (reported by an embedded journalist in The Times today) If the officers are still in control there may be continued fighting regardless of the wishes of the Iraqi privates. Who can say for sure what the majority of Iraqi troops are thinking of the attack at this moment? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ran 0 Posted March 22, 2003 http://winmedia.ish.de/al-jazeera all jazeera free , medium quality , high speed stream Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cloney 0 Posted March 22, 2003 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Othin @ Mar. 22 2003,16:32)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">CNN just reported conformation of reports from SKYnews and Reuters(I think) that 4 American soldiers were killed in central Iraq. They were at the head of a column in two Humvees. Â Apparantly the Iraqis were lying in wait and attacked with RPGs as the vehicles passed. What's interesting is that they is a Brit embedded with this group of soldiers.<span id='postcolor'> Probably with either the 101st or the 3rd Infantry Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted March 22, 2003 I just listened to a report on BBC from one of the British reporters that are with the coalition forces at Nasiriya. The reporter said that while the resistance created moderate problems for coalition forces that the resistance was fierce. He continued that it was far from what the Americans had expected and hoped for. In the attack they had to use MLRS, artillery and airstrikes. They havn't taken the town yet but it took them over 24 hours to get to the bridges and secure them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stag 0 Posted March 22, 2003 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Munger @ Mar. 21 2003,03:22)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">8--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (interstat @ Mar. 21 2003,238)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Come on guys the Iraqi army was never gonna be a tough cookie, look at the military hardware they have. Â Its like taking a hammer to a nut!<span id='postcolor'> Well if the rumour about them taking out several Challenger 2's is true I wouldn't discount them too quickly. I can't see how they'd manage it though. Possibly arty hitting from above? Any news on whether this is actually true or not? I've been on BBC News all day and it hasn't mentioned it at all.<span id='postcolor'> Just playing catchup here. In the UK, there's been no reports of tanks lost, but having said that, its Scimitars which are operating with the Marines, not Challengers. Somebody may have already pointed that out, if so, disregard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
munger 25 Posted March 22, 2003 I thought the Challengers were attached to the marines attacking Basra? Or are they with the 3rd Infantry pushing towards Baghdad? I keep seeing footage of them driving along roads escorting US Humvees but it's never clear which element they are actually with. Anyone know? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ralphwiggum 6 Posted March 22, 2003 possible night attack on Baghdad again? explosions heard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bn880 5 Posted March 22, 2003 I'm worried that by the time this is over, Baghdad will be completely leveled... hopefully that will not be the solution to street fighting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FSPilot 0 Posted March 22, 2003 lets not go off on a tangent here. they're attacking specific buildings, not levelling the city. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
