i'm scared...

[jaydean]

i have this very sick feeling that when our troops hit baghdad, that all hell is going to break loose, with possible chemicals and everything used against them. does anyone else feel this way, or do you think that we've pounded the pee out of them enough that we can take them fairly easily.......

[Johnny Punani2]

I have that same feeling. We are being set up for something bad IMO. If there are a large number of Iraqis civilians that decide to fight us then it will be impossible to win the War.

[Mad Mike]

It's not the chem wepons that I worry about. It's this...

http://www.extremeskins.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=241635#post241635

[RiggoDrill]

What strikes me is that the "Shock and Awe" campaign does not seem to be inspiring much shock and awe so far, and that we do not have enough troops at this point to fight a prolonged war.

It's too early to tell how things will go, but something doesn't seem right ... kinda like one of those Norv Turner games of old where we jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter, but you knew it would soon become a nail-biter.

[Tarhog]

Come on guys, have some faith here....its a WAR. It ain't predictable. People die. We have taken some hits, but all in all, we're outside Bagdad in 5 days. We've kicked their @ss at every juncture so far. Those on the other end of shock and awe aren't awed. They're dead. We will win, and win big. Its only a matter of time. Don't let the media propaganda mess with your head. We have always been our own worst enemy and our biggest critic. How confident do you think the average Iraqi soldier feels, getting constantly waxed everytime they pop up their head to snipe? They should fear us. We don't need chemical weapons, we are going to kick their brutal @sses the old-fashioned way. Believe it. Its coming. It won't be a cakewalk, anyone ever hear us say it would be? I wouldn't be surprised if we don't use this sandstorm to go at them full force.

[Brave]

Right on, Tarhog! I see no need to cower before an army whose most effective weapon to date has been the fake surrender.

We will continue to take hits because you can't fight a war with no casualties. Those Iraqis aren't fighting for Kuwait City this time ... they're fighting for Baghdad. I would expect more resistance and a tougher time.

[fansince62]

keep in mind...the events in Turkey have alterred the strategy more than many are prepared to admit. Additionally, by all apperaances this war was initiated a bit prematurely relative to the planned force structure. The troops that were intended to land in the North and many reinforcing troops for the South for MP and logistics defense are on the way........the rear will be ffortified: but right now, given the strategy, we are exposed and the strategy has greater risk.

As for Baghdad...this will be like any other war in some respects...once a force begins to be carved up, as losses mount and leadership is captured or otherwise "decapitated"...the will to fight abates. What is interesting is the debate that is taking shape between the opposing camps of talking head retired generals on TV: 1) destroy the Medina division and imediately march into baghdad (i.e., take advantage of the confusion and loss of leadership control); 2) defeat the Medina guards and then halt to offer an opportunity for capitulation or employ a blockade of some sort (i.e., avoid house-to-house urban warfare). We won't know for a few days to a week what course has been decided upon.

[Skins24]

The use of chemical weapons is the only thing I worry about, and even then our troops have enough gear and equipment to keep those casualties low if chemicals were used.

We have twice as many troops as the Republican Guard converging on Baghdad and superior weapons, not to mention constant air support.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5944-622955,00.html

The battle for Baghdad begins

By David Charter in Qatar, Roland Watson in Washington and Philip Webster

THE crucial push for Baghdad began last night as allied warplanes bombarded the Republican Guard to clear the way for troops to zero in on President Saddam Hussein.

The American vanguard was within 20 miles of 30,000 Republican Guards defending a city blanketed in black smoke from pyres of burning oil. Thousands more allied troops were rushing north to form a front line for the battle that will decide the war.

Yesterday the Republican Guard’s Medina Division was pummelled continuously by bombers working on information from SAS, SBS and Delta forces close to Iraqi positions.

American generals said that the air raids, involving B52s, Apache helicopter gunships, Harriers and A10 tankbusters, had “significantly degraded” the division, but one helicopter was lost. Iraq claimed to have shot it down and state television broadcast pictures of the helicopter in a field and the two men said to be its crew. They appeared confused but unharmed.

The “softening up” of the Republican Guard is expected to continue for days, but air operations could be disrupted by violent sandstorms, which halted American infantry divisions near Karbala yesterday. Military planners have been told that the “shamal” desert winds are likely to whip up further sandstorms.

Tony Blair told MPs yesterday that the forces gathering at Karbala were preparing for the “crucial moment” when they would confront the Medina Division. Brushing aside concerns that supply lines were becoming dangerously stretched, he said: “The vital goal is to reach Baghdad as swiftly as possible, thus bringing the end of the regime closer.”

It may, however, be necessary for more troops to be sent to the Gulf if the forces there become bogged down in urban warfare, and the possibility of sending reinforcements will almost certainly be considered when Mr Blair and President Bush meet in Washington on Thursday for a summit arranged to discuss the administration of a post-Saddam Iraq.

The Iraqi leadership remained insistent yesterday that there would be no such thing. Saddam appeared on television promising victory and Tariq Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister, countered Washington’s claims that the dictator’s grip on power was slipping by saying that Saddam was “in full control of the army and the country”.

If America and Britain want to change that, their forces will first have to overcome the three Republican Guard divisions that are dug-in 30 miles to the east, south and west of the centre of Baghdad. “They are those closest to Saddam and they will resist strongly,” Mr Blair said. A British military source said: “These people have got to capitulate or be destroyed. This is the real start of the push for Baghdad.”

The coalition strategy is to establish a front line stretching eastwards from Karbala across the two main highways into the capital. The line will remain fixed as waves of air and ground-launched missiles pound the Republican Guard while the heavy artillery and tanks of V Corps rumble up for an eventual land assault. By the time that is launched the coalition aims to have 60,000 combat troops, 400 Abrams M1 tanks and 100 Apache attack helicopters massed on the front. The Republican Guard divisions have 500 tanks.

To help the push northwards, American forces pounded the strategic town of al-Nasariyah with heavy artillery yesterday and moved a light armoured battalion through the town and across the Euphrates, opening a second route to Baghdad. US engineers were also working to finish a new desert airstrip near Najaf in central Iraq, which would allow unmanned Predator drones to patrol the skies over Baghdad and gather vital information about Iraqi forces.

The thrust towards Baghdad came despite continued Iraqi resistance in the south, sparking warnings that coalition supply lines were becoming vulnerable to attack from marauding bands of Fedayin militia.There was fierce fighting around Basra, where the allies secured an airport and an important bridge. Coalition forces are, however, banned from storming residential areas.

Elsewhere in the south, groups of militia used civilian pick-up trucks to launch mortars and rocket-propelled grenades attacks on supply convoys. US Marines, chastened by the ambushes and trickery that led to the deaths and capture of American forces near al-Nasariyah on Sunday, were forcing men from vehicles, questioning them and slashing their tyres so that they could not harass convoys.