redman Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 From SkyNews: IRAQI FORCES 'ON THE MOVE' There are reports of two major Iraqi troop movements south towards Coalition positions. British intelligence says a winding convoy of some 70 -120 vehicles is retreating from Basra and is being targeted by Coalition jets and bombers. The convoy is heading towards the al-Faw peninsula and the military says it could either be a counter attack by the Iraqi army to recapture lost territory or a retreat from Basra to avoid a limited uprising that began on Tuesday afternoon. And around 1,000 Republican Guard vehicles containing up to 5,000 troops are heading south from Baghdad towards US Marines, according to Associated Press. 'Significant movements' US military intelligence claims their route avoids advancing US Army forces and leads them directly toward the Marines, who have been worn down from intense fighting around Nasiriya. The sources claimed around 3,000 Republican Guard troops were moving from Baghdad to the city of Al Kut, and 2,000 more were seen south of Al Kut. But US Central Command said there were no "significant movements" of Republican Guard troops leaving the Iraqi capital. "There have been local positioning and survival positionings, but not serious attacks, and we certainly remain, we believe, well in control of the situation at hand," said US Brigadier General Vincent Brooks. Pockets of resistance The reported advance came as American units in central Iraq appeared to be shifting their strategy because of the attacks from Iraqi militiamen, Associated Press reported. Instead of racing to Baghdad, some units were moving slower to clear out pockets of resistance. Last Updated: 18:53 UK, Wednesday March 26, 2003 These columns, particularly the RG column moving towards our Marines in south-central Iraq, are going to collide with our forces in a pretty major way it sounds like. Does anyone have any more information about these developments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddha Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 Do you know what time it is??? IT'S MOAB TIME!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggo-toni Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 Originally posted by Buddha Do you know what time it is??? IT'S MOAB TIME!!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :pint: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy-the-Greek Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 This is the best news I have heard so far. When there units leave civilian areas and line up in columns and start to move they make for great targets with no or very little collaterial damage. Our warplanes will shoot them up like fish in a barrel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redskin56 Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 This situation worries me tremendously. The Marines do not have the heavy armor that the 3rd Army has. I would anticipate that this is precisely the reason that the RG units are shying away from the 3rd Army and heading towards the Marines. The Marines have experienced the highest numbers of casualties thus far and have not encountered heavy RG armor. I hope the higher ups in command have a direct plan of attack on this. If the weather is good I'd imagine that our air power would be able to decimate the RG armor before it even gets close to the Marines, but, if they do engage the Marines I hope we beat them back in a hurry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbear Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 I don't particularly understand this move. I know there are currently sand storms, but that column has a decidedly limited amount of time that it can afford to be out in the open. Even if we can't stop it before it reaches its destination, the US forces need only survive through the night. The weather reports seem to be saying that the weather is expected to break sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. Losing a 1000 vehicle group would be a rather significant set back, and that's exactly what I would expect. I wonder what is worth the risk to them? I wonder even more at the cause when the US troops seem to have the advantages at night due to technological enhancements. chemical munitions to be used against ground troops? It kind of reminds me of the midevil charge out the gate at the surrounding army laying siege. That's fine if you can surprise someone, but I have my doubts that a force that large can surprise anybody paying even slight attention in this day and age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redskin56 Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 That's exactly one of the main reasons this worries me gbear. The Iraqis have already proven to be more active and resistant than our military leaders once thought. Why would they be sending these types of troops directly to engage the Marines................ There is something afoot here and it doesn't bode well for the Marines. I hope I'm being alarmist and over reacting to this but there seems to be no rhyme or reason why a division of 5000 RG troops and 1000 armored vehicles would want to go on the offensive against 15,000 Marines without something up their collective sleeves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddha Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 I haven't been "shocked and awed" yet by much that has been done. But dropping a couple MOABs to wipe out an entire Iraqi column without endangering our own troops would definitely "shock and awe" me. Perhaps that's been the plan all along... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted March 26, 2003 Author Share Posted March 26, 2003 I'm certainly not advocating that anyone underestimate our adversaries. However, the Iraqi's ability to tactically and strategically control what happens on the battlefield has impressed me neither in 1991 nor now. Frankly, the most effective fighting force we've seen them field has been the Fedayeen, but all they've been able to do is harrass and slow us somewhat, and not stop us or divert us from our course. This strikes me as them "trying" to counter the Marines' thrust north through the center of Iraq. As redskin56 said, the Marines are not as well-equipped for a fight with heavy armor as are the Army's mechanized or armored divisions. Air power, OTOH, should more than even that out assuming it's available to them. Back to the point, based upon history and the way in which we've targeted their command and control, this is simply a probing attack by them without much design or sophistication. So while a 1000 vehicle convoy is nothing to sneeze at, the fact is that beyond the sheer weight of the force, I wouldn't anticipate a lot of artfulness or coordination in their thrust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Salsa Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 I don't think you will see the MOAB. It was more of a psychological effort to scare the Iraqis because we are not in production yet with this weapon. However, we still have the daisy cutters, BLU-82b, which are pretty effective to. The problem is that a c-130 has to release it and it "floats" down via a parachute. Remember C-130s max speed is just over 400mph so they aren't exactly that fast to zoom in and avoid AA fire. Also, c-130 operate at around 10,000 feet which isn't exactly a comfortable hight. <P> But, if we can sneak one in there I wouldn't be unhappy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted March 26, 2003 Author Share Posted March 26, 2003 More on the Iraqi movements from Sky News: WARPLANES ATTACK CONVOY British warplanes are attacking a large column of Iraqi troops heading out of Basra as 5,000 Republican Guards are reported to be heading for a possible showdown with US Marines. British radar picked up a convoy of some 70 -120 vehicles retreating from Basra on Wednesday evening. The convoy is heading towards the al-Faw peninsula and the military says it could either be a counter attack by the Iraqi army to recapture lost territory or a movement away from Basra to avoid a limited uprising that began on Tuesday afternoon. The Officer Commanding 40 Commando's battle room, Major Mick Green, said: "We have no idea why this column has come out at the moment. "Their intentions or motives are totally unclear but they have adopted an offensive posture and do not want to surrender, so we have attacked them." 'Suicide' Major Green added: "The inexplicable thing is why they have decided to move so much armour before darkness. To move tanks around in daylight is suicide." The convoy is heading towards territory secured at the weekend by Royal Marines from 40 Commando. From the air, US Navy F-18 Super Hornets and RAF Harrier ground attack jets are dropping precision-guided munitions and cluster bombs. And from the ground, the column is being pounded by 155mm AS90 heavy artillery from 3rd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, and 105mm light field guns from 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery. It is thought the Iraqis may have felt the fierce sandstorms would have given them cover to launch co-ordinated movements. Dr Andrew Dorman, a lecturer in defence studies, told Sky News: "There are two scenarios. One, is that the Iraqi regime is concerned about how the war is going and they are taking advantage of the sandstorms to engage coalition forces. "Or they are panicking and are wanting to shorten the war." He warned that coalition forces would have a limited amount of time to halt the movement. "Once they come to close to coalition forces it becomes a problem for coalition airstrikes." Republican Guards A second group of around 1,000 Republican Guard vehicles containing up to 5,000 troops are heading south from Baghdad towards US Marines, American media reported. US military intelligence claims their route avoids advancing US Army forces and leads them directly toward the Marines, who have been worn down from intense fighting around Nasiriya. The sources claimed around 3,000 Republican Guard troops were moving from Baghdad to the city of Al Kut, and 2,000 more were seen south of Al Kut. But US Central Command denied "significant movements" of Republican Guard. Last Updated: 22:04 UK, Wednesday March 26, 2003 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennesseeCarl Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 'Suicide' Major Green added: "The inexplicable thing is why they have decided to move so much armour before darkness. To move tanks around in daylight is suicide." ============ Now we have the above quote and reports of our aircraft engaging the column coming out of Basra. One would expect a line of burnt-out hulks smoldering in the desert. But if not - if we haven't reduced this convoy to molten puddles - why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redskin56 Posted March 27, 2003 Share Posted March 27, 2003 The Bahsra retreat/offensive doesn't bother me as much as the RG movements south at rapid pace towards the Marines south of Al Kut. The Bahsra convoy will be slaughtered by the airpower because the weather down there favors airpower and the ground forces are right there to shell them. The forces moving against the Marines are heavy armor units and the Marines don't have the armor to counter the RG units. If the airpower is hampered by the weather and they engage the Marines with heavy armor and perhaps chemical/biological weapons, we have a new situation in Iraq and the 3rd army will have to disengage and move to support the Marines without any other reinforcements. I'm probably overreacting, time will tell, good luck and God be with our troops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.