Iraq Goes Back on Defense

Apparently that 1000 vehicle Iraqi offensive spearhead near Baghdad didn't work out so well for the Iraqi Army. It was my contention that the leaders did not believe they could win the battle, but that they wanted to cause grievous damage to coalition forces. I'm going to quote myself liberally here--I know, it's sort of tacky, but it's so much easier than rewording and retyping the damned thing.

...I don't think Saddam thinks he can win this battle, either. I think he simply intends to cause as much damage as possible with the overall aim not of breaking our troops, but of breaking our national will to carry out this fight. I also think that he's been terribly mislead by media reports of demonstrations in the US without the balanced reports of quiet support for the war effort. He was also mislead by nearly a decade of tepid responses to terrorist attacks. I truly believe that he thinks he can win this war not through combat, but through PR and the media. No matter what he thinks and what he intends, though, this looks like losing strategy for him. Whereas one of our biggest worries was the danger inherent in fighting the war in the streets of Baghdad, he's given us a gift by sending a huge force out to meet us.

And, by all appearances, this attempt to go on offense was an impressive blunder. The only thing that tempers my happiness is the belief that a great number of those opposing forces aren't so much loyal to Iraq or Hussein, but coerced into their role as soldiers. Read the story. Update: This is a link to a more in depth story on this morning's battle.

Posted by zombyboy at March 28, 2003 12:00 AM | TrackBack