Wednesday, July 30, 2003
War News for July 30, 2003
Bring ‘em on: Three US soldiers wounded in RPG attack in Samarra. Another was wounded a separate, previously unreported RPG attack in Samarra on Tuesday. RPG attack on US tank in Fallujah. US troops in Baquaba pulled from guard duties due to “rash of attacks.” Mortar fire directed at US troops in Mosul and Baquba.
Bring ‘em on: US troops attacked with RPG fire in Baquba on Tuesday.
CENTCOM reports in the last 24 hours, coalition forces conducted 51 raids, 953 day patrols and 737 night patrols and conducted 142 day patrols and 145 night patrols jointly with Iraqi police. Iraqi Police conducted 16 day patrols and nine night patrols. The total raids and patrols resulted in 559 arrests. I sometimes include CENTCOM's daily sitrep as an indicator of military activity, not as a measurement of mission success.
“Taking out” Saddam Hussein may accomplish little to end Iraqi revolt. From the article:
“The goal of the resistance, some experts fear, has widened beyond restoration of the old regime and may be attracting followers, perhaps including Islamic extremists, who are motivated by their hostility to foreign military occupation.“
“Their goals are power with or without Saddam and hatred of the U.S. occupation.”
- snip –
''There's been a spin blaming the insurgency, the guerrilla warfare tactics, on holdovers from the old regime,'' former CIA analyst Ray McGovern told Cable News Network. ''And now that will be put to the test. We'll see whether there's any change in that.''
Tribal leaders protest botched raid in Baghdad. “Al-Habib is one of Iraq's most influential tribal leaders. He says such raids create ‘hatred’ toward Americans -- and he adds ‘that's not healthy.’"
Interesting article, from an intelligence analysis point of view. The author, a retired Indian civil servant, says that US policy makers and intelligence officials underestimate Iraqi patriotism as a “motivating factor,” but his conclusions on the ability of the Iraqi resistance to effectively operate in the absence of telephone or wireless communications indicate that US assumptions about the Iraqi revolt are badly flawed. (“TECHINT” is old Britspeak for SIGINT, or signals intelligence, meaning information obtained through intercepted radio or telephone communications.)
Belgian Red Cross aid workers evacuated from Baghdad “after tensions between US soldiers and the local Iraqi population was deemed too high.”
General Myers denies that Iraq war harms operations in Afghanistan.
General Myers formally asks Pakistan for Iraq troop commitment.
Di Rita unaware of policy on Saddam Hussein’s fate; Lt. Gen. Norton Schwartz, JDCSOPS, says this is a “tactical issue.” You gotta be shittin' me! Take these two statements together. The DoD undersecretary for policy isn't sure what to do with Saddam Hussein when we find him, and the Joint Chief's Director of Operations says some platoon leader is going to make the decision?
Saddam promises revenge for deaths of sons.
Reporting casualties and complaints. (Thanks, weatherman.)
Pentagon clarifies policies on reporting non-combat casualties.
Local story: Pennsylvania soldier killed in Baghdad.
Local story: New York soldier killed on patrol.
Home Front: TSA scales back air marshal program to reduce costs. Gotta find a way to pay for those jobs-and-growth tax cuts, folks!
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