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To: altair19 who wrote (24852)	3/24/2003 10:33:33 AM
From: Clappy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 104155

I've been wondering what you've been thinking about all this. I have very similar feelings. My head is spinning too. As much as I don't want to watch this stuff, I find it difficult not to. I constantly battle in my mind with what is right and what is wrong. I just can't but feel that this war is a convenient solution to a problem. Convenient for the administration. And as it works through we will see that it was not all that convenient. And as more problems arise from this war, the more they will try to solve it with force instead of diplomacy. Greed does horrible things. That's what this war is about. Greed. But how do you stop greed? It's going to be difficult to sort out who gets what. This may escalate tensions further than ever. The situation with the Kurds, Turks, and Iranians may become terribly messy.

To: altair19 who wrote (24852)	3/24/2003 1:32:03 PM
From: Clappy	Respond to of 104155

Here's an idea of what the war strategy seems to be shaping up as. The idea right now appears to blitz so fast that it will prevent the outposted portion of National Guard from regrouping in streets of Baghdad. debka.com Here is a illustrated map to help you follow: ad.debka.com US Troops in First Encounter with Iraqi Republic Guards After a tough day of facing Iraqi resistance and setbacks - the first American troops were taken captive and 12 were killed – America’s Iraq War took an important military turn late on Sunday, March 23, as reported exclusively by DEBKAfile’s military sources: The first frontal engagements between US troops advancing on Baghdad and Saddam Hussein’s elite Special Republican Guards. They began near Al Amarah, a small town on the Tigris River, and at al Kut, some 100 km upriver to the northwest. Al Amarah is geographically the southern gateway to Baghdad. The US-led column driving towards Baghdad along the easternmost route up the Tigris River is led by the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions. Sunday, they bypassed Basra, leaving behind the 7th British division to assert control over Iraq’s second largest city, and dashed north towards Al Amarah. Waiting for them were three Iraqi divisions, the 10th, the 11th and the 4th Corps, which is the Special Republic Guards Nida armored division. By the end of the day, the Marines and the Nida tank force had entered into their first of clash of arms of the series to come. Three additional US columns are pushing towards Baghdad. (Click on the picture for map illustrating lines of advance) The 3rd Armored Division with elements of the 82nd Airborne drove out of Nasiriya towards al Kut, after opening up the Euphrates bridges in a fierce battle that cost 10 American lives. Posted there is the Special Republican Guards’ Al Medina Division, 2nd Armored Brigade, the only Iraqi force known for certain by US intelligence to deploy weapons of mass destruction. During the night, hundreds of US Apache and Black Hawks pummeled the unit’s advanced T-72 tanks, taking heavy ground fire and losing at least one Apache, which was displayed Monday, March 24, on Baghdad television. This helicopter-tank duel was not the end of the confrontation, but the beginning. It was intended to convey to Saddam’s troop formations that their only option is to surrender or be battered to extinction. The warning, issued as the second Gulf War approached its first 100 hours, the point at which the first Gulf Was discontinued, was meant to drive home a message to Saddam’s defenders that this campaign would go on to the end. The third American column, led by the US 7th mechanized Division augmented by additional units headed north from Nasiriya toward the two Shiite holy towns, Najef and Karbala, bypassing both, skirting the Bahr al Milh Lake and turning east toward the Euphrates River. Standing guard over Baghdad at this point is the Hamourabi division of the Special Republican Guards, the final major obstacle on this route to the Iraqi capital. If this division is overcome, the advancing US force can make its way with tanks across the Euphrates River and quickly reach Baghdad’s Saddam International Airport. The fourth column is the most secret one. Its name has not been released and little is known about its mission beyond the fact that it is the fastest moving of the four, zipping across the vast desert spaces between western Iraq and the Saudi frontier towards al Fallujah, 20 kilometers north of Baghdad. Its objective is to strike at the line of contact between the Iraqi Hamourabi and al Medina Divisions. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that two more spearheads will beef up the four columns when full-scale battle is joined between them and Saddam’s crack units: The northern formation, which is being assembled from US forces drawn in from Kurdistan and other parts of the northern front - since Saturday, March 22, they are being dropped by air over four Iraqi airfields; and the western formation, which is coming in from Jordan and western Iraq, and will start pushing towards Ar Rubta and Saddam’s home town of Tikrit on Tuesday, March 25. The first four American columns’ overall objective is to bring the Special Republican Guards divisions and the Iraqi capital within range of American artillery and tank guns by the end of this week. The next stage will be to subject Baghdad to a lethal artillery-aerial strike cocktail. Until then, DEBKAfile’s military experts stress that the crushing bombing-missile air raids inflicted daily on Baghdad since last Friday – with fearful effect on television screens – are not targeting the city per se. After hitting some of Saddam’s symbols of government, the brunt of the blitz is directed at cutting off the Special Republic Guards ringing Baghdad from access to the city. It is meant to demonstrate to their commanders that come what may they will not be allowed to withdraw into Baghdad and embark on an urban war of attrition against US forces trapped in city streets. Any Iraqi troops attempting to fall back will be eliminated before they set foot in the capital.