WILL BAGHDAD FALL TO A FEINT?
Dr. Jai Maharaj
The Pioneer
Wednesday, March 26, 2003
Doha (Reuters) - In the 1991 Gulf War, US commander
General Norman Schwarzkopf presented a plan of attack so
obvious that it was laughed out of the Pentagon as "Hey
diddle diddle, straight up the middle." But on the night,
he had the last laugh. Having fooled the Iraqis occupying
Kuwait into believing that his main force would attack
their main force head on, he surreptitiously moved an
army about 200 km to the northwest at night to set up a
famous "left hook" surprise.
[Caption] The Challenger 2 is an advanced main battle
tank in service with the British Army and with the Royal
Army of Oman. It is equipped with a 120mm main gun, which
can also fire Depleted Uranium (DU) rounds. The
Challenger 2 is also equipped with a Boeing 7.62mm chain
gun, located to the left of the main gun. The turret is
protected with second generation Chobham armour and is
equipped with a nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC)
protection system. The Challenger 2 has a twelve-
cylinder, 1,200hp diesel engine, capable of propelling
this massive war machine to a speed of 59 kmph on road
and 40 kmph in cross-country.
Could the United States and Britain now be telegraphing
their intentions to conceal another shock for the Iraqis?
In an unusual public airing of the next major military
move in the war, British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke
this week of a "critical moment" to come when the US 5th
Corps meets the Republican Guard Medina Division on the
approaches to Baghdad.
By Wednesday morning, every US television news anchor was
talking about the upcoming clash, giving it top billing
as if it were a world heavyweight championship fight. It
may be that the US-led forces believe they possess such
overwhelming might that they can dispense with any
element of surprise and simply smash through the Medina
roadblock at the hour of their choosing. Or it may be a
feint. There is an eerie silence in the north and west of
Iraq. Little is being reported about the invasion's
progress there, apart from Turkey's refusal to let 60,000
US armoured division troops across its territory, and
Ankara's own enthusiasm to get its forces into Kurdish-
held northern Iraq. Apart from the capture of two desert
airfields in western Iraq last Friday, not much has been
heard about that theater either, but Kurdish sources say
US forces might well use the airstrips to launch an
attack on the northern city of Mosul. Excited by live
television coverage by correspondents embedded in units
chosen by the Pentagon, most attention is fixed on the US
columns thrusting north from Kuwait for Baghdad on either
side of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. War commander
Tommy Franks and other senior figures have hinted that
the Army and Marine units in Iraq accompanied by
"embedded" journalists are by no means the whole picture.
It was only "part of a mosaic," the US general said this
week, and there were other operations going on outside
southern Iraq.
"Without talking about whether these operations are in
the west or are in the north, I will tell you that in
fact, United Kingdom and Australian and American Special
Operations Forces are about their business from left to
right and top to bottom, in the west and also in the
north," Gen Franks said. "And they have accomplished some
wonderful things out there. They're operating in small
teams, they're very, very mobile and they're doing for us
just exactly what we want to have them do." Special
Operations Forces are far too light to smash into the
Republican Guard Al Hamurabi, Adnan and Al Abed divisions
reportedly disposed to the west and north of the Iraqi
capital.
But among their talents is preparing clandestine
airfields, and the United States military does have
airlift capacity unmatched by any other force in the
world. Simple strips in the desert are sufficient to let
C-130 and even giant C-17 transports land with troops and
tanks as well.
Despite shrugging off the apparent lack of an element of
surprise before the war began seven days ago, the initial
US "decapitation" air strikes surprised everyone,
including President Saddam Hussein, though he seems to
have survived them. In reality, no expense is spared in
war to capture the element of surprise. The idea is to
attack the enemy at his weakest point, not to warn him
where to strengthen. Could a feint be planned again? From
what is known of the relative lightness of the invasion
force coming from the south - criticised by some US
experts as far too light - it might appear out of the
question. But that is what makes a surprise.
Reuters reporters with the 3rd Infantry Division have
been told for days their objective is the Medina Division
around Najaf and Karbala, while the 1st Marine Division
is to engage the Baghdad Division in an arc south of the
capital. The US 101st Airborne is still waiting in
Kuwait.
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