From: Steve Grammont (islander@midmaine.com)
Date: Tue Nov 23 2004 - 15:11:47 PST
Hi Jack,
Thanks for the send around, even if it is off topic. Reports like this
from the front are not as easy to find as I would like. It is good to
get a glimpse, even if superficial, into what is going on over there.
Having said that...
>My thoughts... The Battle of Fallujah ranks right up
>there among the toughest and best one fights the USMC
>has been in since Tarawa, Iwo Jima and Bloody Ridge.
Spilling American blood for something that never should have been lost
in the first place should be regretted, not celebrated. If the Army had
the boots on the ground they requested I'm sure the nearly 2 dozen dead
Marines and Army soldiers and hundreds of wounded would be sitting around
shooting the breeze instead of being dead or recovering from wounds. I
won't even comment on the infrastructure and civilian destruction that
could have been avoided.
>They killed and wounded 2000 insurgents and lost 56.
>They took out over 35% of the estimate forces causing
>havoc and beheading civilians in Iraq.
Unfortunately, unless we get every single last one of them, especially
their leadership, this doesn't amount to anything more than a short term
setback for the insurgents. The beheadings, bombings, and assassinations
will continue because their leadership is intact, their numbers are still
large, and they are still recruiting new members. In fact, no sooner had
victory been declared than top US commanders who fought and won Fallujah
sent warnings to higher commanders that if local troop levels are reduced
things will slide right back into chaos like it was before. In other
words, we'd lose Fallujah a SECOND time. A real concern since we are
stretched so thin that US forces have already pulled out from Fallujah to
handle the other uprisings, like in Mosul.
>The Bradley
>was a kick-ass vehicle, one that "60 Minutes" called
>uncessary and too expensive.
Not to make too much of a point about this, but you do realize a LOT of
people wanted to kill off the Bradley, including the guys that were to
crew them and the Army brass that was to procure them? Cheney even tried
to kill off further production of the Bradley (along with AH-64, F-14,
and F-16) during his tenure as Defense Secretary. Congress overrode him.
The Bradley might be a great vehicle, but it is expensive and has its
drawbacks.
>Not much of their stories about this victory are
>making it to the mainstream media...imagine that?
The story was written by a reporter for the mainstream newspaper, the
Chicago Tribune, so it is getting out there. I certainly was well aware
of the progress of the fighting through mainstream media.
Steve
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