tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post9109147193243217746..comments2024-01-03T05:18:54.650-05:00Comments on CDR Salamander: About IRQ ...CDR Salamanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05981221786954902349noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-67853194191487105912010-08-24T07:27:56.000-04:002010-08-24T07:27:56.000-04:00CDR, I am willing to disagree. I don't actuall...CDR, I am willing to disagree. I don't actually recall there being important Italian units in that theatre by late 42, but there were, IIRC, two Romanian armies (3rd and 4th?). The Germans SUGGESTED the Romanians "break them up" and insert them in a corset of German units. They didn't want to push the idea through too hard though for political reasons, since it would seriously embarrass their ally.<br /><br />Or, how when politics interferes with the military it's usually for the worse.<br /><br />Even so, after the whole German front collapsed, Von Manstein came very close to lifting the siege during Operation Wintergewitter. At some point around Xmas, German soldiers in the south part of the Stalingrad perimeter could see the flashes of the artillery gunfights. If Von Paulus had had the guts, he would have broken out towards Von Manstein. He did not dare, and the result was the annihilation of 6th Army.Outlaw Mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-84946199989208551312010-08-24T06:59:18.000-04:002010-08-24T06:59:18.000-04:00... and they sure won't discuss that it was th...... and they sure won't discuss that it was the inability of the Romanians to fight that resulted in the Germans being surrounded at Stalingrad.<br /><br />Amazing mistake of Germany. In a desire to make it all seem "international" they had their flanks at Stalingrad secured by Romanians and Italians. No wonder the Red Army cut through them with so little effort.cdrsalamandernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-74496267931053450662010-08-24T03:00:22.000-04:002010-08-24T03:00:22.000-04:00They have an exhibit about the military during the...They have an exhibit about the military during the communist era. Interestingly though-in their discussion of WWII they make no mention of Romania switching sides and why. They just show them from attacking Russians to attacking Germans. Its kind of the same way with the exhibits about the revolution-plenty of pictures, no discussion. In Romanian or English.Skippy-sannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-91910802468866363012010-08-23T09:25:11.000-04:002010-08-23T09:25:11.000-04:00I never understood why GHB didn't state removi...I never understood why GHB didn't state removing those two as a stated major objective of the entire operation...especially the one that tortured the Iraqi soccer players. Ensuring that he never ruled over Iraq in of itself was close enough to legitimize the Iraqi operation, minus the bogus WMD fiasco. Navy Supponoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-19145035415657070442010-08-23T04:03:25.000-04:002010-08-23T04:03:25.000-04:00also Saddam didnt have nukes ready... NK is a lite...also Saddam didnt have nukes ready... NK is a literally time bmb ticking now, and one measured in kilotons...ewok40knoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-54465337966264245192010-08-23T02:35:06.000-04:002010-08-23T02:35:06.000-04:00N. Korea is almost like Iraq except for a couple o...N. Korea is almost like Iraq except for a couple of things.<br /><br />First off N. Korea has a very big brother name People's Republic Of China. They really aren't completely allied with North Korea, but they also don't want to see the apple cart (re status quo) upset to either side (that is another war on the Korean Pennusila or the reunification of the Korean Pennusila in any way shape or form.<br />Second of all unlike Iraq under Saddam and what seems have been proven by the most recent crash of a NORK MiG into PRC, North Korea is really a tumble away from either collasping under its own internal weight or having it own version of a communist coup by one of the outside players. North Korea is broke economically and if the video that was recently leaked on Youtube from a Japanese News crew is true, the people are starving.<br /><br />Iraq on the other hand under the Saddam family was given a chance to spend money from its oil fields to first pay off the debts to the Kingdoms of Kuwati and Saudi Arabia. Then was supposed to use that money for exchange on the open market and under UN supervision to buy food/medical supplies for the peoples. As was recently shown in the investigation by both the media and the UN itself, that program was corrupted. On top of that most of that money was skimmed off to either rebuild the various homes or "I Love Saddam" statues around the country. Some of the money was skimmed off to purchase replacement weapons or upgrades to weapons in case war would come again. No where in the previous ten years did Saddam even attempt to rebuild any of the damage or destroyed infrastructure in his country. So they weren't entirely broke, just made so by the corruption.<br />Even though most of the European powers were against us in the UN, Iraq really didn't have a strong ally warning the UN off from any action. Even more so most everyone in the region admitted under thier breath or after a few cocktails at any sort of get together that Iraq would be better off without Saddam in charge. The hard part was trying to figure out the players in the region who would want as their replacement for Saddam. On one side you have the Khomeni folks over that would want to see a theocracy in the form of Iran created, on another you have most everyone south of the Iraqi-Saudi border want anything but Saddam and a crazy theocracy, and finally you have about twenty different tribes just in Iraq that want to live out thier lives thier own way but not with thier neighbors near them sort of like Lebanon.Southern Air Piratenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-30085962731582747162010-08-22T23:21:50.000-04:002010-08-22T23:21:50.000-04:00Ummm ... no Jay. Read the OPLAN for IRQ - I have....Ummm ... no Jay. Read the OPLAN for IRQ - I have. Redefine victory if you want because you don't like the definition, but we have it anyway. It is up to IRQ to blow it - but our job is done.<br /><br />As for AFG - you don't know what you are talking about. The problems with AFG was that NATO said they had it and could handle it - and they couldn't. Our problem was trying to work too much with the international community.<br /><br />-1.cdrsalamandernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-91398161026989901602010-08-22T22:29:53.000-04:002010-08-22T22:29:53.000-04:00So, do you despise Clinton? He was heading that d...So, do you despise Clinton? He was heading that direction until the polls wouldn't support it but then he was busy with Monica. Yeah, that's right I remember everyone was saying he was going to do something Presidental. Yeah, shoot some missles and launch airstrikes, putting people at risk to take the heat off his whoring ways.<br /><br />Oh, and I guess Blick and Ritter were lying as well. <br /><br />And as far as Africa, check with Miss Albright on that. I believe she thought the world centered around Serbia while millions died in Africa. Ask her!Redeye80noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-28451737093524373692010-08-22T22:07:24.000-04:002010-08-22T22:07:24.000-04:00"Victory"? Hmmmmm....still way too earl..."Victory"? Hmmmmm....still way too early for even approaching that term. We won't really know for at least ten years if this wasn't one of our worst foreign blunders. Not looking too good currently re: their internal politics, and I remain unconvinced that Saddam was a threat to anyone but his own people. The folks who tick off a list of the "threats" that Saddam supposedly posed should have been clamoring for us to invade North Korea...but, I guess that wouldn't be as easy...<br /><br />I hope not, but suspect that Iraq may be seen in the future as a side show that hurt us more in A'stan than anywhere else. Blah.Jaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-71344598380722967602010-08-22T21:10:25.000-04:002010-08-22T21:10:25.000-04:00No, a trillion bucks (borrowed largely from the Re...No, a trillion bucks (borrowed largely from the Red Chinese, no less) and thousands of dead GI's was NOT worth it. Saddam was a neutered dog after Gulf I. The no-fly zones WORKED, kept him contained. The WMD card was at best a red herring. Ahmedinejad is a LOT closer and we've done nothing but bluster.<br /><br />The invasion of Iraq was perhaps the most profound malinvestment of military assets we've ever done. And it is way too early to see if anything "worked" yet.<br /><br />Iraq as a nation state is the last surviving fiction of the Treaty of Versailles - it is doubtful if it can survive as a viable entity - The emboldened Kurds threaten the stability of not only Iraq, but Turkey, Iran and possibly Syria. Iran itself is now a potential regional hegemon, a situation unthinkable when Iraq was a creditable counterweight.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-79250921206288114132010-08-22T17:54:17.000-04:002010-08-22T17:54:17.000-04:00Skippy-san, Just be glad you're in Bucharest d...Skippy-san, Just be glad you're in Bucharest during the summer and not in January. BTW, did they ever get around to setting up the exhibit at the Military Museum for the years between 1945-1989? They were conspicuously missing during my visit there in '94.C-dore 14noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-9340855343754013932010-08-22T15:57:43.000-04:002010-08-22T15:57:43.000-04:00One thing is US didnt intervene in the defence of ...One thing is US didnt intervene in the defence of freedom in 1956 in Hungary etc. - but one must take into account the risk of confrontation with the Soviet Union of the time... Another thing is when US saw weak and crippled Saddam, bereft of allies, it decided it is occasion to rid the world of him. Sometimes good things are done for wrong reasons (and vice versa!)ewok40knoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-42032360339892706532010-08-22T15:07:59.000-04:002010-08-22T15:07:59.000-04:00<span>Right. The lies. Where'd the 50...<span>Right. The lies. Where'd the 500 tons of yellowcake come from? And the hundreds of warheads and projectiles? Including some dozens of BM-21 warheads taken from unknown bunkers and found with the agent recently removed? Or the sarin projectiles used as IEDs? <br /> <br />And the mass graves? Are they lies too? <br /> <br />You are wearing the tape out, skippy.</span>UltimaRatioRegisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-56644890473137545062010-08-22T14:54:04.000-04:002010-08-22T14:54:04.000-04:00Neither did Iraq.-But hey-believe the lies you wan...Neither did Iraq.-But hey-believe the lies you want to. I visited the military museum in Bucharest. It has a memorial to the 1000+ folks who lost their lives in the revolution.. We never saw fit to invade there. Which kind of gets to the real point doesn't it? Iraq was a war of choice that wasted 4419 lives of American serviceman for no good cause. That is my beef with the Iraq war and will remains the reason why I despise George Bush. His decision to to the Iraqi war when he did-and his acceptance of the lies of Rumsfeld and others that we did not have to go in large, is a crime of great proportions. Less Americans would have suffered if we had followed the war plan set out before it was modified-assuming there was even a need to go in in the first place. The architechts of that ( Including the "teflon general") deserve to be held to account for that mistake.Skippy-sannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-88550658881461283332010-08-22T14:36:27.000-04:002010-08-22T14:36:27.000-04:00Awww, lighten up, Skippy!Awww, lighten up, Skippy!DeltaBravonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-79985393481423942242010-08-22T14:17:18.000-04:002010-08-22T14:17:18.000-04:00Thanks for your thoughtfulness and wisdom in corre...Thanks for your thoughtfulness and wisdom in correcting the stupid ideas. Whatever would I do without you?<br /><br />Bucharest ain't Ramadi. And Ceaucescu never tried to peddle VX to Al Qaeda, either.UltimaRatioRegisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-50836841482093587562010-08-22T13:50:47.000-04:002010-08-22T13:50:47.000-04:00Let me be very clear-I don't care about the Ir...Let me be very clear-I don't care about the Iraqis. And according to your example we should be deeply involved in Africa-because the same thing is happening there-and in fact, thanks to the war in Iraq, Al Quaeda has spread to that continent and elsewhere. Are we supposed to invade every country in the world? What is it that makes the Iraqis so special and so many Africans are not special?Skippy-sannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-56056656776748290872010-08-22T13:47:00.000-04:002010-08-22T13:47:00.000-04:00I've been in Bucharest working 70+ hour weeks....I've been in Bucharest working 70+ hour weeks. It gets in the way of my correcting stupid ideas on your blog. But it pays the bills-so I can't complain. PS I walk by Ceacescu's palace every morning on the way to work.Skippy-sannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-63580539102745291912010-08-22T13:38:08.000-04:002010-08-22T13:38:08.000-04:00Ahahahahaha! Okay, Byron. You won't top this...Ahahahahaha! Okay, Byron. You won't top this the rest of the week. You don't need to post anymore. You're done. (laughs some more.)DeltaBravonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-69328825879461525122010-08-22T13:21:41.000-04:002010-08-22T13:21:41.000-04:00Phib, all it took was "Bush" and "I...Phib, all it took was "Bush" and "Iraq" in the same sentence :)Byronnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-60836755847410079492010-08-22T12:46:22.000-04:002010-08-22T12:46:22.000-04:00I'm just glad Skippy is back in comments. I w...I'm just glad Skippy is back in comments. I was getting worried. ;)cdrsalamandernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-18780399738908547942010-08-22T11:36:29.000-04:002010-08-22T11:36:29.000-04:00And we don't have Uday or Qusay waiting in the...And we don't have Uday or Qusay waiting in the wings to try to outdo the old man....DeltaBravonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-63517541616322684032010-08-22T11:33:12.000-04:002010-08-22T11:33:12.000-04:00Skippy, if a guy was walking up and down the stree...Skippy, if a guy was walking up and down the street saying he had a gun and he was going to kill you and Joe Smith, wouldn't you do something? And you told him to take the gun out of his pocket and put it on the ground. And he didn't. He just kept making his threats. So if you took him out and it turned out he had no gun, does that make you a fool? Did you want to wait till he put a bullet between your eyes or Joe's eyes before you acted? Well, then at least you'd have proof. No, the fool was the guy marching up and down the street antagonizing people and making threats. DeltaBravonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-89921230852198630502010-08-22T04:33:59.000-04:002010-08-22T04:33:59.000-04:00At what cost to the US however? People in Iraq bei...At what cost to the US however? People in Iraq being killed by the government was never a stated reason for the invasion. WMD was-which turned out to be a false. If saving people from bad governments is a reason for invading other countries-we have a lot more invasions to do.<br /><br />A mistake is still a mistake -even if its affects are mitigated. In the case of Iraq we still don't fully understand the nature of that mistake and the simple truth is that none of Iraq's problems have been resolved-just postponed.<br /><br />The only thing that matters is US national interest-not Iraqi interests.Skippy-sannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704146.post-33754328852331207012010-08-21T23:25:26.000-04:002010-08-21T23:25:26.000-04:00Strangely enough the Bush Admin could have just do...Strangely enough the Bush Admin could have just done as well for saying that the Iraqi Government's failure to abide by the cease-fire agreeements with regards to letting the IAEA and various other UN inspection agencies into view not only the distruction of the WMD's but also thier delievery devices (including the Scud missiles, long range artillery, and thier TU-22 Bombers). Then said because of these failings the cease-fire is no longer in effect and that the war is on like donkey kong. Instead they framed it so poorly that the classic radicals line of "Bush Lied, Kids Died" became the mantra for the better part of the decade. I would also say that Iraq is very aggressive nation in the region since Saddam rose to power in the late sixties. Remember it was Iraq that instigated the invasion of Iran following the fall of the Shah in an attempt to gain control of the water ways of the Tigris-Euprethus rivers, it was Iraq that started to use chemical weapons during that war, it was Iraq that started with the economic attacks on Iran's (or suspected Iranian) oil platforms and tankers.<br />Also, strangely enough President Clinton and his admin saw the same things in 1998 and started to try and have a "talk with the nation" via townhalls about the need to bring an end to Saddam, some of the same kids who were in high school and middile school at the time of Gulf War 91 yelled his staff down (i remember the CNN scene of Prudue U and college kids called Mrs. Albright a Nazi during one of the televised town halls). So instead he backed down, cause the polls weren't there.Southern Air Piratenoreply@blogger.com