Urban combat in Iraq...would it be like the movie Black Hawk Down??

[NFS4]

If the US military gets deep into Iraqi cities, wouldn't they be facing similar street and ambush attacks like in BHD?

 

[SoylentGreen]

No. Iraqis throw down their arms and embrace the americans as their saviors.

 

[rudeguy]

I think it would be much much worse...saddam has some very nasty people who want nothing more than to kill an american...so we would be facing suicide bombers...chem and bio attacks...just nasty nasty stuff

 

[dcpsoguy]

Oh yeah, we know. I am really Tommy Franks, did you know that?

 

[gplanet]

i don't think there will be urban combat in Iraq. why would we do that when we can just bomb them till they surrender?

666th post 😉

 

[BunLengthHotDog]

Hussein has a decently trained unit that is infamously faithful to him (his "republican guard" I believe)...who are under the control of his son. They will be much better shots than the militia in Somalia, having had some forms of military training.

 

[fatbaby]

Originally posted by: gplanet
i don't think there will be urban combat in Iraq. why would we do that when we can just bomb them till they surrender?

666th post 😉

The problem with that is the iraqies that surrender and the ones that don't will probably be in the same city.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Well supposedly we're going to bomb them for 48 hours before we move in. He does have his hardcore followers so I'm sure there will be some similarities. However, unlike BHD, it won't be isolated teams trapped by thousands of rebels. It'll be 250,000 US troops destroying anyone who gets in our way, HOPEFULLY with minimum casualties. God bless our soldiers.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Angrymarshmello
Well supposedly we're going to bomb them for 48 hours before we move in. He does have his hardcore followers so I'm sure there will be some similarities. However, unlike BHD, it won't be isolated teams trapped by thousands of rebels. It'll be 250,000 US troops destroying anyone who gets in our way, HOPEFULLY with minimum casualties. God bless our soldiers.

Well, I was against going in...but since we are going ahead with it the troops have my full support and I say that the do whatever is necessary to come back alive.

 

[melly]

mmmm, blackhawk down...great movie. i want to fly a heli like that! as long as josh harnett gets to come with. 😉

 

[Krk3561]

In Somolia the situation was unexpected and unplanned for. The soldiers didnt have the proper equipment for what they got into.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Originally posted by: Krk3561
In Somolia the situation was unexpected and unplanned for. The soldiers didnt have the proper equipment for what they got into.

Exactly. If they had brought all their equipment with them and hadn't been so cocky the casualties would have been much lighter. Reading the book will give you a much better insight into what happend that watching the movie.

 

[Bignate603]

The opposing force in Iraq is expecting an attack, knows more about our equipment, has more modern weapons, and is trained. The fact that they're expecting us and they are organized is huge.

My father used to be in charge of all urban combat training in Berlin (they had their own little city to run invasions while one side defended, they had huge battles with fake artillery and tanks, the whole deal). He said when fighting a respectable force entrenched in a city, you should expect at MINIMUM 2 casulties for every one they take. However, we have quite a few advantages with our toys and what not. I'm hoping those play to our advantage.

 

[DefRef]

Anyone over the age of 20 should remember that the "elite Republican Guards" folded like cheap lawn furniture in the first Gulf War. During the pre-game, the opponents of action and appeasers of tyranny were saying that we'd need 10,000 body bags and it'd be another Viet Nam. Yeah, right...

Unlike Somalia, we probably have the appropriate mix of forces and support to do the job (Clinton refused to let the gunships that would've helped clear the rooftops be sent there - thanks, Bubba!) and instead of trying to take Bagdhad, we should lay seige to it and starve 'em out.

 

[Spagina]

I don't think our military is going to bother with engaging in large scale urban combat. I think we'll probably surround and camp out cities. I think the last thing this administration is going for a large scale massacre, the war is already unpopular as it is. Large scale urban combat will just result in a lot of a dead and nothing else. Look at WWII, we did a lot of urban combat in that war that wasn't needed. We could have accomplished as much by just camping cities until the population and armed garrisons surrendered. I think our military will do that here.

 

[DougyDanger]

Originally posted by: BunLengthHotDog
Hussein has a decently trained unit that is infamously faithful to him (his "republican guard" I believe)...who are under the control of his son. They will be much better shots than the militia in Somalia, having had some forms of military training.

These are not the Republican Gaurd. They are the "Sons of Freedom" or some such nonsense. They are mostly 17-24 year old men who are VERY loyal to Sadaam's Son (the one who tortures athletes who lose games). They have little training though. They are used primarily for ethnic cleansing and other nasty stuff. It is suspected that they will kill civilians in an attempt to make the US and British troops look bad. In direct combat they don't stand a chance against the US special forces and Marines they will face. The US guys will be highly trained, equipped with superior weapons, superiour intelligence, superior supplies and grossly outnumber these few miltiamen.

If the US does get involved in Urban combat there are many advantages we have:
Enough air strikes to put the fear of Allah in anyone
A civilian population on OUR side helping us get to THEM
The cover of night...we OWN the night. We will see them and they won't see or hear a thing until its too late and they wake up realizing the 80 virgins of Islam was a sham
Number
Training
weapons
supplies
and most of all...the will to win. While they may be loyal, they have always been living in fear of Sadaam's son. Now that they are faced with an enemy they can't kill and presented an opportunity to escape death (either at the hands of Hussain or an American bullet) they will likely lay down their weapons and give up.

As for the rest of sadaams army. They are already talking with military leaders in Iraq about how to surrender. Many soldiers are carrying white flages hidden in their uniforms. It is also said that the man assigned to each of the 12 units who is VERY loyal to Sadaam and reports directly to him will be dead in the first few minutes of the attack. Once these 12 lackeys of Saddam are gone the officers will likey surrender. These guys do NOT want another fight. They saw what we can do last time. We've had 12 years to get better at it and they now realize that we are getting rid of a VERY unpopular leader. Not exactly a recipe for a great defense. My guess is we'll hit them hard from the air and the ground troops will advance with little resistance if any until they reach Baghdad. That could present some fighting, but jus small pockets.

that my .02

 

[Sluggo]

Originally posted by: DefRef
Anyone over the age of 20 should remember that the "elite Republican Guards" folded like cheap lawn furniture in the first Gulf War. During the pre-game, the opponents of action and appeasers of tyranny were saying that we'd need 10,000 body bags and it'd be another Viet Nam. Yeah, right...

Unlike Somalia, we probably have the appropriate mix of forces and support to do the job (Clinton refused to let the gunships that would've helped clear the rooftops be sent there - thanks, Bubba!) and instead of trying to take Bagdhad, we should lay seige to it and starve 'em out.

Yeah, as soon as the shooting starting most of the Iraqi toops threw down their guns and came begging for food. Colonel Sanders won that conflict for us, probably wont be much different this go round.

 

[BuckNaked]

Without going into a long explanation, it will be much more difficult.... One thing to consider is that the structures likely to be encountered are more modern and much more complex, and are going to take much more work to clear, with many more opportunities for the enemy to engage our troops.... Spaces for the most part appear to be much more confined and more built up than anything encountered in Mogadishu....

Dave

 

[Looney]

I doubt it'll be anything like BHD... in BHD they were outnumbered a 100 to 1.