Pushing forth, avoiding cities

River crossing
US forces got a dose of great luck when they captured a river crossing over the Euphrates intact. Perhaps the Iraqis were incompetent and unable to destroy the bridge. Or they didn't care (what does it matter if the US reaches Baghdad in three days or a week?). In either case, it makes the US job a lot easier.

Avoiding cities
In their blitzkrieg north, US forces are avoiding urban centers, merely detouring around them. This is avoiding casualties both among US/UK forces and Iraqis as well. However, our forces still need to establish supply lines running north, especially if they get bogged down. These cities all lie on the supply lines and may be fertile home for guerilla and harrassing attacks on those supply lines.

Unless Iraq's defenses collapse in the next few days, those cities will have to be dealt with (read: occupied).

In Basra, Brittish forces are negotiating with the town administrators, hoping to avoid full-scale urban combat by spurring a "surrender for aid" deal.

Burning oil wells
The Iraqis didn't set them afire. Not all of them, anyway -- another good stroke of luck (or Iraqi incompetence).

Posted March 22, 2003 11:11 AM | Comments (262)