The vulnerable line of supply to US troops in Iraq

[Barrett808]

The vulnerable line of supply to US troops in Iraq
By Patrick Lang

ALEXANDRIA, VA. – American forces in Iraq are in danger of having their line of supply cut by guerrillas. Napoleon once said that "an army travels on its stomach." By that he meant that the problem of keeping an army supplied is the prerequisite for the very existence of the force.

A 21st-century military force "burns up" a tremendous volume of expendable supplies and continuously needs repairs to equipment as well as medical treatment. Without a plentiful and dependable source of fuel, food, and ammunition, a military force falters. First it stops moving, then it begins to starve, and eventually it becomes unable to resist the enemy.

In 1915, for example, this happened to British forces that had invaded Mesopotamia. A British-Indian force traveled up the line of the Tigris River, advancing to Kut, southeast of Baghdad. They became besieged there after their line of supply was cut along the river to the south. Some 11,000 troops ultimately surrendered, after the allies suffered another 23,000 casualties trying to rescue them.

American troops all over central and northern Iraq are supplied with fuel, food, and ammunition by truck convoy from a supply base hundreds of miles away in Kuwait. All but a small amount of our soldiers' supplies come into the country over roads that pass through the Shiite-dominated south of Iraq.

(more)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0721/p09s01-coop.html

[Drum]

1. golly yes

I'll bet they need lots and lots of batteries over there!

[High Plains]

2. Things aren't looking good for the Crusaders.

[Johnyawl]

3. Container after container...

...of bottled water alone.

[neverforget]

4. I envision a fighting withdrawal like the Chosin Reservoir in Korea

when the crap hits the fan and it won't be pretty.

[OKNancy]

5. k

[leftchick]

6. The vulnerable line of supply to US troops in Iraq

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0721/p09s01-coop.html

<snip>

American troops all over central and northern Iraq are supplied with fuel, food, and ammunition by truck convoy from a supply base hundreds of miles away in Kuwait. All but a small amount of our soldiers' supplies come into the country over roads that pass through the Shiite-dominated south of Iraq.

Until now the Shiite Arabs of Iraq have been told by their leaders to leave American forces alone. But an escalation of tensions between Iran and the US could change that overnight. Moreover, the ever-increasing violence of the civil war in Iraq can change the alignment of forces there unexpectedly.

Southern Iraq is thoroughly infiltrated by Iranian special operations forces working with Shiite militias, such as Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and the Badr Brigades. Hostilities between Iran and the United States or a change in attitude toward US forces on the part of the Baghdad government could quickly turn the supply roads into a "shooting gallery" 400 to 800 miles long.

At present, the convoys of trucks supplying our forces in Iraq are driven by civilians - either South Asians or Turks. If the route is indeed turned into a shooting gallery, these civilian truck drivers would not persist or would require a heavier escort by the US military.

It might then be necessary to "fight" the trucks through ambushes on the roads. This is a daunting possibility. Trucks loaded with supplies are defenseless against many armaments, such as rocket-propelled grenades, small arms, and improvised explosive devices. A long, linear target such as a convoy of trucks is very hard to defend against irregulars operating in and around their own towns.

[Jacobin]

7. These idiots have spent american lives to give Iraq to Iran

"No one could have foreseen this happening"(tm)
Condi

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[leftchick]

10. I do know of a few good things if Saddam was still in power

There would be no civil war, about 200,000 Iraqis would still be alive and 2558 Americans. Oh yes and no US torture and rape rooms would be there either.

[enough]

9. Riverbend said a few months ago

that the US troops could become hostages in Iraq if things got really bad in the middle east. I wasn't clear on what she meant at the time. This clarifies it.

[ananda]

11. I also read yesterday that..

.. insurgents were planning to attack Baghdad and take it over from the USA.

That means the Green Zone and that billion dollar palace.. hehheh.

[Nordic65]

13. Is this the real end-game in Iraq?

If things start to unravel like described here, there would have to be a quick bad ass military response to stop it. It will be like invading Iraq 2.0.

Problem is, even if the response is successful it will all be for nothing. The civilian casualties from defending the supply lines will be huge. Probably the military ones too.

And then, all pretenses of the US having any legit presence in Iraq will be crushed for ever. FUBAR. GAME OVER. FINITO.

For years I've had a hard time envisioning any plausible end-game for the mindbogglingly stupid invasion of Iraq, but this one looks like it could fit the bill.

This is not good.

[kineneb]

12. imperial hubris strikes again -n/t

[EFerrari]

14. Jessica Lynch's unit. The supply line has always been vulnerable.

They don't care. They didn't care when there wasn't enough water, when the rations were spoiled. They didn't care about body armor. They didn't care about unarmored vehicles.

They cared about Halliburton's contracts.

[theHandpuppet]

15. This has always been a genuine and largely ignored concern

And by igniting the firestorm in the ME we have really exacerbated this very real prospect. In addition, if a full-fledged armed conflict breaks out between the Kurds and the Turks to the north it will make our hold on supply lines even more tenuous. The Bushreich, via its greed and ineptitude, has placed American troops in a vise from which their can be no option other than complete withdrawl. Then again, we don't belong there in the first place.

[maxrandb]

16. When does Ann Coulter send whole wheat flour to the CSM

That's Christian Science Monitor.

Why do they hate "murika". I'm sure the Repubs will soon have tribunals in Congress to drag the editors of the Christian Science Monitor in front of the firing squad.

Treasonous bastards!!






:sarcasm: