[Colin Glassey] Victory!
The United States has won the war with Iraq. Operations started late on March 19, 2003 and the war was won with U.S. military forces in control of Bagdad International Airport on April 4th. OK, the war isn't actually over and may not be over for some weeks. But as far as military operations are concerned, almost all serious organized military units of the Iraqi government have been destroyed.
So far, everything has worked out as well as could be hoped.
- No use of chemical weapons by the Iraqi army.
- No use of nuclear weapons by Iraq.
- No attack on Israel, provoking an Israeli counter-attack.
- No terror attacks against the United States in support of Iraq.
- No "seize the day" attack on South Korea by North Korea.
- No mass revolt by Arab demonstrators in any Arab country.
The fact that we have essentially won the war with just over 100 of our people killed is astoundingly light losses. In the near perfect first Gulf War of 1991 we lost around 250 dead. We may yet lose that many soldiers by the end of this war, but it doesn't seem likely now.
Gold Stars are awarded to:
- Gold Star to the M1-A1 Abrams Tank. Still the best tank in the world. Although we lost several in this war it is still, essentially, unbeatable.
- Gold Star to the Bradley. This war has really proved the worth of the Bradley. Nearly all critiques of the Bradley are baseless. The Bradely kept its crew alive in the face of rifle fire, machine gun fire, artillery fire, and RPG attacks. In addition, its 25mm chain gun proved able to destroy all the targets it needed to destroy, up to and including tanks.
- Gold Star to General Tommy Franks. General Franks battle plan has proved to be bold and completely successfull. As I said in an earlier post, his attack was very bold, and if it works, he will go down in history as one of the great commanders. Well, it worked. General Franks' invasion of Iraq can best be compared to the German Blitzkrieg of France in 1940. The Third Infantry Division, spearheaded by the 7th Cavalry Regiment, nearly flew across Iraq, avoiding the obvious routes, bypassing some units, destroying others, until they arived at Bagdad Airport, smashing their way through the Republican Guard divisions like a hot knife through butter.
- Gold Stars to President Bush and Prime Minister Blair. Without the courage and conviction of President Bush to do the right thing in the face of determined, perfidious resistance from France, Germany, Russia, and Turkey, in the face of apathy and disapproval from Mexico, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and China; this war would never have been launched. Without the steelly determination of Blair, we would have only some 1,000 Austrialians to join us in the war. Blair proved, once again, that when the chips are down, England is our ally. So is Australia. Thank you.
- Gold Star to the U.S. Air Force for hitting the right targets at the right time. While air power didn't win this war on its own, it sure did a great job.
Black marks are given out to:
- France. For pretending to being our ally while secretly trying to stab us in the back. For giving aid and support to Iraq. For helping to destroy both NATO and the Security Council of the U.N.
- A Black Mark to Turkey. For not granting us permission to launch the 4th Infantry Division out of Turkey into Northern Iraq. For not granting us overflight rights until a week after the war started. For throwing away 50 years of U.S. aid and support in exchange for promises and threats from the French. I'm sure they will find the French are loyal and trustworthy allies, as we have found them to be.
- A Black Mark to the U.N. Security Council. For failing to head the lessons of history and listening to the French government. The U.N. has become no better than the League of Nations. It is a debating society which is no longer of any value in the cause of improving life for humans around the world. Force has to be used against "actors" who violate the laws of the "community". Any community that does not enforce its laws, is anarchy. We here in the United States learned our lesson from the 1930s. Toothless resolutions and general expressions of dismay do not work against dictators and terrorists. What good is the U.N. if it passes resolutions but then won't try to enforce them? What good was the U.N. to the people of Srebrinica? Or to the people of Rwanda? Or to the Kurds and Shias and Marsh people of Iraq? If the U.N. isn't a force for good in the world, then it needs to make way for a new organization that will improve human life on this Earth.
10:57:40 PM 
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