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Author Topic: The vulnerable line of supply to US troops in Iraq
redflag
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posted 23 July 2006 01:24 PM      Profile for redflag     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
The following article appeared in the Christian Science Monitor on the 21st of July, 2006 without very much notice in the rest of the American media.

The vulnerable line of supply to US troops in Iraq

I did a simple google news search for more articles on the subject and it seems as though only small handful of other news organizations have taken this story and ran with it.

EDIT: The link is dead, so I'm going to post a few excerpts from it.

quote:
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....

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....

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.


[ 23 July 2006: Message edited by: Joshua Kubinec ]


From: here | Registered: Apr 2006  |  IP: Logged
S1m0n
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posted 23 July 2006 03:50 PM      Profile for S1m0n        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
But did they run it up the flagpole to see who saluted? Were they pushing the envelope? Thinking outside the box?
From: Vancouver | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
Brett Mann
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posted 23 July 2006 04:11 PM      Profile for Brett Mann        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Intriguing story, Joshua, but I couldn't access it on the link you gave. Only a CSM headline page.

[ 23 July 2006: Message edited by: Brett Mann ]


From: Prince Edward County ON | Registered: Jul 2004  |  IP: Logged
Américain Égalitaire
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posted 23 July 2006 07:05 PM      Profile for Américain Égalitaire   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
If reports are to be believed the US military in Iraq barely patrols outside the Green Zone anymore and basically stays inside when a lot of the ethic cleansing is going on Riverbend comments on this phenomenon. Perhaps there are supply problems we do not know about and the Americans are conserving their stores in case they have to shoot and blast their way out of the country?
From: Chardon, Ohio USA | Registered: Jan 2005  |  IP: Logged
arborman
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posted 23 July 2006 08:57 PM      Profile for arborman     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
And if that supply line seems tenuous, it at least has a connection to the sea.

Now, as for the Canadians in Afghanistan, it wouldn't take much for them to be cut off altogether. It's not without precedent, and it would be a shitstorm.


From: I'm a solipsist - isn't everyone? | Registered: Aug 2003  |  IP: Logged
Bubbles
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posted 23 July 2006 09:21 PM      Profile for Bubbles        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Maybe they are working on a route through Syria.
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Cueball
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posted 23 July 2006 09:25 PM      Profile for Cueball   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
:rotfl:
From: Out from under the bridge and out for a stroll | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged

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