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On Point: the United States Army in Operation Iraqi ... - Boekje Pienter

On Point: the United States Army in Operation Iraqi ... - Boekje Pienter

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Ihaven’thaven’<strong>the</strong>ardheardanyanyreport<strong>in</strong>greport<strong>in</strong>gofofBRDMsBRDMsassociatedassociatedwithwith<strong>the</strong><strong>the</strong>RECONRECONcompany;company;<strong>the</strong>refore,<strong>the</strong>refore, Iassumeassumethisthisisisananarmorarmorunit.unit.NoNocommscommswithwith3rd3rdID,ID,wouldwouldbebe<strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>gtotogetget<strong>the</strong>ir<strong>the</strong>irassessmentassessmentandandmakemakesuresure<strong>the</strong>y<strong>the</strong>yhavehavethisthis<strong>in</strong>fo.<strong>in</strong>fo.TheThe3rd3rdIDID[liaison[liaisonofficer]officer]<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>ourourTOCTOCdoesdoesnotnothavehavecomms.comms.Also,Also,we’rewe’re<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong><strong>the</strong><strong>the</strong>REDREDZONEZONEasasweweapproachapproachKarbala.Karbala.ThisThisisis<strong>the</strong><strong>the</strong>triggertriggerforforchemicalchemicalreleaserelease(accord<strong>in</strong>g(accord<strong>in</strong>gtotoIntelligenceIntelligenceestimates).estimates).AdditionalAdditionalreport<strong>in</strong>greport<strong>in</strong>gofofchemicalchemicalreleasereleaseauthorityauthoritytotoregionalregionalcommanders,commanders,coupledcoupledwithwithchemicalchemicaldefensedefensetra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gtra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gandandsuppliessupplies[corroborates][corroborates]thisthisassessment.assessment.Email from 101st Airborne DivisionEmail from 101st Airborne DivisionAnalysis and Control Element chiefAnalysis and Control Element chief*Editor*EditorNote:Note:AuthorAuthorwaswasapparentlyapparentlyunawareunawareofofcorpscorpsplanplantotomitigatemitigate<strong>the</strong><strong>the</strong>threat.threat.Named after <strong>the</strong> planner’s favorite National Football League teams, <strong>the</strong> operat<strong>in</strong>g basesat Objectives SAINTS, LIONS, BEARS, TEXANS, and RAVENS would position <strong>the</strong> corpsto execute <strong>the</strong> f<strong>in</strong>al stage of <strong>the</strong> fight for Baghdad. The f<strong>in</strong>al battle for Baghdad would be asequence of raids and limited-objective attacks to control, neutralize, or destroy <strong>the</strong> regime’ssymbolic and physical levers of power. Presumably, this could be done without a step-bystepreduction of <strong>the</strong> city, avoid<strong>in</strong>g a slugfest that would produce large numbers of dead andwounded fighters and civilians.Attack<strong>in</strong>g through <strong>the</strong> Karbala Gap, V Corps planned to seize three objectives west of<strong>the</strong> Tigris River—LIONS, SAINTS, and BEARS. The 3rd ID assigned <strong>the</strong>se objectives to its247

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