UPDATED - ColdType

NEW YORK, MARCH 25, 2003
INVADERS FACE SANDSTORMS,
BUGS AND CITIZEN SOLDIERS
Invasion slows down as resistance emerges
n the war front itself, it is slow-mo time with ground forces digging in around Baghdad.
Marc Crispin Miller passes on two items of interest from a friends overseas: “Yesterday the
Hungarian news wire (MTI) carried a story quoting a number of US soldiers who wished
to remain anonymous to the effect that the ground war was on hold until the supply problems
were solved. They had had their field rations reduced by 1/3 until further notice. I
watched CNN, but they didn’t report it, just the non-specific denial from the Pentagon.” He then sent
an update: “The cut ration story did make it (later) onto CNN, as did the “4-6 day delay” story. The
question remains, if supplies are short and the
most vital supply of all is water, are our people
going to face massive dehydration?
“And, what CNN didn’t include, however –
weather satellites say sandstorms are returning
to the area in (you guessed it), 3 days or so. Also
didn’t include a nugget that came to me from a
pal that used to work in oil exploration – April is
mosquito season south of Baghdad (swamps). In
his words, ‘they’re thicker than carpets’. In their
haste to win before the thermometer hits 120 by
4/15, the ground forces hauled ass faster than
their vehicles could carry supplies to them.”
Why the surprise?
IT should be noted that asymmetrical warfare
challenging conventional forces with unconventional
ones is what armies at a disadvantage usu-
145
ally rely on. That was Ho Chi Minh’s approach in
Vietnam. Writing in Slate, Fred Kapan says:
“Much has been made of Thursday’s remark by
Lt. Gen. William Wallace, commander of U.S.
Army forces in the Persian Gulf. Talking about
the fierce and guerrilla-style resistance of Iraqi
militia groups, Wallace said, “The enemy we’re
fighting is a bit different than the one we wargamed
against.”
“In fact, however, militia fighters did play a crucial
role in a major war game designed to simulate
combat in Iraq but the Pentagon officials
who managed the game simply disregarded or
overruled the militias’ most devastating moves.”
So none of what we are seeing should be surprising
including the announcement that more
martyr (we call them suicide) bombers are on
the way. Iraq created more news with an explod-