More Airstrikes . . .
"We're gearing up to do an operation and when were told to go we'll go," Brig. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, deputy commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said at a camp near Fallujah. "When we do go, we'll whack them."
The upcoming offensive is getting more and more press, more and more frequently. My initial focus was on Fallujah, but now on second thought I think it a certainty that Ramadi is going to be hit too. Look for 5th Marines to hit Ramadi, 1st Marines to assault Fallujah, and 7th Marines to continue guarding the Syrian border in the West, and possibly act as an operational reserve. They've probably shifted a good bit of the armor that is normally a part of 7th Marines (like 1st Tank Battalion) over to either 1st or 5th. Bet on it.
UPDATE: More analysis from Globalsecurity.org. They also feel that the battle will kick off when US polls close. 6pm Hawaii time = 8pm California time = 7am, November 3rd, Iraq time. I think they'll pull the trigger the night before, say between 4am and 5am. This is always better than dawn.
posted by Chester at 10/30/2004 08:28:00 AM
2 Comments:
The ballance of troops is a bit disconcerting; will slight numerical superiority (plus better training, equipment, and tactical support and capability but handicapped by questionable reliability of allied Iraqi) in urban combat zone be enough?
A great site you have Chester. I am also a former Marine, who served in the grunts (1st Bn 8th Mar). I was also thinking that after the elections that the US Forces would force the hand of Fallujah,Ramadi and other insurgency strongholds. just as Brig Gen Hejlik stated, the insurgents are going to get whacked.
With that being said, the edge will be on the side of the Marines. On one side you have the Marines who have better training, weaponry and communications. On the other side, you have a hodgepod collection of insurgents who lack the ability to communicate and cooridinate. However, from all indications, they possess fanatical resolve and religious zeal which might indicate they will want to fight to the death. This would mean high casualities. Either way, these cities must be subdued. Semper Fi
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