Infantry Combat in the First Gulf War

There have been several depictions of the first gulf war in the media and it always revolves around tank and air combat. Was there any significant infantry battles or was it all fought with armor and air?

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Generally no. Iraqi units were surrendering so fast that we'd just disarm them and keep moving unless they were Republican Guard. Like, how does a company manage a literal battalion of POWs when division says you have to race to Baghdad to beat the other guys there. The tempo was a sprint. 73 Easting was a great example of how even defensive lines got completely overrun

My dad was there, pretty much said Shit was moving too fast for static warfare, they'd do recon by fire with TOWs anywhere they suspected Iraqis dug in, kill them, and push more

I'd like to see America try this with Iran.

RASHEED IS READY FOR INFIDEL TO ATTACK!

People forget the leadup to Iraq 1. 6 weeks of basically uncontested air strikes. Stealth fighters that literally no one had seen before that proved amazing at SEAD/DEAD when paired with other planes (one ew plane was "bait", the f-117 would shadow and dump a HARM the second radiowaves were found). TOW missiles were more effective than expected. Iraq had the 4th largest army on the planet, chemical weapons, and most of the Republican Guard and military leaders were veterans of the Iran-Iraq war that had happened just a few years before, meaning they theoretically had way more conventional war experience. Their plane fleet wasnt even bad on paper, with Mirages even. They had the best army gear that oil money could buy.

In the end Iraq started the war deaf and dumb. Their command structure was decimated. People thought GPS and laser guided bombs were a meme until it turned out we could accurately blow out a given building and leave the surrounding block unharmed. The "low" American casualty estimate was over 800 dead. The high was thousands. We lost 203, and coalition total was about 1200.

We have no reason to believe US would launch a full ground invasion as opposed to just a few aerial missions. We didnt in the 00s, or the 80s tanker war. Tensions with Iran flare up every 10-15 years, then die down again.

this

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People born after 9/11 will be able to post on Jow Forums this year user (and i bet many already do).

I stayed in my hatch almost the entire time moving at full speed.

When we stopped I grabbed a shovel and flung dirt around digging a foxhole just as quickly as I could, we didn’t stop often and when we did I was very briefly.

At night all I saw in my night vision was thousands of hot howitzer projectiles screaming towards somewhere far in front of us.

I was in my hatch so long that it was difficult to move my body right when dismounting towards the end because I was immobile and tense for so many hours.

We were shot at with artillery once, it landed far from us, and quickly after that we fired back with our counterbattery howitzers and that was the end of it. I was lucky to not get shot at again.

At the end we dumped what seemed like endless MLRS rockets all over the place.

I didn’t hear of any of our folks fighting dismounted at all.

You know those sci-fi movies where Aliens show up and all the battle-hardened generals are smug and like "don't worry Mr. President, our F-18s have got this, fire all missiles," but the missiles dont do anything and the Aliens proceed to shit fury on all humans with wanton abandon and everybody runs for their lives from the flame, and maybe Will Smith gets lucky and downs one but everybody else is dead so the kill ratio is like 200,000:1 so we all know we're pretty well fucked unless some kind of miracle happens?

Yeah, America is the Aliens in this scenario, except there were no asspull motherships to blow up or super viruses to wipe us put. People forget this. You shouldn't. Iraq was the 4th largest military on the Earth at the time. USA's military strength is legitimately otherworldly compared to other nations. Failures in nation building =/= military defeat.

>mfw I never even saw the enemy but they still managed to lob a SCUD rocket into the building next to mine

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Fuck yeah.

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Fucking christ I am getting old man. 9/11 feels like last year to me.

>9/11 was 9+11 years ago
It's happening

Tell that to Charlie.

Look up Taskforce 1-41. Those motherfuckers cleared out Iraqi bunkers and trench systems.

Not a very good comparison

>It's simple we TOWed with GPS and SA-23'd the IRG and FSD'd the MLG with Tu-318s

What was his deal?
Was he based or not?

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Why? Because the Great American War machine didn't quite stomp them out existence, just like North Korea and Taliban and Al Qaida and ISIS? Oh, there's no conquering of America going to happen this millennium. USA is going to keep taking out the rulers who aren't cooperating sufficiently with the Big Noses, enforce government changes, secure contracts, continue their Gunboat Diplomacy and on and on. The Great Empire of our age. But like the empires that has come and gone before it, it's easier to kill off the kings than to vanquish the anger in the hearts of their subjects. Enjoy your position while it lasts, and pray that you do not live long enough to see the end.

Norman was the Man With The Plan. And the man with the political beef to put it on the table. He did not do badly, but all he will truly be remembered for is selling his top brass image as a muscle boy with turned up shirt arms rather than the smooth office politician he truly was. Not a bad leader. But he didn't have anywhere NEAR the power that Bush's goon squad had.

We kicked those commies' ass and then pulled out. We lost because the public couldn't stomach a 30 year long war that would have been necessary to attain any amount of victory.

Insurgencies on that scale are almost unwinnable.

>But he didn't have anywhere NEAR the power that Bush's goon squad had.
In terms of political clout or what?

Stormin Norman was a fucking amazing general, highly advise you watch the "Mother of All News Conferences".

Dude totally cared about his boys, he gets choked up talking about the little casualties, shits on Saddams generals, and overall keeps your interest through the whole thing.

Guy is an inspiration for what every man should be. Someone who can adapt and overcome, no matter the cost.

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Yes! That is the point. USA have vast military strength. But it is wielded literally from day to day, depending on who is currently manning the twelve or so top chairs. Oh, are someone writing about the presidents fidelity or schmott deals or taxes? Better fire rockets on somebody! And by that I refer to every president since and including Roosevelt. Yes, USA is the Roman Empire. And the emperor title is passed between Caligula and various of his asses.

The war was lost from the start due to us never being able to actually fight the enemy we faced, North Vietnam. We were never allowed to send troops North of the border, because of that, the war should have never had started in the first place. It had nothing to do with the combat effectiveness of the VC or NVA because if we were actually able to invade into the North, the NVA would've been curb stomped just like the Iraqis and the VC would've been subdued by simply garrisoning enough infantry into and around the civilian population.

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Shit isn't that black and white you absolute mongoloid.

Obviously. Schwartzkopf could give advice but he didn't have the president's ear like Dick Cheney and John Ashcroft. All respect for Schwartzkopf for leading the war, but there aren't many signs that he was making a lot of plans for the aftermath or if he did, that he was listened to. 3000 dead US soldiers afterwards, that's not a great end to a great adventure.

t. Buzzfeed "journalist"

Really. 3 months from now, what is your best guess for which country USA have started fresh hostilities with? Is there a plan, you think? Or just 'am I waking up today with a hardon or not'?

>curb stomped just like the Iraqis

Yes, about that.... ISIS showing up a couple of years lather really proved how effective that curb stomping was, don't you think?

I saw his uniform at the smithsonian american history museum, can confirm he was a big guy

>Insurgencies on that scale are unwinnable.

Not so.

Move in, exterminate the populace in all major strategic centers. Colonize the ruins with your own people and forbid contact with outsiders on pain of death.

Offer a standing bounty for any outsiders, with offers of logistical or military support for bands of bounty hunters with good track records.

Problem solved. Cheap, efficient, crowdsourced.

Hearts and minds is bullshit. If you want land, take it, make it yours, give your colonists a reason to fight and skin in the game. That's how you conquer.

>lmao just kill everyone
That's how you end up alone and alienated on the global level

>Al Qaeda
Pray tell, what strategic threat does Al Qaeda pose to America at this point? a dozen civilian lives a year? A few million dollars in damage? Boeing's autopilot is probably a greater threat to American civilian life and economic interests than Al Qaeda at this point

>Because the US is subject to the world's whims

This whole thread is about how the US is absolutely unchallenged militarily. If literally all the other nations on earth ganged up on them, they would still be outnumbered and outgunned. And that's before nukes are taken into account.

Is it oversimplified? Sure. But undeniably effective. In this case it would be complicated somewhat by how China would inevitably respond.

>thats how you get isolated
>England, France, Portugal, the Dutch, and Spain all did this at the same time

The fact that Iraq was so throughly btfo was what allowed ISIS to form, retard.

Al Quaida are utter shit. But they still exist, expand their ranks and continue to work for their goals. They could strike again on US soil or targets, ten years or ten day from now. They have been set back. Nothing indicates they will be destroyed, other than being swallowed up by a stronger group. That's like destroying the 3rd Reich but still having nazis blow up federal offices in New York and Washington on a weekly basis.

Saddam's reign was btfo'ed. Lacking afterwar plans and policies fed ISIS thousands of Saddam's officers. Remember the guy USA set up to lead Iraq afterwards? How effective was his reign, again?

>USA annihilates the VC and maims the NVA.
>N. Vietnam surrenders and signs the Paris Peace Accords, returns US POWs, and withdraws from the Central Highlands.
>US forces withdraw and return home.

>2 fucking years later
>NV attacks and overruns SV now that no US ground troops are present.

>LOL USA BTFO!
t. Every retard on the internet

The Vietcong was curb stomped though. It ceased to exist in any meaningful sense after Tet. Read a book

Basically this. We win everything but locals are too incompetent to hold on to what we hand them on a silver platter. Is the rest of the world just full of morons?

I feel like Japan and Korea only worked out because MacArthur was a secret weeb that didnt want his precious waifs 8nfected with dirty Mongol genes. We should have listened to him about China, dude, now look at this fucking mess, we've got a billion annoying ants all over the kitchen.

Cringe

t. Atlantian

>Move in, exterminate the populace in all major strategic centers
Check
>Colonize the ruins with your own people and forbid contact with outsiders on pain of death
Check
>Offer a standing bounty for any outsiders, with offers of logistical or military support for bands of bounty hunters with good track records
Check
>If you want land, take it, make it yours, give your colonists a reason to fight and skin in the game
Check

Based and King Georgepilled. I'm sure those 13 colonies will always love you.

Which stealth fighters had not been seen before?

But we don’t want land. We just want to make their country never leave shithole status so Israel can expand in peace

>They had the best army gear that oil money could buy.
>fiberglass helmets
pick one

To add to this, towards the end of the war, we started really figuring out how to effectively deal with V.C. to the point where they were pretty much a non issue thanks to both combined action groups/program and not letting hearts and minds guide us, rather, if a village gave you enough shit and was obviously supporting the V.C. on their own accord. You'd just zippo raid the bitch and move on.

>What is genociding your own people
>What is the seven years war
>What is the global war that started due to and during the American Revolution
>What is the Atlantic ocean
There were a bit more things going on fren

What everyone else has said.
The only time they stopped advancing was to wait for fuel trucks to catch up and fill the squad.

F-117s never carried HARMs.

You left out the part where we were obligated by the treaty to help defend the South if they were attacked again.

And the CPUSA--whoops, I mean, the DNC--decided to stab them in the back so thoroughly that they never stood a chance against Russian-built tanks in a conventional invasion by a mechanized army.

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>9/11 was 9+11-(11-9) years ago