Will a war be long and drawn out or over quickly?

satchmo · March 17, 2003 11:50AM

Hoping that if there is a war, that it'll be over as quick as possible. Of course war is bloody, but we don't want another Vietnam and let's limit civilian casualities.

Perhaps the majority of Iraqi soldiers don't really want to fight and would rather surrender?

If we knew which bunker Sadaam was in, couldn't those bunker bombs do the trick?

cosmonut · March 17, 2003 2:55PM

I think the "Eliminate Saddam" phase of the war will go fairly quickly. After that, we still have North Korea to deal with. THAT'S the one I'm worried about.

I have a feeling this whole "War on Terror" thing is just NOW getting started in full force. I'm also sad to say that it's probably going to get much much worse for the world before it gets better.

tht · March 17, 2003 3:25PM

I'd give it 2 weeks. But the length of the war has never really been in doubt. The no fly zones, sanctions, and resolutions have pretty much defanged Iraq. Militarily, Iraq has never been a danger to any nation since the end of the Gulf War.

The problem, of course, is what comes afterward with an occupying force. Who knows what happens during that time.

powerdoc · March 18, 2003 2:44AM

According to specialist the war will be short.

The Saddam army is weaker than in 1991, the US army is much more advanced technology : for example 80 % of the bomb will be guided precisely against 10 % in 1991. Most of the young of the army will prefer to save their ass rather to struggle for a tyrant.

But some targets will be difficult : the towns with a guerilla type war, with some militaries from the baath party and the republican guard ready to die, because their future is linked with Saddam. The invasion of Baghdad will not be a easy trip.

ibrowse · March 18, 2003 5:01AM

From everything I have heard, almost all of Saddam's hiding spots are under schools, churches and the like. Whether this is US propaganda or the truth, I think he will be harder to find than Bush thinks. While our army is more advanced now, and Iraq's weaker than in 91, I'm still somewhat afraid of those few little secrets Saddam may have.

roduk · March 18, 2003 5:31AM

I'm not sure what to think. On the one hand, it could be over very quickly, with the majority of Iraqi troops surrendering and Saddam being killed, perhaps by his own guards. On the other hand, news footage seems to show Iraqi civillians arming themselves ready to kill American soldiers, so taking Baghdad a building at a time could take weeks if not months. It will be interesting to see whether any weapons of mass destruction are used, as I'm sure they will be if they exist. I guess the worst case scenario is for the conflict to escalate into a third world war, which could last for years.

scott · March 18, 2003 6:11AM

How the war goes is my biggest worry. Chemical and biological attacks? Atomic of some kind. Despite the assurance of several members here that Saddam posses nothing of the kind I still worry. The poor Kurds are already freaking out about that. Attacks on Israel? Don't expect them to hold back this time. And why should they? Oil wells on fire? They say they're already rigged. Turkey? Why is it so hard to get them to say out? They know they can't keep anything they gain. Or is it one of those "We owned this 200 years ago so it's ours." things?

If it's conventional the push to Baghdad should be a snap. Hopefully, for their sake, the Iraqi army will give up. In fact the biggest obstacle may be troops surrendering. When they get to the city .... hummmm? I'm not convinced Saddam et al will be so easy to find. Recent history tells me so. The people of Baghdad may not be so in tune with the US being the great liberator like the No Fly Zone people are.

But if all of those other things happen it will get very messy.

fran441 · March 18, 2003 6:57AM

Taking control of the country will hopefully be quick, but last night Bush gave Saddam Hussein a 2 day headstart to hide.

We still haven't found Bin Laden or Mullah Omar, even know we supposedly know the general location of where they are, and we know that Saddam Hussein has hundreds (if not thousands) of places to hide out, and that's just in Iraq.

We'll see what happens in a few short hours I guess.

ra · March 18, 2003 10:31AM

Quote:

Originally posted by RodUK

On the other hand, news footage seems to show Iraqi civillians arming themselves ready to kill American soldiers,

What the news footage doesn't show is that Iraqi soldiers are there behind the cameras, and if the civilians don't say what they're supposed to, they get their tongues cut out.

digitalmonkeyboy · March 18, 2003 5:57PM

We're likely looking at a very fast dissent in Iraqi military. There will stil be 50000 or so that will fight it out but from intelligence reports according to popular media morale is very low and encampments are few and far between.

If the attack is fast and precise there will be a fast end, even much faster than the Gulf War...Saddam didn't hold up well mentally himself in that war. I don't think Iraq has much "manpower" left in them due to heavy sanctioning and the promise of the ability to raise a white flag to the enemy.

Two weeks.

+chemical weapons a couple months.

But then attacks from Iran/Jordanian uprising and then homeland attacks could ensue. At such a frightening point I do not care to speculate.

Will a war be long and drawn out or over quickly?

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