Bush's Widening War - Vietnam's 'Flying Gunships' Deployed Back to Iraq

[bigtree]

$244,349,244,903 U.S. dollars spent on Iraq and Afghanistan;

2,294 U.S. troops dead;

Over 15,500 U.S. troops seriously wounded

Almost 30,000 Iraqi civilians killed


Violence stalls cuts in troops

March 2, 2006 WASHINGTON - Senior Pentagon officials said Wednesday that after a burst of sectarian violence in Iraq, it is unlikely that an announcement of troop cuts there would be made next week, as had been expected.

``No decision on U.S. forces is likely, given conditions on the ground,'' said a senior Pentagon official.

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The Iraqi president says he has assurances U.S. forces to stay as long as needed. Talabani said Abizaid assured him Saturday that U.S. forces "are ready to stay as long as we ask them, no matter what the period is"

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U.S. sending flying gunships back to Iraq

Armed AC-130 airplanes a tool to help counter Iraqi resistance

By CHARLES J. HANLEY The Associated Press

AN AIR BASE IN IRAQ — The U.S. Air Force has begun moving heavily armed AC-130 airplanes — the lethal “flying gunships” of the Vietnam War — to a base in Iraq as commanders search for new tools to counter the Iraqi resistance, The Associated Press has learned.

The gunships were designed primarily for battlefield use to place saturated fire on massed troops. In Vietnam, for example, they were deployed against North Vietnamese supply convoys along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, where the Air Force claimed to have destroyed 10,000 trucks over several years.

The use of AC-130s in places like Fallujah, urban settings where insurgents may be among crowded populations of noncombatants, has been criticized by human rights groups.

“It’s got tons of guns, and it’s got all kinds of stuff on it that can be applied to the problems you have,” Brig. Gen. Frank Gorenc, who refused to discuss the current AC-130 deployment, said in an AP interview.

[_testify_]

1. This part scares me:

"The gunships were designed primarily for battlefield use to place saturated fire on massed troops."

In this conflict, there are no massed troops - just hit & run, guerrilla warfare. What on earth would an AC-130 be needed for??







Oh, I forgot - to kill innocent people.

[stillcool]

2. I seem to recall a while back....

the discussion about increased use of 'air-power' at the time of troop withdrawals...I guess that was 'psy-ops leakage'...

[doublethink]

3. Yep you got it ........

I'm beginning to believe the incursion into 'Iran' coming up will be tied into a regional conflict (OPLAN 1002-04 - The Khuzestan) somehow. Blaming the ongoing unrest in Iraq on the Iranians, go across the border a few kilometers (while securing 90% of the Iranian Oil Reserves) and spread from there. Keep tying the dots together and watch it 'happen' not like a big invasion most invision, but a step at a time ..... crazy. Peace (I always sign off peace) :)

[brokensymmetry]

4. But...but...but the critical point has passed.

Peace is about to break out! Iraqis love us for our freedoms! The number-two man from AlQueda has just been captured!

So, clearly, the AC-130s have been sent over there for storage. Yeah, that's it. Storage.

:sarcasm:

[_testify_]

5. Yeah, the dry air does wonders for preventing corrosion.

[mhr]

6. See This Post For More Details On The AC-130

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x573645

[catnhatnh]

7. They are called "Spooky" or "Puff"....

and I saw them work out in '72 and they were frightening as hell then-I'm sure they have been much improved in the last 3 decades....I'm bettin' however, they have not reduced the possibility (read:cold,hard,fact) of collateral damage......

[Clara T]

8. Kicked and Recommended- Need More

Precisely. The widening war. And it will be done from the air on a continuous basis. Similar in manner to the "No-Fly Zone" 13 year incessant bombing of Iraq but at greater force and frequency and a bit more widespread.

[Neil Lisst]

9. Here's the Bush dilemma - how to escalate without adding troops

How?

1. Use Air Force and Navy assets more.

2. Use forces that can be stationed outside Iraq.

3. Use more serious hardware, as with the gunships.

4. Use more "contractors."

I see all of the above coming the next few months, at least.