Re: [A-List] Why any war with Iraq will be over in a flash - timesonline.co.uk

["bon moun" <sherrynstan@xxxxxxx>]

Yes, the gadgets are very impressive.  That's why US troops in Afghanistan
are now confined to sandbagged bases, and require huge armed convoys to
perform the most mundane tasks, just as they did in Somalia, circa 1993.

http://www.freedomroad.org/milmatters_4_victoriesover.html


2,000,000+
Is the US criminal justice system a weapon of mass destruction?

Money for reparations, not for war!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ralph Johansen" <michele@xxxxxxxx>
To: "Ralph Johansen" <michele@xxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, December 25, 2002 8:55 PM
Subject: [A-List] Why any war with Iraq will be over in a flash -
timesonline.co.uk


> Times OnLine
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-523686,00.html
>
> World News
> December 24, 2002
>
> Why any war with Iraq will be over in a flash
> by Michael Evans
>
> The power of America's technological trump cards
>
> THE planned war against Iraq is intended to be one of the fastest
> operations yet conducted, possibly using secret new weapons to overcome
> Iraqi resistance and topple Saddam Hussein.
>
> The creation of satellite-guided missiles has extended America's
> superiority over Iraq by such a large margin that the first night of air
> attacks could see hundreds of targets destroyed or damaged.
>
> But America's new technological trump card is the microwave bomb, which
> is capable of knocking out Baghdad's electricity supplies without
> damaging a single building.
>
> An early version of this concept was tested by the Americans in the 1999
> air campaign over Yugoslavia when cluster bombs containing carbon fibre
> filaments were dropped on electricity supply lines in Belgrade and other
> cities, causing massive short-circuits.
>
> If it is deployed, the latest "directed energy weapon" would involve
> bathing areas of Baghdad in waves of high-frequency electromagnetic
> pulses, crippling computers and power supplies linking the Iraqi capital
> to the country's air defences.
>
> However, Rob Hewson, Editor of Jane's Air-Launched Weapons, said: "The
> Americans are being deliberately vague about these directed energy
> weapons.
>
> "They have reached an advanced stage in development and have been
> tested. Basically, a microwave weapon would fry the electrics, but it
> would be indiscriminate, not just turning off electricity for Iraq's
> radar stations, but also affecting power to hospitals and schools.
>
> "Will the Americans risk using such a weapon?" It will also be a laptop
> war. One of the key lessons learnt from Afghanistan, which will be put
> to good use in Iraq, was the ability of special forces, armed with
> backpack, satellite-connected laptops, to communicate by data-link with
> every type of aircraft.
>
> The covert soldiers were able to use a marker pen on their laptop
> screens to pinpoint moving targets, guiding bombs to within a few feet
> of the enemy, if not a direct hit.
>
> Twelve years ago, it was the F117 Stealth fighter and Tomahawk cruise
> missile which dominated the battlefield.
>
> This time, if war becomes necessary, it will be the satellite-linked
> Joint Direct Attack Munition (Jdam), the B2 Stealth Bomber, and unmanned
> spy drones watching every move on the ground which will play the big
> roles in determining Saddam's fate.
>
> The whole thrust of the new campaign against Saddam would be based on
> high-tech, high-speed, and ultra highimpact.
>
> The Jdam is just a tail-kit attached to a "dumb" bomb, converting it
> into one of the smartest weapon systems around.
>
> The kits, each costing "just" £16,500 ? extraordinarily cheap in a
> superpower's warfighting inventory ? link the 1,000lb or 2,000lb bomb to
> the satellite Global Positioning System (GPS) network, guaranteeing
> greater accuracy than ever before.
>
> In a space shuttle mission in 2000, sponsored by the Pentagon's National
> Imagery and Mapping Agency, special radars collected topographic data
> for about 80 per cent of the globe, minutely plotting the undulations of
> the Earth's surface. With this information, the Jdam bomb will be
> capable of landing within a few yards of its target.
>
> Another new weapon will be crucial in destroying targets on the move,
> such as Iraqi tanks and artillery.
>
> The Joint Standoff Weapon (Jsow) is known as a "launch-and-leave"
> system, fired from an aircraft at a range of about 40 miles and at high
> altitude.
>
> The missile receives in-flight target updates from a US Air
> Force-converted Boeing 707-300, known as an E8C Joint Surveillance
> Target Attack Radar System (Joint Stars) aircraft.
>
> The Jsow is currently fitted to B2s, B52s, F16s and the carrier-based
> FA18s.
>
> Four other post-1991 Gulf War weapon systems will also have a big impact
> on Iraq because they played a noticeably significant role in the
> campaign over Afghanistan. They are:
>
> o The B2 Stealth bomber, to be based at Diego Garcia, the British-owned
> Indian Ocean island, and possibly at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
>
> It is estimated that on the first night of air attacks on Iraq, 16 B2s,
> armed with Jdams, would be able to hit more than 200 targets. This would
> have taken several weeks in the 1991 war.
>
> o The Predator unmanned spy drone, armed with Hellfire missiles. This
> system is not invulnerable, but it transformed the battlefield in
> Afghanistan by providing accurate information of al-Qaeda and Taleban
> movements there.
>
> A Hellfire fired by a Predator using remote control killed leading
> al-Qaeda figures travelling in a vehicle in Yemen last month.
>
> o Thermobaric bombs, which are fuel-rich explosives that suck air out of
> a confined space, creating a lethal combination of heat and pressure.
>
> They were used for the first time in Afghanistan against Osama bin
> Laden's suspected cave hideouts. The special warheads were integrated
> into laser-guided missiles launched by F15s.
>
> The explosives, which burn for longer than conventional explosives,
> would be particularly effective at incinerating chemical and biological
> agents.
>
> The US Marines are getting shoulder-mounted thermobaric weapons which,
> if ready in time for a war with Iraq, could have devastating potential
> in streetfighting in Baghdad.
>
> o The FA18E/F Super Hornet, which is about 25 per cent larger than its
> predecessor. It also has a greater range and more armaments. The first
> operational Super Hornets were put on board the aircraft carrier USS
> Abraham Lincoln.
>
> With such an array of firepower, the US will inevitably dwarf anything
> Britain will be able to contribute.
>
> The Royal Navy has landattack Tomahawk cruise missiles, but relatively
> few. The RAF is also waiting for its first delivery of a new
> air-launched cruise missile called Storm Shadow. It's behind schedule
> and may not be ready in time.
>
> However, even if production is rushed through, Mr Hewson of Jane's said
> that the RAF was hardly likely to fire too many of them; they each cost
> about £500,000.
>
> "That's like launching a three-bedroom house in London at an Iraqi
> target," he said.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
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