After fits and starts, real war begins
Conflict in Iraq becomes a more traditional battle than expected
Sunday, March 30, 2003
BY JOHN HASSELL
Star-Ledger Staff
So far, the effects have not been debilitating. The Marines' 1st Expeditionary Force has been pressed into guerrilla-hunting missions that have prevented it from moving as quickly as planned against Saddam's eastern flank, and some advance troops have been forced to subsist on reduced rations. But military analysts say the shortages and stop-and-go movements have not altered the fact that coalition troops continue to move on Baghdad.
"It's inevitable that supply lines will be hit," said Patrick Garrett, a senior fellow at GlobalSecurity.org, a defense policy think tank in Alexandria, Va. "They are soft targets and a natural mark for guerrillas." But, he added, "supply routes are redundant systems, and there are multiple ways to get things to the front."
Coalition forces proved that late last week when they opened the mothballed airport at Tallil, just five miles from Nasiriya. By seizing control of the facility and ridding it of booby traps, U.S. soldiers created a platform for C-130 transport planes to deliver tons of supplies far up the supply line.
In the end, Garrett said, the damage inflicted by Iraqi paramilitaries and regular troops may buy Saddam some time. But as the seizure of Tallil's air base made clear, "the coalition troops will get to Baghdad, one way or the other."
At that point, military experts said, the real war will begin -- an urban conflict in the Iraqi capital that will define victory or defeat. When that day comes, Nash predicted, no one will remember the Iraqi army's early successes in the south.
"Six months from now," he said, "you won't remember this."
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