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From: cdr@brahms.AMD.COM (Carl Rigney)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: U.S. Ground Vulnerablity
Message-ID: <1990Aug28.043325.889@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 28 Aug 90 04:33:25 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
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From: cdr@brahms.AMD.COM (Carl Rigney)
I think you're underestimating the value of Air Superiority in desert
warfare.  As Rommel said in the 40s and Israel showed in 1967, its
*very* hard to mass forces for a worthwhile armored attack when it just
makes you a bigger target, and when your resupply has to creep along at
night if at all.  Rommel managed some clever tricks, but Iraq hardly
has anyone of that caliber.

Iraq has 5000 tanks but half are obsolete, and they can't afford to
use *all* of them on one front, with Syria and Iran at their back (and
even Turkey, if they're paranoid enough).

All the same, I'm sure the U.S. forces will be much happier when they
have some armor of their own.  From what I've read, Non-mechanized
Infantry is more of a liability than an asset in the desert.  Rommel
characterized desert warfare as tank warfare in its purest form -
mobility is everything.

--
Carl Rigney
cdr@amd.com

"It is not big armies that win battles; it is the good ones." 
-- Maurice de Saxe