The actual plan called for the Marines to swing in from the East and encircle the city along with the 3rd ID., thus preventing high level Baathists from escaping, as well as putting more forces on location should the government collapse and general order be lost.
When the Thunder Runs were launched by the on scene commander, they were done so with zero marine forces in place, and with no cordon at all around the city. What's more, there were no security forces present to maintain any semblance of order whatsoever once the gov't fell.
What the onscene commander did was fire an armored arrow right into the heart of Saddam's regime. That arrow- for better or for worse- struck deep and true, and we ended up with what we ended up with....
What was it that Rumsfeld called it? Ah, yes, "Catastrophic victory."
The Thunder Runs as they occurred were, in my estimation, ill timed, ill advised, and generally... not smart.
But they were certainly bold and "glorious."
It's a shame no one realized that gun shields would have saved lives in advance though...one of those many lessons that were forgotten (it defies belief to me that someone could forget that exposed gunners get shot at- a lot), and which will probably be forgotten again.
When the Thunder Runs were launched by the on scene commander, they were done so with zero marine forces in place, and with no cordon at all around the city. What's more, there were no security forces present to maintain any semblance of order whatsoever once the gov't fell.
What the onscene commander did was fire an armored arrow right into the heart of Saddam's regime. That arrow- for better or for worse- struck deep and true, and we ended up with what we ended up with....
What was it that Rumsfeld called it? Ah, yes, "Catastrophic victory."
The Thunder Runs as they occurred were, in my estimation, ill timed, ill advised, and generally... not smart.
But they were certainly bold and "glorious."
It's a shame no one realized that gun shields would have saved lives in advance though...one of those many lessons that were forgotten (it defies belief to me that someone could forget that exposed gunners get shot at- a lot), and which will probably be forgotten again.
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