Bill Sykes' Newsletter
from America.
(April 2003)
An ex-Brit gives his views-(without fear
or favor)---of the American Scene
Late breaking news.
 It
was announced today that a subsidiary of the Halliburton
Company, (The company that Vice-President Cheney was associated
with prior to becoming the American VP), has been given
a large contract to participate in the rebuilding of Iraq.
It was stated that Iraqi oil would pay for most of the
associated costs of the rebuilding process. I wondered
when the question would rise as to who would be the beneficiary
of Iraqi oil. Now we know.
How goes the battle. (Thursday 27th March 2003).
 Obviously
I am not privy to General Tommy Franks battle plan, and
can only make observation based upon incoming news reports.
It would appear to this lowly non-com that maybe a terrible
military blunder is in the making, that in the haste to
enter the city of Baghdad the coalition ground troops
have got too far ahead of their supply lines, by skirting
cities where resistance could be anticipated, and are
currently slowed down due to adverse weather conditions.
Desert sand storms can be ferocious and unpredictable
and can do tremendous damage to military machinery such
as tanks and especially helicopters which are extremely
vulnerable to sand ingestion.
Military blunders of the past have occurred in similar
situations when supply echelons were unable to keep up
with forward troops, and supplies of food, water, ammunition,
fuel, and medical support, plus all the other accoutrements
of war were not readily available. In this particular
case there is the secondary problem, the port city of
Uhm Qasr has not been fully secured and cleared of mines,
so incoming supplies may be delayed.
A prime example of a past military blunder in similar
but more severe weather conditions, (due to a longer and
more sustained duration of winter snow), comes to mind,
the German advance on Stalingrad, during the onset of
a Russian winter when particularly violent snow storms
and intense cold took its toll causing a tremendous loss
of life on both sides.
I sincerely hope that the same thing, a terrible loss
of life due to weather and lack of essential supplies,
does not happen to the coalition troops in Iraq.
We welcome feedback about any of the contents
of these newsletters. Please send all correspondence to
bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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