SADDAM'S SOLDIERS ALREADY SURRENDERING

[Rob-TheStormChaser]

This is what happened in 1991 when I got over there as well.....read on:

Mar 9 2003
SundayMirror, U.K.

Mike Hamilton reports from Camp Coyote in Kuwait

“TERRIFIED Iraqi soldiers have crossed the Kuwait border and tried to surrender to British forces - because they thought the war had already started.

The motley band of a dozen troops waved the white flag as British paratroopers tested their weapons during a routine exercise.

The stunned Paras from 16 Air Assault Brigade were forced to tell the Iraqis they were not firing at them, and ordered them back to their home country telling them it was too early to surrender.

The drama unfolded last Monday as the Para batallion tested mortars and artillery weapons to make sure they were working properly.

The Iraqis found a way across the fortified border, which is sealed off with barbed-wire fencing, watchtowers and huge trenches.

A British Army source in Kuwait contacted me to explain how the extraordinary surrender bid unfolded. The source said: "The British guys on the front-line could not believe what was happening. They were on pre-war exercises when all of a sudden these Iraqis turned up out of nowhere, with their hands in the air, saying they wanted to surrender.

"They had heard firing and thought it was the start of the war.

"The Paras are a tough, battle-hardened lot but were moved by the plight of the Iraqis. There was nothing they could do other than send them back.

"They were a motley bunch and you could barely describe them as soldiers - they were poorly equipped and didn't even have proper boots. Their physical condition was dreadful and they had obviously not had a square meal for ages. No one has ever known a group of so-called soldiers surrender before a shot has been fired in anger."

Last night the Ministry of Defence officially denied the incident had taken place, but the story was corroborated by an intelligence source.

Meanwhile Saddam Hussein has ordered thousands of troops back to Baghdad as he turns the city into a fortress.

It is believed that two rings of steel are being established around Baghdad. The outer one consists of regular Iraqi army soldiers and the inner one is made up of Republican Guard fighters - thought to be the only troops that will put up fierce resistance.”

[mf_dolphin]

The last war had the first instance of ground troops surrendering to a helicopter! LOL This one takes the cake! I wonder if the British troops gave them a raincheck before they sent them back? You know, a ticket that says "Good for One Free Surrender> Expires March 17th"

[Rob-TheStormChaser]

lol....those poor souls have no chance.....this is just a new regime of Saddam's troops being flung out into open spaces to defend themselves....they will be surrendering in the 10s of thousands again..I gaurantee it.

[mf_dolphin]

It must be an Iraqi military strategy...overwhelm your opponent with surrendering troops. I bet we're better prepared this time for it lol

I'm glad to here about the two ring style of defense. The M1A2 tanks can have their pick of targets. Start on the regular army and work their way in to the Republican Guard. Just for the records folks, 12 years ago we didn't lose a single tank. The Iraqi's lost hundreds. They have the same tanks as 12 years ago and a lot of ours have been upgraded. What to bet on the outcome??

[Rob-TheStormChaser]

lol Love those Abrams and Bradleys! I still have a heavy license for tracked vehicles....all of them! I used to be in S-2 and S-3 which was part of out HQ Battalion and they forced it upon some of us to drive those things in case our enemy took out a driver! lol Imagine parallel parking a tank like that and jumping hills and going underwater just for a drivers test! I remember going into Iraq and our unit was first there, along with the Big Red 1...1st Infantry and all the rest of the VII Corps....they never had a chance....IMO it was LESS than the 100 hour war we encountered....more like 10.

[Amanzi]

You are right Rob. They are poor souls, they know there is no way they can beat the might of military power they are about to face. (can you imagine having a mad man for a leader and having to face the most powerful nation in the world)

[mf_dolphin]

Instead of leaflets maybe we should drop surrender flags!

[Rob-TheStormChaser]

lol I have a ton of those leaflets where they had them scattered all over the desert in 1991....they actually directed them to surrender or be killed...in a nutshell.

[streetsoldier]

My then-son-in-law was a Navy corpsman in a Bradley vehicle with the 2nd Marines in Desert Shield/Storm; they were a cerwman short, so they put HIM on top on the M-60 (Navy corpsmen are not supposed to be armed, being medical personnel, but he didn't complain!).

His group did an "end-run" around Kuwait, from the Saudi border through Iraq towards Basra, then due south to enter Kuwait from the north; all he saw were hundreds of surrendering, starving and ill-equipped Iraqi soldiers, except for the Republican Guard troops to the west of him.

After the battle was over, it was his job to pick through the RG troops looking for wounded survivors to treat; one of these men gave him his shoulder board "slips", green with three white rubber stars (Captain), which he was allowed to bring home.

He also gave me his "blood chit" which had US and UK flags on it, and a statement asking for food and assistance in Arabic, Kurdish, English and Russian on silk...wish I still had it.

[Rob-TheStormChaser]

You'd never be able to truly distinguish those Iraqis over there...even in the times of surrender....once one goes out of their poorly dug in trenches, they all followed suit. I imagine many higher ranking personnel got creamed and never found again in some of those armored vehicles when our Corps came thru like a steamroller.

[northweststormchaser]

We have a army there right know of 300,000 in more is coming in thats just a part of are power saddam is going to be sorry he ever messed with the united states of america.

[rainstorm]

of course, they were killed once they were returned to iraqi lines, along with their families in iraq. was it right for them to be returned?

[vbhoutex]

Instead of leaflets maybe we should drop surrender flags!

DROP BOTH!!! Those leaflets are very effective from what I hear!!!

[Rob-TheStormChaser]

They sure are! I must have about 100 of them from the 1st time! Great souveniers!

[streetsoldier]

This just occurred to me; if the British had offered quarter to those "Iraqi soldiers" and kept them, they (and we, in future) could be making the same error as we did in Afghanistan by letting disguised Al Qaida operatives through our lines...visions of that debacle at Bagram come to mind, or even worse. :?

[M2]

Bill & rainstorm could be both right which is why it's going to be a tough war. If those guys were just poor Iraqi troops, hungary and ill-equipped - and they were 'recalled back to Baghdad' - then unfortunately they were more than likely snuffed by Saddam. If on the other hand they were al Qaeda terrorists or suicide sacrifices, then the Brits were lucky at this point but that is just a precursor of what could be small attack groups terrorizing the troops. Again, if Captain Insaneo has pulled back all troops around Baghdad, what if he decides that No One will have the opportunity to surrender anymore - he'll snuff himself (if he's still there), all of his doubles, his guards, his people and his troops in one Big Bang within central Baghdad, taking out a good portion of OUR troops who are in the area also. That's not a good scenario. If he has a WMD, he just may well use it in town.