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Operation "Iraqi freedom", launched one and a half year ago and
still very much underway, has been characterised by both very brilliant military
results in a first phase, and increasingly worrying aspects in the following
phases.
On the positive side,
the U.S. / Coalition forces have been able to obtain within no more than
21 days a decisive military victory, achieving al1 the objectives that had
been assigned to them. This Startling success has been won through a
combination of several factors: accurate and efficient preliminary
operational planning; excellent professional level of the troops; total
technological superiority thanks to the deployment of very advanced weapon
systems and C4I assets; absolute control of the air space; and, last but
not least, very modest when not totally absent reaction by the Iraqi Armed
Forces.
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A USMC
convoy on the move in Iraq. The MTVR series trucks are not
armoured, but are each equipped with a 7.62mm or 12.7mm machine
gun manned by an additional third drew member. |
But the initial easy
victory, which had led to expectations for the conflict to be quickly
concluded, has rather been followed by a negative development phase whose
main aspect, in military terms, is represented by the increasing
difficulties the US/Coalition forces and their Iraqi allies are facing in
trying to maintain (or rather enforce) peace and security in either the
urban areas or the countryside. A corollary of these difficulties involves
the lack of safety and security of the indispensable logistic traffic
along the main roads and highways. This latter problems is the subject for
this article.
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