Quote:
Originally Posted by Panther Al
Never understood why he stopped: A 24 hour stand-down would have doctrinally correct with the pact style doctrine they used, in fact, I assumed that was what was going on. Even 72hrs may have been possible, but past that, there was no chance to go south. One of the many what-if's I like to think about is what-if he followed doctrine and swung south 24-36 hours after he swept the last of the Kuwaiti resistance away?
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This has been wargamed, both officially and by wargamers, the results have been surprisingly even. In every game, if Saddam goes for broke after nailing Kuwait, he's well into Saudi Arabia before the US can intervene effectively. I've seen the coastal strip on the Saudi side of the PG go down, the capital fall, in one game I've even seen Mecca fall to the Republican Guard. Most of the games have Saddam taking the key oil fields AND managing to hold them in the wake of an Coalition counterattack. And the wargames always wind up with a light brigade drawing a line in the sand. And then getting smoked when the Republican Guard goes for broke. Maybe its the wargammer's last round mentality...but dropping a shitload of heavy artillery on paratroopers and then following up with three armored divisions on a narrow front......well, George Patton always claimed that the best use for enemy soldiers was greasing his tank's tracks....just don't think he meant it this way!