Fun fact the bunker busting "GBU-28" bombs that are still warm from the molten explosives were produced by using decommissioned howitzer barrels, re-machining them, fitting them with guidance and directional control, and pouring molten explosives into what was previously an artillery barrel which, in it's previous life as artillery would fire 8 inch, or 203mm artillery shells. If you are unfamiliar with them, check out The Fat Electrician's "The bunker busting howitzer bomb that ended Desert Storm" here on YT
Just because an army retreats does not mean they can not make or have set fall back positions. You keep hitting them until they have nothing left to fight back with.
@@apolloaero I'm 2/7 weapons 1st Mar. Div. Marines don't have "retreat" in the handbook. That's a true fact. It's either stay put or forward. And most days, it's forward. I think it's funny they told the USMC 1st Div. to stop...lmao! We busted the minefields and obstacles to create a freeway across the desert. Blasted across that obsticlefest and stopped. I assure you every Marine was like "FUBAR, Same shit, different day""We need to keep moving in THAT direction!". If you noticed...The only Arab forces were on the coast. Also, 1st Mar Div was there to their left flank watching over them...uh...I mean we were in defensive positions ready to attack...I didn't mean to say we were babysitting...That's my story. Also, there were amphibious Marines offshore to their right flank...Not babysitting as well...Ahem. That is why the Marine corps exists. Amphibious landings are the most difficult thing to pull off in war. We'd been drilling on maneuvers for weeks off the Iraqi coast. Saddam moved/relocated a ton of his forces along the coast from other positions all over Iraq and Kuwait. EVERYONE was sure the Marines were coming for them. Including the USMC...lol Also, we told the Arabs that the mine field was in front of them. We made sure they had lots of food...especially onions. Water, especially USA water. Remember..Logistics. AKA bring in an over abundance of showers and hot water. Chow from a real kitchen. Tents to sleep in all snuggly like a bug in a rug every night. As the enemy is carpet bombed on the hour 24/7 for weeks. Ethnic music is a major moral booster. They like to rock out just like us. So when they eventually crossed over the border to take their country back. They looked and smelled like a million bucks. They came in w/o resistance. People lining the streets to welcome them home. Americans received that same warm hospitality and thanks. The reasons for all this was 2 fold. It was a shiny distraction and a feint from the coastal fronts. It also surrounded the eventual Arab forces to go across the border first. An Arab sandwich with USMC bread. Also...Full USMC air cover. Not a damn thing was ever going to even come close to touching the Arabs. We wanted all of them Arab men to return to a heroes welcome, and they all did with a story to tell. Americans are much much better at killing themselves than the enemy ever will be. Combined arms is extremely difficult to pull off. That's why America is heads and tails above the world. Combined arms. Industrial Manufacturing. Logistics. Training. America invests more than the world combined on defense. This is why. Russia is why. N. Korea and China. All of them know America would vaporise them even if they all attacked at once. Never ever believe the sabre rattles. Dictators have it pretty cushy. Think...Does anyone wanna poke NATO/America in the chest and talk shit about river of blood in the streets and the "mother of all wars" etc.? Not a chance. It'd be either financially ruined or dead whether by bomb or govt. overthrown by their own people.
Exactly, especially with the modern concept of "defense in depth", or having a series of pre-established defensive lines to which you can displace as you're pushed-back. This was one of the reasons Patton was so successful in WW2 where other commanders failed; his tanks and dedicated "red ball express" supply lines (crewed exclusively by Black American servicemembers, an honour unintentionally created by the racial segregation in the US military at the time, a practice that caused considerable friction with their non-segregating UK allies) just kept hitting the Nazi forces over and over, never allowing them the short time necessary to re-entrench in one of their other pre-existing fortified positions. Not keeping-on that level of pressure is largely why the Allied offensive into Italy ultimately failed, at an incredibly-high price in lives and materiel. That failure forced the Allies to endure the slaughter necessary to take the beaches at Normandy. One has to understand that attacking a fortified position is absolute murder. The rule of thumb is that an attacker needs at least 3 times the numbers of the defenders, simply because they can expect that many casualties as they slog their way through the bloody kill-zones. Keeping your enemy from being able to leverage that advantage repeatedly justifies almost any means used to achieve that end.
@@apolloaero True. Tac retreats aren't even a rout, as "routing" is defined as a loss of operational control and an abandonment of equipment. Basically, if they still have their weapons and are moving under orders, the enemy is retreating; if they're dropping their gear and running as a chaotic mob, that's a rout. Historically, it has long been the case that retreats are where wars are decided. Battles themselves often produce relatively minimal casualties that tend to be fairly equal, but it's when one side breaks and runs that the opportunity to destroy them as a fighting force arises. And that opportunity is either seized or lost, the latter option often meaning that the war continues. It's the difference between war and sport, really. If you're going to have to employ violence, best to do it in as short and sharp a fashion as possible. That, counter-intuitively, tends to be the way that ends the conflict with as little overall violence as possible.
Absolutely - this family was savage, and they would do anything to stop this invasion. Please check out the videos about Saddam's sons and you will be so disgusted, and the fact that the people supported them.
One of the main objectives in Desert Storm, and most any war, is too ensure that the enemy does not have the capability to continue to fight. Which means they want to be sure they do not have a standing army, or even enough men alive to form an army. It sounds brutal, however, you have to be sure they can no longer fight and save lives in the long run.
This video brings back memories, I was in desert storm in the United States. Marine Corps, and we went through the burning oil fields into Kuwait city, and we spent the night in the oil fields.
Dude that had to suck. Much respect for you Brother. Post Ground War, those same fires caused my pilots to miss an oncoming sand dune. We skipped across the top of it. Tore the bird UP. Missed being called home by inches.
@@edt6290 we stopped for the night in the middle of the oil fields and dug holes big enough to fit in and cover them with our poncho liners and slept well. One person stood watch, and then we switch off every four hours.
6:34 : The lack of onions was the decisive factor in the battle. I'll bet Napolean's Old Guard lacked onions in their diet just before the battle of Waterloo.
Interesting stuff, too. IIRC, the fires were much too hot to put-out via conventional means, and so a counter-intuitive approach was taken; the use of dynamite. Blasts near the base of the gushing wells consumed all the oxygen in the local area, snuffing the flames and allowing local temperatures to fall sufficiently so that new oil emerging from underground stopped immediately using heat to react with oxygen in the air and thus creating new flames.
I was there 5th of 8th Field Artillery. We went into Iraq and gave Artillery support to the mechanized divisions. We hammered them with 155mm shells for 5 days. When cease fire was called we were right outside Baghdad ready to put Artillery on the city if needed be. I still remember the Sand Storm and visibility being low , but we continued raining artillery down thru the 5 days. Had Apaches helicopters all around us along with the Wart Hogs , MLRS rocket systems. The sky’s where lite up like the 4th of July with so much fire power we sent down range.
I remember the build up. We helped maintence on equipment that went to desert Strom the city i worked for gave us thank you letters for participating in desert strom? I said all I did was fix hydraulic on trucks in the middle of the states.gezz
I was a Dust Off guy supporting 7th Corp on the FLOAT. The Army says it was a 100 hour ground war. While in it, it felt a lot longer than that. Almost no sleep and all go, go, go. I'm surprised there wasn't more friendly fire incidents. The thing I believe was missed, the Iraqi government told their soldiers that they were fighting other Arab nations that had aligned with Israel. That it was a holy war. Most had know idea the US was coming for them. At least that's what came out 8n conversation with some EPW's I spoke with.
As the guys above me said. The reason you keep killing and pursuing the retreating Army is because they haven't surrendered, and at any point they can stop re-establish defensive lines and then your back in the middle of a hot fight. When the enemy goes on the run it's your job to take care advantage of chaos. This has been true for thousands of year's. The more disciplined you are the better the results. The main thing is you don't want to out run your supply lines for obvious reasons. 2nd often times in the fast pace collapse your own lines start becoming disorganized. Instead of advancing at the same pace. Here again this can create a chance for a counter attack.
Once again I feel the need to mention that the large friendly unit mark put on Collation Forces was a special paint. Although it looked like Flat Black (i.e. no shine) paint, it wasn't!!! I wonder how many friendly fire incidences were because dust, sand and dirt covered the markings or someone couldn't find the correct paint and substituted flat black paint instead......
i have been fortunate enough to fight beside UK soldiers (not "officially"). i have rarely been so proud as when i was with my brothers from across the pond.
I was in college going to nursing school when this war broke out. My sister joined the army and was stationed in a German military hospital taking care of the wounded. So I spent all day in school and spent the rest of the night doing homework while watching this on TV. I didn’t get more than a couple hours of sleep per night until the war was over. Thankfully it was a short war otherwise I would have died of exhaustion. But you guys should do some reactions to actual footage of the gulf/Iraq wars, especially the night of “shock and awe” bombings in Iraq. That was intense and I feel bad for any civilian that had to go through it. Thankfully smart weapons were mainly used so it did reduce the civilian casualties...but it had too be hell for them.
Uuuhh I don't know if those smart bombs worked ir not but around 250000-400000 iraq civilians were killed in the war many of them beacause of US bombing.JUSTIFY THAT.
The attacks continuing when the enemy retreats is about removing the enemy's ability to wage war. They were warned this would happen if they didn't leave Kuwait.
Funky Cold Medina. The reason they wanted to go after the fleeing Iraqis was to destroy the armor - tanks and BMPs etc, so Saddam would have a smaller army.
Honor among combatants still exists in war. The tribute the American commander paid to his Iraqi enemy is both noble and honorable. They did their job and stood their ground and fought like the soldiers they are!
More like needlessly got slaughtered. Getting slaughtered isn't honorable and we shouldn't say it is. It's stupid, it's like a 5 ft woman fighting a 7ft wilt or shaq, it's stupid not noble or honorable.
I was there 3ID 3BDE and was informed at the time that Kuwait was occupied with only Iraqi Reserve units and national guard. Not regular military units
Degrading the Republican Guard was a secondary goal to keep Iraq from threatening Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other allies in the future. That's why they were still attacking retreating Guard divisions.
I was with the Military Police of the 2nd Marine Division and unlike most we were permitted to enter Kuwait City (traffic control is kinda important in a city) so got to greet the various arab forces as they came to liberate the city. I think letting the Arabs (particularly the Kuwaiti's) liberate the city was an excellent call. I also got to see the the infamous "highway of Death", please note the lack of significant numbers of bodies. Our aircraft/helo's buzzed the highway before opening fire to warn the Iraqi's to abandon their vehicles.
War unfortunately happens. I know as a retired vet what we aimed at was the weapons of war tank plains and such not people unless we were engaged with them. We want the weapons more than the person
I actually studied why they kept shooting at the highway of death the other day. There is a difference between withdrawing and surrendering. The Iraqis weren’t surrendering, they were pulling their forces back closer to Baghdad in defense making them still combatants
Being afforded the luxury of hindsight 30 years in the future isn't indicative of what was known at the time on the battlefield. This is still before real time ISR was prevalent and the fog of war is absolutely real. The coalition expected to take hefty casualties as Iraq was the 4th largest army at the time. Looking back with all the info makes it easy to pick and choose what everyone should and shouldn't have done and when.
When we discovered massive Iraqi troops trying to run back to Iraq in a huge column on what became known as the highway of death, a flight of B-1B's waited till they entered into a passage between large hills on either side of the road and them bombed the front vehicles, then bombed the rear vehicles, as MOST of the Iraqi soldiers then abandoned the vehicles and ran into the desert, our targets WERE NOT the soldiers, it was the equipment, and yes EVERYONE spent about 12 hours bombing and destroying all of those vehicles, I do not know why it was tagged the Highway of death, because while it is true, that SOME Iraqi troops did in fact die in it, but truthfully those numbers were pretty light considering what they could have been IF we had been targeting the soldiers, the decision was made to not allow Iraqi troops to return to Iraq with large numbers of tanks, fighting vehicles, fuel trucks, or any equipment that would be useful in the coming to reconquer Kuwait, so yes we did destroy thousands of vehicles, but human deaths on the so called highway of death were in fact pretty light.
U guys REALLY need to react to OIF drive for Baghdad..its about 50 min. But its actual helmet cam footage of all this ground war your reacting to now itll blow ur mind seeing it in real time ✌️✌️
@df3945 i just double checked the docu. Was the drive toward baghdad 2002 ..u can google "OIF The Drive for Baghdad " in google search itll give u all the info ✌️
A retreating army doesn't necessarily give up .. they often .. VERY often simply fall back and regroup. Dead enemy do not kill your forces. Playing fair is for suckers. Huh. Just looked up the location .. Medina Ridge was South West of Basra, Iraq. Interesting .. it was around Basra that my tank stopped at the cease fire. I say .. "around" as none of us "low level" types knew anything other than what we could see around us .. could have been on Mars as far as we knew.
The big focus on destroying Iraq’s Republican Guard divisions was because they were the main elements of the Iraqi military that Saddam Hussein would use against his own people or Iraq’s neighbors. The idea was that without them Saddam was no longer a threat to the region.
Practically the same thing happened to Putin's tank's T70's and troops in Ukraine,they were out gunned from distance and bogged down and not advancing.
I don’t feel too bad about the “highway of death” because the Iraqis were told to leave the military equipment behind. They tried to leave with their equipment plus the Kuwaitis equipment they stole. They were also still fighting as they were leaving. If they wouldn’t have tried to leave with equipment, they wouldn’t have been bombed into oblivion. But that looked bad because it was total destruction and it appeared the Iraqis were helpless (the weren’t...they just were out matched).
Should check out the fat electricians video on that bomb that was still warm from how newly made it was. It's an inspiration of American will to put warheads on foreheads lol
Historically, destroying armies occurs during the route/retreat. Allowing an enemy to retreat and fight another day is usually a bad idea. The difference in combat effectiveness here though highlights how unnecessary that would be. Iraqi forces will have zero misconceptions about retaliatory action in the near or far future. The coalition achieved its stated objectives and that needs to be acceptable. Sets a strong precedent for international military cooperation in the future. If the west ever goes to war, its for the objectives set by the civilian government and only those objectives. Not needless slaughter
I know this has nothing to do with this video which was great as were the previous 3.. But I was wondering if james watched the masters golf tournament today.
It turned out to be a mistake for the Americans, British and French to stop when they did. Had they continued to persue the Iraqi military until Saddam surrendered, it's very likely his regime would have been overthrown by the Kurdish fighters in the North of Iraq and the Shia Marsh Arabs in the south. By leaving parts of the Iraqi military intact, Saddam was able to brutally put down their uprising. This left the festering sore for Britain, France and the USA to police the No Fly Zones over Iraq until 2003. Had Bush not asked Stormin Norman that he wanted to stop, it's very likely the Iraq War in 2003 wouldn't have occurred.
The whole point of going after retreating forces was to eliminate all of Iraqi armored vehicles to prevent them from being a force to attack their neighbors ever again….. after all this is now the second neighbor that they have gone after….
The U.S. wanted to ensure they weakened the forces enough to prevent any further incursions into Iraq's neighbors but not so weak that Iran could attack Iraq once the coalition left.
The narrator is wrong about one thing I was with the 1st marine division task force grizzly and all but 5% of our tanks were the Abrams the 4th marine division which is a reserve unit had only 25% Abrams the rest were the M 60's.
Biggest reason to stop a retreat is the term "Tactical Retreat, not that these Iraq cowards would of done that but better to take out the enemy while you have them on the ropes, less they get another chance to kill friendlies.
They didnt want them retreating because they were trying to retreat back to their country from Kuwait...they didnt want Iraqi troops making it back to iraq
The Iraqi Republican Guard did stay to fight. They were soldiers...as a US Army vet who fight in that war, much respect to them. They didn't tuck tail and run.
Loved your videos on the war. I have to say, though (and with respect) that you seem to talk over the videos at times, instead of stopping and then talking. You miss a lot that way.... 😊
Don't you guys even reveiw your previous video when you do a continuation? The "lack of onion" comment was hardly random! In your video covering day 3, the coalition forces captured a convoy that had several trucks full of ONIONS! Duh!
After the Iraqis are defeated the Shiites of Iraq led a uprising against Saddam's Sunni led army thinking the US would help. Unfortunately, the same troops we showed mercy to and let get away massacred thousands of Shiites and destroyed their towns. The US had never promised assistance but did nothing to stop the slaughter. It was a mistake IMO to not degrade Saddam's army for fear of a power vacuum with Iran. And the Shiites & Kurds payed horribly.
Lowered the 🇺🇸 flag? We're good enough to liberate your country, but not good enough to fly our flag with yours? Maybe we should've let Saddam Hussein keep Kuwait?
Well, you guys were pretty nonchalant about the fact that the US killed more British soldiers than the Iraqis'. And I am a US Army Veteran. Not acceptable in my book. That British General that said fuck this, we are going east, away from the Americans was brilliant!
The "lack of onions" remark was a reference to a previous video where the allies stopped a convoy that had onions in them instead of weapons.
It was pure shade.
Yeah that made me laugh when I heard it
They forgot that part. They probably don’t make these videos the way we consume them. I’m sure they take some days off in between.
Fun fact the bunker busting "GBU-28" bombs that are still warm from the molten explosives were produced by using decommissioned howitzer barrels, re-machining them, fitting them with guidance and directional control, and pouring molten explosives into what was previously an artillery barrel which, in it's previous life as artillery would fire 8 inch, or 203mm artillery shells. If you are unfamiliar with them, check out The Fat Electrician's "The bunker busting howitzer bomb that ended Desert Storm" here on YT
Just because an army retreats does not mean they can not make or have set fall back positions. You keep hitting them until they have nothing left to fight back with.
Exactly, tactical retreats aren't a surrender
@@apolloaero
I'm 2/7 weapons 1st Mar. Div.
Marines don't have "retreat" in the handbook. That's a true fact. It's either stay put or forward. And most days, it's forward. I think it's funny they told the USMC 1st Div. to stop...lmao! We busted the minefields and obstacles to create a freeway across the desert. Blasted across that obsticlefest and stopped. I assure you every Marine was like "FUBAR, Same shit, different day""We need to keep moving in THAT direction!".
If you noticed...The only Arab forces were on the coast. Also, 1st Mar Div was there to their left flank watching over them...uh...I mean we were in defensive positions ready to attack...I didn't mean to say we were babysitting...That's my story.
Also, there were amphibious Marines offshore to their right flank...Not babysitting as well...Ahem.
That is why the Marine corps exists. Amphibious landings are the most difficult thing to pull off in war. We'd been drilling on maneuvers for weeks off the Iraqi coast. Saddam moved/relocated a ton of his forces along the coast from other positions all over Iraq and Kuwait. EVERYONE was sure the Marines were coming for them. Including the USMC...lol
Also, we told the Arabs that the mine field was in front of them. We made sure they had lots of food...especially onions. Water, especially USA water. Remember..Logistics. AKA bring in an over abundance of showers and hot water. Chow from a real kitchen. Tents to sleep in all snuggly like a bug in a rug every night. As the enemy is carpet bombed on the hour 24/7 for weeks. Ethnic music is a major moral booster. They like to rock out just like us. So when they eventually crossed over the border to take their country back. They looked and smelled like a million bucks. They came in w/o resistance. People lining the streets to welcome them home. Americans received that same warm hospitality and thanks.
The reasons for all this was 2 fold. It was a shiny distraction and a feint from the coastal fronts. It also surrounded the eventual Arab forces to go across the border first. An Arab sandwich with USMC bread. Also...Full USMC air cover. Not a damn thing was ever going to even come close to touching the Arabs. We wanted all of them Arab men to return to a heroes welcome, and they all did with a story to tell. Americans are much much better at killing themselves than the enemy ever will be. Combined arms is extremely difficult to pull off. That's why America is heads and tails above the world.
Combined arms. Industrial Manufacturing. Logistics. Training. America invests more than the world combined on defense. This is why. Russia is why. N. Korea and China. All of them know America would vaporise them even if they all attacked at once. Never ever believe the sabre rattles. Dictators have it pretty cushy. Think...Does anyone wanna poke NATO/America in the chest and talk shit about river of blood in the streets and the "mother of all wars" etc.? Not a chance. It'd be either financially ruined or dead whether by bomb or govt. overthrown by their own people.
There is no hindsight as to enemy intent in the moment and making an assumption of such could be catastrophic.
Exactly, especially with the modern concept of "defense in depth", or having a series of pre-established defensive lines to which you can displace as you're pushed-back. This was one of the reasons Patton was so successful in WW2 where other commanders failed; his tanks and dedicated "red ball express" supply lines (crewed exclusively by Black American servicemembers, an honour unintentionally created by the racial segregation in the US military at the time, a practice that caused considerable friction with their non-segregating UK allies) just kept hitting the Nazi forces over and over, never allowing them the short time necessary to re-entrench in one of their other pre-existing fortified positions. Not keeping-on that level of pressure is largely why the Allied offensive into Italy ultimately failed, at an incredibly-high price in lives and materiel. That failure forced the Allies to endure the slaughter necessary to take the beaches at Normandy.
One has to understand that attacking a fortified position is absolute murder. The rule of thumb is that an attacker needs at least 3 times the numbers of the defenders, simply because they can expect that many casualties as they slog their way through the bloody kill-zones. Keeping your enemy from being able to leverage that advantage repeatedly justifies almost any means used to achieve that end.
@@apolloaero True. Tac retreats aren't even a rout, as "routing" is defined as a loss of operational control and an abandonment of equipment. Basically, if they still have their weapons and are moving under orders, the enemy is retreating; if they're dropping their gear and running as a chaotic mob, that's a rout.
Historically, it has long been the case that retreats are where wars are decided. Battles themselves often produce relatively minimal casualties that tend to be fairly equal, but it's when one side breaks and runs that the opportunity to destroy them as a fighting force arises. And that opportunity is either seized or lost, the latter option often meaning that the war continues.
It's the difference between war and sport, really. If you're going to have to employ violence, best to do it in as short and sharp a fashion as possible. That, counter-intuitively, tends to be the way that ends the conflict with as little overall violence as possible.
One is sometimes reluctant to break engagement with retreating forces out of concern that they may regroup and mount a counterattack.
Absolutely - this family was savage, and they would do anything to stop this invasion. Please check out the videos about Saddam's sons and you will be so disgusted, and the fact that the people supported them.
Theres a reason retreat and surrender are different words.
The lost helicopter that flew toward the Americans were probably identified as friendly by use of onboard IFF (Identify Friend or Foe) avionics.
A "retreat" is a strategic move to the rare.
One of the main objectives in Desert Storm, and most any war, is too ensure that the enemy does not have the capability to continue to fight. Which means they want to be sure they do not have a standing army, or even enough men alive to form an army. It sounds brutal, however, you have to be sure they can no longer fight and save lives in the long run.
5 days of combat operations, what you do not get a sense of was the extreme lack of sleep during that time. That was rough
Longest I’ve been awake by a long way.
Retreating doesn’t equal surrendering.
By letting them retreat you allow them to regroup and attack you later.
This video brings back memories, I was in desert storm in the United States. Marine Corps, and we went through the burning oil fields into Kuwait city, and we spent the night in the oil fields.
I know what you are saying. I was a Dustoff guy on the FLOAT for 7th Corp. Too many memories, both good and bad.
@@edt6290 I was in weapons company second Battalion, third Marine division
Dude that had to suck. Much respect for you Brother. Post Ground War, those same fires caused my pilots to miss an oncoming sand dune. We skipped across the top of it. Tore the bird UP. Missed being called home by inches.
@@edt6290 it wasn’t really all that bad, that’s what I was paid/trained to do
@@edt6290 we stopped for the night in the middle of the oil fields and dug holes big enough to fit in and cover them with our poncho liners and slept well. One person stood watch, and then we switch off every four hours.
When I was in the 9th grade, we watched this war,live on tv, in social studies class.
6:34 : The lack of onions was the decisive factor in the battle. I'll bet Napolean's Old Guard lacked onions in their diet just before the battle of Waterloo.
"Within a few hours, their resistance has ceased." More like their *existence* had ceased...
A retreat is not a surrender, an enemy, who retreats may regroup and attack again
Those are days I will remember. Watching a war on TV was insane.
You should check out a video of efforts to put out the oil field fires. That was a huge undertaking itself!
Interesting stuff, too. IIRC, the fires were much too hot to put-out via conventional means, and so a counter-intuitive approach was taken; the use of dynamite. Blasts near the base of the gushing wells consumed all the oxygen in the local area, snuffing the flames and allowing local temperatures to fall sufficiently so that new oil emerging from underground stopped immediately using heat to react with oxygen in the air and thus creating new flames.
I was there 5th of 8th Field Artillery. We went into Iraq and gave Artillery support to the mechanized divisions. We hammered them with 155mm shells for 5 days. When cease fire was called we were right outside Baghdad ready to put Artillery on the city if needed be. I still remember the Sand Storm and visibility being low , but we continued raining artillery down thru the 5 days. Had Apaches helicopters all around us along with the Wart Hogs , MLRS rocket systems. The sky’s where lite up like the 4th of July with so much fire power we sent down range.
2:30 in “I’m not surprised” 😂my hero ❤
6:44 no because remember the US paratroopers stopped that convoy full of onions on the highway
I remember the build up. We helped maintence on equipment that went to desert Strom the city i worked for gave us thank you letters for participating in desert strom? I said all I did was fix hydraulic on trucks in the middle of the states.gezz
Always remember a retreating enemy can regroup turn and fight. Examples can be found throughout history.
I was a Dust Off guy supporting 7th Corp on the FLOAT. The Army says it was a 100 hour ground war. While in it, it felt a lot longer than that. Almost no sleep and all go, go, go. I'm surprised there wasn't more friendly fire incidents. The thing I believe was missed, the Iraqi government told their soldiers that they were fighting other Arab nations that had aligned with Israel. That it was a holy war. Most had know idea the US was coming for them. At least that's what came out 8n conversation with some EPW's I spoke with.
The onion thing is talking about a previous video where the coalition forces stopped a supply convoy full of onions
Recommend watching the Iwo Jima campaign from the same channel. A very intense battle in the Pacific campaign.
It's a pretty normal thing for armies to destroy everything as the retreat.
As the guys above me said. The reason you keep killing and pursuing the retreating Army is because they haven't surrendered, and at any point they can stop re-establish defensive lines and then your back in the middle of a hot fight.
When the enemy goes on the run it's your job to take care advantage of chaos. This has been true for thousands of year's. The more disciplined you are the better the results.
The main thing is you don't want to out run your supply lines for obvious reasons.
2nd often times in the fast pace collapse your own lines start becoming disorganized. Instead of advancing at the same pace. Here again this can create a chance for a counter attack.
Once again I feel the need to mention that the large friendly unit mark put on Collation Forces was a special paint. Although it looked like Flat Black (i.e. no shine) paint, it wasn't!!!
I wonder how many friendly fire incidences were because dust, sand and dirt covered the markings or someone couldn't find the correct paint and substituted flat black paint instead......
Isn't it reflective to specific shades of IR?
@@mrnickbig1 I never found out the details, but I was told that regular paint would be visibly different using Thermal Sights...
Our paint was white.
At the time of the war it was expected to have 25% of all casualties from friendly fire.
i have been fortunate enough to fight beside UK soldiers (not "officially"). i have rarely been so proud as when i was with my brothers from across the pond.
I was in college going to nursing school when this war broke out. My sister joined the army and was stationed in a German military hospital taking care of the wounded. So I spent all day in school and spent the rest of the night doing homework while watching this on TV. I didn’t get more than a couple hours of sleep per night until the war was over. Thankfully it was a short war otherwise I would have died of exhaustion.
But you guys should do some reactions to actual footage of the gulf/Iraq wars, especially the night of “shock and awe” bombings in Iraq. That was intense and I feel bad for any civilian that had to go through it. Thankfully smart weapons were mainly used so it did reduce the civilian casualties...but it had too be hell for them.
Uuuhh I don't know if those smart bombs worked ir not but around 250000-400000 iraq civilians were killed in the war many of them beacause of US bombing.JUSTIFY THAT.
In war “fair” means our guys take out the enemy and get to go home.
The attacks continuing when the enemy retreats is about removing the enemy's ability to wage war. They were warned this would happen if they didn't leave Kuwait.
Funky Cold Medina. The reason they wanted to go after the fleeing Iraqis was to destroy the armor - tanks and BMPs etc, so Saddam would have a smaller army.
Honor among combatants still exists in war. The tribute the American commander paid to his Iraqi enemy is both noble and honorable. They did their job and stood their ground and fought like the soldiers they are!
More like needlessly got slaughtered. Getting slaughtered isn't honorable and we shouldn't say it is. It's stupid, it's like a 5 ft woman fighting a 7ft wilt or shaq, it's stupid not noble or honorable.
They got whooped, but they weren’t pussies.
I was there 3ID 3BDE and was informed at the time that Kuwait was occupied with only Iraqi Reserve units and national guard. Not regular military units
Degrading the Republican Guard was a secondary goal to keep Iraq from threatening Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other allies in the future. That's why they were still attacking retreating Guard divisions.
If you need a good series to watch next I'd go to the battle of the bulge from the same channel pretty much every video he dose is amazing
It's war! You don't just leave, you hurt the enemy any way you can, because he's doing the same to you.
I was with the Military Police of the 2nd Marine Division and unlike most we were permitted to enter Kuwait City (traffic control is kinda important in a city) so got to greet the various arab forces as they came to liberate the city. I think letting the Arabs (particularly the Kuwaiti's) liberate the city was an excellent call.
I also got to see the the infamous "highway of Death", please note the lack of significant numbers of bodies. Our aircraft/helo's buzzed the highway before opening fire to warn the Iraqi's to abandon their vehicles.
I was there in 1st armor. 1-1 cav. we were hit with mlrs from our side , not iraqi. 25 wounded in total. what a mess.
War unfortunately happens. I know as a retired vet what we aimed at was the weapons of war tank plains and such not people unless we were engaged with them. We want the weapons more than the person
I know it hasn't been your thing but I would love you to react to kings and generals full Julius Caeser conquest of of Gaul and the civil war series
People never het tired of the ways America is not to be messed with.
It's like, nothing's changed. America military is w/o challenge.
Happy Easter!! 🐣🐰🐇
I actually studied why they kept shooting at the highway of death the other day. There is a difference between withdrawing and surrendering. The Iraqis weren’t surrendering, they were pulling their forces back closer to Baghdad in defense making them still combatants
Retreating means nothing you will keep pressure only when they surrender you stop shooting
Please check out the Kuwait on Fire doc that is on youtube. Its really incredible how they put out the oil fields
Being afforded the luxury of hindsight 30 years in the future isn't indicative of what was known at the time on the battlefield. This is still before real time ISR was prevalent and the fog of war is absolutely real. The coalition expected to take hefty casualties as Iraq was the 4th largest army at the time. Looking back with all the info makes it easy to pick and choose what everyone should and shouldn't have done and when.
Is that similar to "Funky Cold Medina"?
Regarding counter battery radar, the Ukrainians have had many counter battery radars donated to them.
When we discovered massive Iraqi troops trying to run back to Iraq in a huge column on what became known as the highway of death, a flight of B-1B's waited till they entered into a passage between large hills on either side of the road and them bombed the front vehicles, then bombed the rear vehicles, as MOST of the Iraqi soldiers then abandoned the vehicles and ran into the desert, our targets WERE NOT the soldiers, it was the equipment, and yes EVERYONE spent about 12 hours bombing and destroying all of those vehicles, I do not know why it was tagged the Highway of death, because while it is true, that SOME Iraqi troops did in fact die in it, but truthfully those numbers were pretty light considering what they could have been IF we had been targeting the soldiers, the decision was made to not allow Iraqi troops to return to Iraq with large numbers of tanks, fighting vehicles, fuel trucks, or any equipment that would be useful in the coming to reconquer Kuwait, so yes we did destroy thousands of vehicles, but human deaths on the so called highway of death were in fact pretty light.
U guys REALLY need to react to OIF drive for Baghdad..its about 50 min. But its actual helmet cam footage of all this ground war your reacting to now itll blow ur mind seeing it in real time ✌️✌️
Think you might be confusing the Iraq War (started 2003) with Operation Desert Storm (1991). They are reacting to Operation Desert Storm.
@@df3945 ua-cam.com/video/O7pbW1QoPaI/v-deo.html
@@df3945 check vid link i sent ya u may be right..
@df3945 i just double checked the docu. Was the drive toward baghdad 2002 ..u can google "OIF The Drive for Baghdad " in google search itll give u all the info ✌️
You two should try to find the RAF Officer's brief of a: "Lucky Iraqi Lorry Driver"!!! (video)
A retreating army doesn't necessarily give up .. they often .. VERY often simply fall back and regroup. Dead enemy do not kill your forces. Playing fair is for suckers. Huh. Just looked up the location .. Medina Ridge was South West of Basra, Iraq. Interesting .. it was around Basra that my tank stopped at the cease fire. I say .. "around" as none of us "low level" types knew anything other than what we could see around us .. could have been on Mars as far as we knew.
The big focus on destroying Iraq’s Republican Guard divisions was because they were the main elements of the Iraqi military that Saddam Hussein would use against his own people or Iraq’s neighbors. The idea was that without them Saddam was no longer a threat to the region.
Practically the same thing happened to Putin's tank's T70's and troops in Ukraine,they were out gunned from distance and bogged down and not advancing.
I don’t feel too bad about the “highway of death” because the Iraqis were told to leave the military equipment behind. They tried to leave with their equipment plus the Kuwaitis equipment they stole. They were also still fighting as they were leaving. If they wouldn’t have tried to leave with equipment, they wouldn’t have been bombed into oblivion.
But that looked bad because it was total destruction and it appeared the Iraqis were helpless (the weren’t...they just were out matched).
Should check out the fat electricians video on that bomb that was still warm from how newly made it was. It's an inspiration of American will to put warheads on foreheads lol
Historically, destroying armies occurs during the route/retreat. Allowing an enemy to retreat and fight another day is usually a bad idea. The difference in combat effectiveness here though highlights how unnecessary that would be. Iraqi forces will have zero misconceptions about retaliatory action in the near or far future. The coalition achieved its stated objectives and that needs to be acceptable.
Sets a strong precedent for international military cooperation in the future. If the west ever goes to war, its for the objectives set by the civilian government and only those objectives. Not needless slaughter
Though I have nothing to comment on, I shall leave a comment.
Lack of onions because the onion convoy was taken out earlier.
They were retreating, not surrendering. Until they surrender they remain enemy combatants.
See A10 and troops
I know this has nothing to do with this video which was great as were the previous 3.. But I was wondering if james watched the masters golf tournament today.
It turned out to be a mistake for the Americans, British and French to stop when they did. Had they continued to persue the Iraqi military until Saddam surrendered, it's very likely his regime would have been overthrown by the Kurdish fighters in the North of Iraq and the Shia Marsh Arabs in the south. By leaving parts of the Iraqi military intact, Saddam was able to brutally put down their uprising. This left the festering sore for Britain, France and the USA to police the No Fly Zones over Iraq until 2003. Had Bush not asked Stormin Norman that he wanted to stop, it's very likely the Iraq War in 2003 wouldn't have occurred.
The whole point of going after retreating forces was to eliminate all of Iraqi armored vehicles to prevent them from being a force to attack their neighbors ever again….. after all this is now the second neighbor that they have gone after….
You guys need to see his video about the Russian sub that came to America!
Click on that last vid, linked on the right!
It’d be cool if you guys watched the Epic History WW1 series. It’s similar to this.
The U.S. wanted to ensure they weakened the forces enough to prevent any further incursions into Iraq's neighbors but not so weak that Iran could attack Iraq once the coalition left.
The narrator is wrong about one thing I was with the 1st marine division task force grizzly and all but 5% of our tanks were the Abrams the 4th marine division which is a reserve unit had only 25% Abrams the rest were the M 60's.
Patton’s fought in DS?! Wow.
Grizzly here to brother SF
Biggest reason to stop a retreat is the term "Tactical Retreat, not that these Iraq cowards would of done that but better to take out the enemy while you have them on the ropes, less they get another chance to kill friendlies.
Great video, if you want you can react to second gulf war by The Armchair Historian
Can you imagine if this was the type of response in 2014 when Russia invaded Ukraine?
That almost became a reality. American, British, and French troops were amassing on the border of Estonia.
Hi
They didnt want them retreating because they were trying to retreat back to their country from Kuwait...they didnt want Iraqi troops making it back to iraq
Remember that the tanks that got shredded in this war are the same ones the Russian army is using in Ukraine right now.
Russia is in trouble.
The Iraqi Republican Guard did stay to fight. They were soldiers...as a US Army vet who fight in that war, much respect to them. They didn't tuck tail and run.
Loved your videos on the war. I have to say, though (and with respect) that you seem to talk over the videos at times, instead of stopping and then talking. You miss a lot that way.... 😊
the reason there were local troops is pure pilitics. in reality they did little... just had to make it look good
Tone Loc....
Don't you guys even reveiw your previous video when you do a continuation? The "lack of onion" comment was hardly random! In your video covering day 3, the coalition forces captured a convoy that had several trucks full of ONIONS! Duh!
Do you want to see a manager?
And for all the American mercy...several years later..Iraqi freedom
After the Iraqis are defeated the Shiites of Iraq led a uprising against Saddam's Sunni led army thinking the US would help. Unfortunately, the same troops we showed mercy to and let get away massacred thousands of Shiites and destroyed their towns. The US had never promised assistance but did nothing to stop the slaughter. It was a mistake IMO to not degrade Saddam's army for fear of a power vacuum with Iran. And the Shiites & Kurds payed horribly.
What about Ukraine and Russia?
Lowered the 🇺🇸 flag? We're good enough to liberate your country, but not good enough to fly our flag with yours? Maybe we should've let Saddam Hussein keep Kuwait?
The US didn't conquer Kuwait, we liberated it.
@@jeffrielley920
I think I said that in my comment, but thanks for reminding me.
Well, you guys were pretty nonchalant about the fact that the US killed more British soldiers than the Iraqis'. And I am a US Army Veteran. Not acceptable in my book. That British General that said fuck this, we are going east, away from the Americans was brilliant!