OK, Brent took a little drive through several Iraqi bases last night while we watched. I saw some T-34/85's at two gates and then I think i saw a Sherman at the last one. Did anyone else see that? I saw one T-72 or was it a Cheiftan? It was not a very clear picture. That place was a vehicle reconition paradise, BRDM,s BMP's, BTR-60's (I think?).

So... anyway, there were all sorts of things...

Anyone else see this?

There was definitely an M47 Patton painted sand with the gun tube drooping towards the ground. Most of those tanks looked like they were part of a boneyard. Only a couple under the "pole barns" looked like they were operational.

Ah, then I did see right... I remember the M-47 now. Was there 1 T-72 as well or was that a Cheiftan? The pictures were not that good... but the shape of the turret and suspension did not look like a T-72 and it was too big, as well. I think we will be finding all sorts of interesting things. After the FT-17's in Afghanistan who knows what the Patton Museum will get this time?

There was everthing from BTR-50's, BRDM's, BMP's, trucks... just about every out of date Soviet armor piece you can think of. Not a thing there would stand up to modern US weapons for a moment.

When Brent went into that field and climbed around on the little APC (not sure what it was, maybe a scout vehicle) with a DSHK on it, I thought "just cannon fodder". Apaches and attack aircraft would have massacred the poor slobs in those vehicles in a minute; the ground forces would have done the same, just taken a minute longer.

I have no clue what the Iraqi military was thinking in this war.

On french TV I saw what looked like plenty of BTR50s, several BRDMs, T55s...

Thought I spotted one Sherman as a gate guard too...
That whole episode kept me up until 2 a.m., when the feed of the chase out of Tikrit was lost.

Nate
Wisc. USA

Was anyone able to id the tank that was blown up on the road to Baghdad? Looked like some sort of Russian model, but I'm not wery good at modern armor.

Yeah. I saw that bid too. Too bad the Videophone has such crappy resolution and fidelity. It's worse than a webcam!

Oh well, I thought that the CNN crew had stopped in front of an old Centurion for a while but I wasn't completely sure. It sure looked like a hodgepodge of armour. The guy later said he was running into a lot of "Republican Guard" equipment. Who knows. These reporters tend not to know what the hell is really going on around them to begin with.

My fav was FOX anchors saying an F/A-18 taking off from the Constellation was one of the "A-10 tank killers with the twin tails."
They then refered to an F-14 as a Hornet.
Glad I picked newspapers and not TV.....

Nate
Wisc. USA