Pockets of resistance begin to slow the Coalition in Iraq
6Coalition plans called for spearheads to, where possible, bypass or blitz through major urban centers leaving them to be mopped up later or in the best case these cities and their defenders would simply surrender once Saddam’s regime collapsed.
With thousands of Iraqi soldiers already taken prisoner and with coalition lead elements around 100 miles from Baghdad on the 24th it seemed like that plan was working better than anyone could have predicted…
There was even talk on the ground about reaching the Capital of Iraq the following day…just 5 days after the start of hostilities…
But pockets of stiff resistance at key locations in almost every major city along the Coalition’s advance had started to crop up…call their resistance fanatical given the overwhelming odds they were facing
This resistance could never turn back the overwhelming might of the Coalition but it soon put to bed hopes of reaching Baghdad before the end of April and it became necessary for more and more troops and resources to be diverted from the main thrusts to engage undesirable urban combat against sometimes fanatical defenders.
In most cases the men fighting the coalition were members of Saddam’s militia or security forces…but by April these men were joined by increasing numbers of non-Iraqi Arabs come to join the fight against the USA.
A warning of what the future held…