Reinforcing seized airfields with airborne field artillery and troops willbe critical to opening a northern front, writes Tom Clonan
The insertion of members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade to Arbil in northern Iraq is a significant move on the part of the Coalition forces. It represents a vital precursor to the opening of a northern front in the war on Saddam's regime.
The deployment is the latest in a series of carefully planned escalations of US force around Kirkuk and Mosul. US Special Forces have been operating in this region for some weeks now and had been tasked with establishing agent contact with Kurdish troops in the area and with the identification of suitable landing sites for a large airborne force.
The airbase at Arbil with a runway 2 km long was identified as being ideal for this purpose. Located approximately half way between Kirkuk and Mosul, its strategic position is crucial to the successful concentration of US force north of Baghdad.
US military commanders are cognisant of the threat to Arbil posed by members of the Iraqi 1st and 5th Army Corps based in Kirkuk and Mosul. This will have formed the raison d'être for the heavy bombardment of these units by allied air power in recent days. This bombardment has now been followed by the seizure of the airfield by members of the 173rd Brigade Reconnaissance Company.
Having parachuted in to seize and secure the runway, these troops are being reinforced by their airborne field artillery and troops from the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the US 508th and 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiments. Having poured up to 1,000 paratroopers into the area, the Americans will hope to pave the way for the deployment of a further 7,400 members of the US 82nd Airborne Division.
Those members of the 82nd Airborne earmarked for this deployment include the 307th Engineer Battalion and 407th Forward Support Battalion. The mission assigned these troops will consist of upgrading the facilities at the Arbil airfield in order to establish an air bridgehead into northern Iraq.
Similar operations are under way at other airfields in western Iraq and the Americans will be exploiting experience recently gained in Afghanistan to expedite these activities as swiftly as possible.
As was the case with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, US troops around Arbil will forge contacts with Kurdish PUK and KDP brigades in the area. Once these air supply routes are secured, troops, armour, equipment and ammunition will pour into northern Iraq. If successfully prosecuted, in the coming week or so, Baghdad would be enveloped by reinforced airborne troops to the north and the US 3rd Infantry to the south.
As articulated by Centcom in recent days, such an encirclement would form the combat "compression" necessary to close with and destroy Saddam's remaining forces in and around Baghdad. The length of time such compression could be maintained by the Americans would depend to a great extent on reinforcement and re-supply.
Images from the battlefields of Najaf, Nassiriya, Samawah and Karbala carried in the print and electronic media show soldiers with the body language and facial expressions associated with combat fatigue.
After almost a week of relentless advance, attack and counterattack, US and British troops are being rotated from front-line positions.
The war of attrition being fought by the Iraqi military and consisting of constant blocking attacks, ambushes and harassment of supply lines, is designed to rob the Americans and British of their momentum in advance.
The US and British are using air power to counter these activities and are compensating for a lack of in-depth armoured defence with the use of close air support.
Using depleted uranium 30mm cannon rounds and Hellfire missiles, Apache helicopters and A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft are maintaining the allied advantage in the field. Dogged until yesterday by sandstorms, the use of air power will increase exponentially over the coming days.
As the allies approach the capital city, however, the strategic edge provided by air superiority and technological advantage will be compromised by difficult urban terrain and the proximity of the civilian population.
With a population size approaching that of Paris compressed into an area roughly the size of Dublin, Baghdad epitomises the worst case scenario for urban combat. If forced into combat in the capital, the US would have to fight a war at the level of the individual infantry section, platoon and company. In gaining and maintaining advantage in battle, the emphasis would shift from air power and technology to individual soldiers' determination to locate and kill the enemy. This would require high levels of motivation, fitness and aggression.
The arrival of massive numbers of reinforcements to the region by air will become a vital part of the war effort over the coming days and weeks. In such circumstances, the transit facilities provided by friendly countries, particularly airports, will be crucial to the success of allied war plans.