Rumsfeld presses Franks to attack after shorting him the arms

So it apparently falls to one heavy Army division, one light Army division and a division-plus force of Marine infantry to destroy at least two and possibly more Republican Guard tank divisions dug in and blocking the approaches to Baghdad.

Their numbers are wrong - it is not 100,000 U.S. vs. 30,000 Iraqis under this plan. Try roughly 55,000 vs. 45,000 plus irregulars in an urban setting.

The 3rd Infantry was sent to war with only one battalion of MLRS rocket-launched artillery, a powerful long-range system that can reach out 30 miles and obliterate more than a third of a square mile of enemy soldiers or enemy tanks. Usually, it would have brought about six battalions.

Urgent orders have gone out to airlift elements of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment from Fort Polk, La., to the war zone - and to divert 2,000 Marines from the Horn of Africa to Iraq.

The men of the 4th Infantry, the 101st Airborne Division and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force can only hope that Rumsfeld and his aides are correct that air power, precision-guided munitions and high technology have made old-fashioned rockets, long-range artillery and tanks unnecessary.

Hell, my nephew is in this debacle.