Interesting article
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09-09-2007, 14:47
Post: #4
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Interesting article
Mike,
Think we could salvage any parts. Howard Truitt Camilla, Ga. 86 PT40 ----- Original Message ----- From: mbulriss To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2007 5:42 PM Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Interesting article Glad you enjoyed the story Jack. Here's a different side to the story however. I think it was originally a NYTimes article that I found included in a Congressional Record transcript by some Congressman congratulating the troops on the record to get his name in the record books! Air Force Hunted Motor Home In War's `Get Saddam' Mission (BY PATRICK J. SLOYAN) Military commanders conducted a massive search during the Persian Gulf War for an American-made motor home used by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, according to U.S. military officials. `We really went after him,' one general said of the search for Saddam's forest-green `Wanderlodge,' a type of luxury vehicle favored by celebrities such as country singer Johnny Cash and movie star Tom Cruise. What the military called an intense `Get Saddam' operation is at odds with statements by President Bush and his top aides that the United States was really after Iraq's military leadership--not Saddam, the individual. But the wily, often baffling Iraqi leader escaped death at least twice while a top-priority target for missiles and warplanes hunting for the $350,000 motor home Saddam used as a mobile command center. In the opening hours of the war on Jan. 17, Tomahawk cruise missiles and F-117A `stealth' fighter-bombers destroyed command bunkers Saddam was using in Baghdad. American hopes soared when he failed to appear in public for three days. `Close, but no cigar,' said one Pentagon planner of the bunker strikes. After most command bunkers were destroyed, U.S. Air Force planes were divided into hunter-killer teams and patrolled areas likely to be traveled by Saddam's mobile command center. According to one Air Force officer, the search at one point rivaled allied efforts to destroy Scud missiles sites in Iraq. While the search for the Wanderlodge failed, Saddam had a brush with death midway in the war, according to military officials. Two F-16 Falcon pilots on a routine patrol unwittingly strafed his motorcade between Baghdad and Basra, Iraq. `It was at night and we had spotted a 50-vehicle convoy,' a senior U.S. officer said. The fighter strafed the front and rear of the motorcade but Saddam's vehicle was in the middle and went undamaged. The luxury bus was identified by U.S. intelligence before the war from a photograph of Saddam being briefed inside cramped quarters. The Baghdad government, which released the photo Jan 11, identified the location as an underground operations room in southern Iraq. But the Fort Valley, Ga., builders of the motor home identified the room as the stripped-down interior of a Wanderlodge. The company sold nine of the vehicles to Iraq during the 1980s. Eventually, two Wanderlodges used by Iraqi generals were destroyed by U.S. troops during the ground war. __________________________________________________________ I noticed that the Bird they were after was a pretty green color identified the coach. In any event, an interesting read and counterpoint to the guy in Oregon looking for a payday. Certainly a waste of two Birds. FWIW, Mike Bulriss 1991 WB40 "Texas Minivan" San Antonio, TX --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Jack and Liz Pearce" > > --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "mbulriss" <mbulriss@> wrote: > > > > http://www.wweek.com/editorial/2830/2814/ > > > > Mike Bulriss > > 1991 WB40 "Texas Minivan" > > San Antonio, TX > > > Thanks, Mike. What a fascinating story. LOL. > > Regards, > Jack > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.485 / Virus Database: 269.13.10/995 - Release Date: 9/8/2007 1:24 PM [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] |
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Interesting article - mbulriss - 09-09-2007, 03:00
Interesting article - Jack and Liz Pearce - 09-09-2007, 07:46
Interesting article - mbulriss - 09-09-2007, 09:42
Interesting article - Howard O. Truitt - 09-09-2007 14:47
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