And it happens later. During the time when the U.S. will hold midterm elections.
Geronimo : What if Osama Bin Laden was killed prior to 9/11?
- Thread starter Iwanh
- Start date
Something bad is going to happen in Sudan, and it is going to be like Iraq War of this timeline, or rather have an effect of Iraq War, as people of this timeline does not know they jumped an extremely massive shark, and will think this small shark is terrible.
(I was thinking Iraq, but, as I remember, Iraq does not have enough desert to have militias riding camels, and their clothes looks like clothes worn by North African Bedouin or Berberi people)
Part 67: Not On Our Watch
Part LXVII
Not On Our Watch
Frontline Documentary Series Banner
PBS FRONTLINE: The War In Darfur (November 20th, 2007)
Frontline: The War In Darfur - Intro
...
Narrator: It had taken three years, but on November 7th, 2006 the action long promised by the international community to force Sudan to comply with more than two dozen Security Council resolutions had come. With nearly 65,000 coalition forces amassed on one side of the Sudanese border, with a mandate to use military force to expel Sudanese troops and disarm the Janjaweed militia.
Gen. John Abizaid, Central Command Cmdr.: From the outset, we were trying to structure a military campaign that met the international considerations. While not trying to create a spiral of violence, we had predetermined objectives and we were there to complete them, that was what was necessary so as not to fracture the coalition.
Narrator: An air war alone was deemed insufficient, the Darfur region was simply too sparse and such a campaign would take too long, ground forces could prove necessary to secure the region in a President's desired timeframe.
Pres. John Edwards: [Television Adress] My fellow Americans, we have joined forces with our coalition allies in enforcing a No-Fly Zone against Sudanese armies and militia, those responsible for the horrors in Darfur ... the Sudanese government was warned that there would be consequences to this genocide.
Narrator: As the first allied aircraft took off, the President upped the ante, making it clear that the United States would not hold back from a ground invasion.
Pres. John Edwards: [Television Adress] Ground forces are not yet active in this mission, but we have no intention of letting this genocide continue and will use all the tools at our disposal.
Susan Rice, National Security Advisor: We were greatly concerned about the timeframe, if this conflict was dragged out, it would leave a dangerous window for more carnage, more killing, and without active forces in the region our scope would be inadequate.
Gen. Michael Hagee, Commandant, USMC: This was a mission that we had never faced before, throughout the entire history of the Marines, but we were confident that our best young people in America could handle it, and it was key that they felt supported by the public, the Congress, President, and that this was a just cause.
Lt Gen Gary North, Cmdr. Air Forces Central: We were trained, capable and ready, and I told Secretary Shelton and the President, that when the military operation was undertaken, there was no doubt we could carry it out, and we would win.
(Left to Right) General Abizaid, President Edwards, NSA Susan Rice
Narrator: If the Generals were confident, it was left to the commander-in-chief and his diplomats to be nervous.
George Mitchell, Secretary of State: The President called, he was watching the midterm election returns and he stepped away to talk to me about the bombing, that was starting to come to fruition. And we went through all the things we had done, the entire last 18 months, in terms of diplomacy, concluding that the only way to save more lives was to take military action, that we were absolutely correct.
Narrator: The initial results of the war would only be known by the pilots flying high above the targets.
Maj. Scott Vann, Stealth Pilot: We were the opening salvo, so we knew we were after the high-priority targets, air bases, command posts, and ammunition depots. Your hair is raisin', and you can kind of feel ‘Ok this is real now’ and you do what you were trained to do.
Narrator: Coalition intervention had begun, and what played out on the news was a gripping and shocking display of military strength with the intended pursuit of stopping genocide.
In the Red Sea, more than 40 satellite-guided Cruise Missiles were launched from U.S. Warships, and air raid sirens sounded in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, approximately 6 hours after the President’s announcement.
Gen. Gary North: I do remember being asked for casualty estimates, and we frankly didn’t have any. The air defences were weak we believed they had less than 30 functional aircraft that were any kind of threat, but it turned out to be even less than that. No, there were no issues in hitting our target sets.
Gen. Russel Honoré, Deputy Commander in Chief, Coalition Forces: The first missiles had just struck, the first aircraft were taking off from Djibouti and we were all ecstatic, the first pictures were coming through on CNN and the Commander [Abizaid] had to calm everyone down he said ‘Cut off that stuff, relax, we haven’t even started yet’
Michael Abramowitz “The Washington Post”: The military coalition was confident, very confident, they could achieve their objectives, but the question was could it be done without escalating the humanitarian disaster, possibly even without an invasion?
(Left to Right) General Honore, Secretary Mitchell, General North
Narrator: Sudanese radios were jammed, blinding radar screens as anti-aircraft guns fired wildly into the night sky.
Abdo, Sudanese Soldier [Through Interpreter]: Our commander told us to go onto the roof, lay on our back and fire into the air, of course we couldn’t see anything, I don’t think I ever even saw a jet, we just fired, without targets, everything was crazy.
Narrator: Bombers from Djibouti flew directly over the capital and struck the main airport, where dozens of government-controlled attack helicopters were supposed to be located
Maj. Terry Kauffman, Stealth Pilot: I looked over my shoulder and the whole place was up in smoke. You wait your whole career for a moment like that.
Gen. John Abizaid: The objective was to sever the capital's connection to the forces in Darfur, and sap their troops of the ability to fight, if Turabi thought he wouldn’t feel the consequences we were making sure he did.
Narrator: The President and his advisors heard the first accounts of the war via internal reports and external news sources
Susan Rice, National Security Advisor: We knew that events were unfolding, we had all seen the war plan, so we waited and watched CNN. Until we got the word that we were ready to proceed with the next wave.
Narrator: With air superiority quickly established over Sudan, the coalition air planners were now confident to begin more conventional military operations. Striking Sudanese and militia positions within the Darfur region
Maj. Jeff Tove, F-15 Pilot: My Squad was part of a large pack of planes, conducting the first raids over Darfur. My specific target was a command post in the east. There wasn’t a lot of return fire, maybe a pair of missiles, and we could avoid those quite easily.
Narrator: In Khartoum the first reports of the coalition bombing campaign came to Turabi, who resided in numerous safe houses and mosques throughout the conflict. The first strikes had been light but precise, causing critical damage to the country’s communications, roads and electricity.
Gen. Affez Kabbibi [Through Interpreter]: The Senior Intelligence Officials were panicking, they did not know how far the Americans would go, the airports were in flames, already our air forces were completely non-operational just in the first few hours, but Turabi remained confident, he believed there would be no invasion. “Look at this.” he said “These are just threats, but the Americans are weak, they cannot stomach the climate here,” he told us, “hold together”,
Narrator: Turabi was prepared to hold firm, despite a continued air assault on the capital and with no real means at his disposal of halting the attacks. While the coalition sought to further squeeze the government, with a blockade.
Susan Rice, National Security Advisor: There was a lot of concern in Washington, that this needed to be quick, that the coalition wouldn’t stay committed if we weren’t achieving our objectives quickly, but without causing large numbers of civilian casualties which is what we were there of course to prevent.
Tony Blair, PM, United Kingdom: I said to the President, Turabi needs to believe that we are willing to move against him everywhere, and that meant cutting off his cash flow completely, by shutting off oil exports. Look, the bottom line is, that he’s violated international law and there are great consequences for that, a message for everyone in the region, and indeed the world.
Adm. Mike Mullen, Chief of Naval Operations: There was still a split in the military policy, some believed that there was a way to use the war to force Turabi into compliance, to withdraw his forces and admit international peacekeepers, but many feared this would take too long, the blockade was supposed to speed up that decision.
Narrator: An armada of ships, assembled in the Red Sea, closed in on Sudan’s main ports including Port Sudan, where 90% of the country’s exports and imports came through. The fleet enforced a strict blockade of arms and petroleum products, insisting on the right to search and seize all shipping, strangling the already meagre Sudanese economy
Vice Admiral William Crowder, Commander, Coalition Navy Force: We hadn’t exercised a scenario like this, we were on the lookout for suicide craft, and possible missile fire from the coast and we knew there was a strong possibility we would be ordered to launch attacks, even capture the ports.
(Left to Right Coalition Leaders) UK PM Tony Blair, Canadian PM Frank Mckenna, Australian PM Kim Beazley and French President Lionel Jospin
Narrator: The first days of the Operation were broadly successful but by day three, problems started to emerge.
Michael Abramowitz “The Washington Post”: The Coalition was running out of approved targets, the French and Canadians were totally grounded by now, the Brits had delayed several of their sorties to actually prolong the air campaign and there was a lot of uncertainty as to when ground operations would have to begin, because everyone knows these troops can’t sit in active readiness for much longer.
George Mitchell, Secretary of State: There was hesitancy, even after the bombing started about moving into the country, because then we would be in it, and there would be no backing out. I was receiving calls from our allies asking ‘When is the President going to do this?’, obviously I couldn’t tell them, I didn’t know for certain, the President played his hand close to his chest. So I told them we were committed to forcing Sudan into compliance with international law, and our actions would be according to a timetable of our choosing. That must have been frustrating to hear.
Narrator: Without the order for ground operations to begin, the coalition looked for more targets, and a decision was made that sparked controversy.
Gen. Gary North: There was a lot of noise from Paris, whose bases we were borrowing especially about bombing targets outside of Darfur, we wanted to hit the electrical grid, desalination plants and some factories that we believed were being used to store arms, but those got overruled because of fears there would be excessive civilian casualties.
Narrator: The need for consensus, pushed coalition forces to target Sudan in the south of the country, where assisted by South Sudanese rebels the coalition could target the region's rich oil fields, a contentious move and one that could cause international outrage with the many countries who had invested there, including China.
Hugh Shelton, U.S. Secretary of Defence: Oil was directly connected to the genocide, 70% of Sudan’s oil money went straight to defence, to arming the militias, and we all viewed these sites as military targets.
Gen Gary North: These were great targets, wide open space giant platforms it really was a bomber's dream, and I think it shook a lot of their people, a lot of the Generals who were getting paid with these oil fields must have felt mighty bad, once those black plumes went up.
Narrator: The bombings would be the most costly of the war, totally shutting down oil production and costing the Turabi regime millions of barrels of crude a day, but they also cost the coalition politically.
Michael Abramowitz “The Washington Post”: There were a lot of poor villages clustered around these oil fields because that was where the protection was, the rebels couldn’t reach you, and the government didn’t want trouble so they were seen as safe areas, and now that stability was gone.
Coalition Spokesman: [Press Conference] We are satisfied we struck key military targets in the south of Sudan, key sources of the regime's power projection, and we are very confident these sites were struck and destroyed.
Narrator: It wasn’t for days that the first reports of the high death count became known, revealing large numbers of civilian casualties and injuries, on top of the environmental damage.
Alex Last “BBC”: Hundreds of houses were burnt, and hundreds were injured with very little left to their names, they used to scrape the oilfields to sell it on the black market, that was gone now, there were women crying out for their children. This was a genuine tragedy
Narrator: The oil fires, served as a strong reminder for the coalition, that no matter how righteous the cause, support for the war was going to drop especially amongst sceptical members.
Lionel Jospin, Prime Minister France: There was a strong consensus in favour of action, and we wanted to be in the loop on this, we pledged French support but that it couldn’t be indefinite, there was a mission and we wanted it done, to bring peace to Darfur.
Hugh Shelton: There was a suspicion that Turabi would agree to a ceasefire, offer to withdraw troops, just to extend the slaughter, or as we saw in Kosovo use a prolonged conflict to cover up his genocide, Tony Blair relayed that many times and kept asking the President. When? When are we moving in? Over the phone, he told the Prime Minister, ‘Very soon Tony, tell your boys to get ready’.
Narrator: The word came down. Within a few days, the air war would be over and the ground war would begin, tens of thousands of American, British, French, Australian, Canadian and other troops moved to final positions, and within 72 hours the invasion would begin.
(left) Sudanese Oil Fires, (Right) US soldier in Chad
Narrator: On the Chad-Sudan border only an invisible line separated one country from the other, advanced recon teams entered the territory and began to probe the region for minefields and potential ambushes, to chart a safe path for the troops to enter through.
Charles Penney, U.S. Marine: The place was covered, mines everywhere, many were exposed to the surface and there was some concern about snipers so we had to crawl while the artillery and mortars fired above us.
Narrator: The war plan called for three main thrusts designed to quickly secure the main population centres of the region, allowing coalition forces to deny the enemy access to supply lines and end the campaign.
Gen. Russel Honoré: The entire territory, which we were tasked with securing was the size of France, a massive territory that we had to capture with less than 100,000 troops, facing off against guys that knew the land, knew how to survive out there; we knew there would be some tough scrapes.
Narrator: Before dawn on November 14th the attack began.
Armour Commander: Move Out!
The New York Times, November 14th 2006
Narrator: The coalition columns punched through, unsure where or when firefights could break out, but the first major test was in the north at the City of Geneina, which American and Australian forces pushed to quickly secure.
Sgt. Carl Jackson, 7th Infantry Regiment: We approached the city, it was deadly quiet, thousands of people lived there but you wouldn’t know it
Narrator: But hundreds of troops lay waiting, including the brutal Janjaweed militia the so-called ‘Devils on horseback’ And they were prepared to cause havoc
Rashid Al-Zufi, Local: The Janjaweed didn’t care about the city, or the people, they were there to kill and loot, some believed if they could capture an American they would get rich, and they could ransom him for lots.
Narrator: The first battle on the ground began.
Pvt Dan Miller, 7th Infantry Regiment: It all kicked off, all around you from doorways, rooftops, and alleyways there was no way of telling where they were hiding, just to pop up and take shots at you
Sgt. Carl Jackson: The bullets were flying, it wasn’t accurate fire, but it was heavy, I thought ‘We need to give as good as we get and push through’ We couldn’t go back and somehow we stumbled into the hornet nest
Narrator: The Battle of Geneina provided the first casualty of the war for the Allies, An American Private Eric Gillet when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his Humvee, injuring three others.
Gen. Russel Honoré: This was the first real battle and it steeled a lot of people that, just because the United States had allies and we were armed to the teeth, we could be in a mess, they weren’t giving up.
A Walk-Through Hell – My Time in Darfur
Book Cover of A Walk Through Hell, My Time in Darfur
The battalion rushed through the breach, the morning light burning through the taped-up windshield. “This place looks like shit,” said Anders. He was right, it looked like a wasteland, broken up by knocked-down road signs or the occasional abandoned or torched truck. So far, our greatest accomplishment in the war was liberating an empty village and shooting at some suspiciously dead dogs.
We were forward stationed, the tip of the spear moving through dirt track after dirt track, trying our best not to get lost, calling out everything that moved passing binoculars back and forth, and trading ‘critical info’ over the radios. Then we’re told something worth hearing, enemy forces to the west, and we were being diverted to engage.
We were all amped, ready to shoot at something that was shooting back for once and as we spotted some silhouettes in the distance, some guys and a couple of horses racing off, we let loose with bursts of M-4 rifles. Then a chopper swooped over, releasing a storm blasting the guys to bits before we got close enough
“Kill stealing bitches” Shouted Anders slapping his palm on the Humvee roof, again he was right.
Not On Our Watch
Frontline Documentary Series Banner
PBS FRONTLINE: The War In Darfur (November 20th, 2007)
...
Narrator: It had taken three years, but on November 7th, 2006 the action long promised by the international community to force Sudan to comply with more than two dozen Security Council resolutions had come. With nearly 65,000 coalition forces amassed on one side of the Sudanese border, with a mandate to use military force to expel Sudanese troops and disarm the Janjaweed militia.
Gen. John Abizaid, Central Command Cmdr.: From the outset, we were trying to structure a military campaign that met the international considerations. While not trying to create a spiral of violence, we had predetermined objectives and we were there to complete them, that was what was necessary so as not to fracture the coalition.
Narrator: An air war alone was deemed insufficient, the Darfur region was simply too sparse and such a campaign would take too long, ground forces could prove necessary to secure the region in a President's desired timeframe.
Pres. John Edwards: [Television Adress] My fellow Americans, we have joined forces with our coalition allies in enforcing a No-Fly Zone against Sudanese armies and militia, those responsible for the horrors in Darfur ... the Sudanese government was warned that there would be consequences to this genocide.
Narrator: As the first allied aircraft took off, the President upped the ante, making it clear that the United States would not hold back from a ground invasion.
Pres. John Edwards: [Television Adress] Ground forces are not yet active in this mission, but we have no intention of letting this genocide continue and will use all the tools at our disposal.
Susan Rice, National Security Advisor: We were greatly concerned about the timeframe, if this conflict was dragged out, it would leave a dangerous window for more carnage, more killing, and without active forces in the region our scope would be inadequate.
Gen. Michael Hagee, Commandant, USMC: This was a mission that we had never faced before, throughout the entire history of the Marines, but we were confident that our best young people in America could handle it, and it was key that they felt supported by the public, the Congress, President, and that this was a just cause.
Lt Gen Gary North, Cmdr. Air Forces Central: We were trained, capable and ready, and I told Secretary Shelton and the President, that when the military operation was undertaken, there was no doubt we could carry it out, and we would win.
(Left to Right) General Abizaid, President Edwards, NSA Susan Rice
Narrator: If the Generals were confident, it was left to the commander-in-chief and his diplomats to be nervous.
George Mitchell, Secretary of State: The President called, he was watching the midterm election returns and he stepped away to talk to me about the bombing, that was starting to come to fruition. And we went through all the things we had done, the entire last 18 months, in terms of diplomacy, concluding that the only way to save more lives was to take military action, that we were absolutely correct.
Narrator: The initial results of the war would only be known by the pilots flying high above the targets.
Maj. Scott Vann, Stealth Pilot: We were the opening salvo, so we knew we were after the high-priority targets, air bases, command posts, and ammunition depots. Your hair is raisin', and you can kind of feel ‘Ok this is real now’ and you do what you were trained to do.
Narrator: Coalition intervention had begun, and what played out on the news was a gripping and shocking display of military strength with the intended pursuit of stopping genocide.
In the Red Sea, more than 40 satellite-guided Cruise Missiles were launched from U.S. Warships, and air raid sirens sounded in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, approximately 6 hours after the President’s announcement.
Gen. Gary North: I do remember being asked for casualty estimates, and we frankly didn’t have any. The air defences were weak we believed they had less than 30 functional aircraft that were any kind of threat, but it turned out to be even less than that. No, there were no issues in hitting our target sets.
Gen. Russel Honoré, Deputy Commander in Chief, Coalition Forces: The first missiles had just struck, the first aircraft were taking off from Djibouti and we were all ecstatic, the first pictures were coming through on CNN and the Commander [Abizaid] had to calm everyone down he said ‘Cut off that stuff, relax, we haven’t even started yet’
Michael Abramowitz “The Washington Post”: The military coalition was confident, very confident, they could achieve their objectives, but the question was could it be done without escalating the humanitarian disaster, possibly even without an invasion?
(Left to Right) General Honore, Secretary Mitchell, General North
Narrator: Sudanese radios were jammed, blinding radar screens as anti-aircraft guns fired wildly into the night sky.
Abdo, Sudanese Soldier [Through Interpreter]: Our commander told us to go onto the roof, lay on our back and fire into the air, of course we couldn’t see anything, I don’t think I ever even saw a jet, we just fired, without targets, everything was crazy.
Narrator: Bombers from Djibouti flew directly over the capital and struck the main airport, where dozens of government-controlled attack helicopters were supposed to be located
Maj. Terry Kauffman, Stealth Pilot: I looked over my shoulder and the whole place was up in smoke. You wait your whole career for a moment like that.
Gen. John Abizaid: The objective was to sever the capital's connection to the forces in Darfur, and sap their troops of the ability to fight, if Turabi thought he wouldn’t feel the consequences we were making sure he did.
Narrator: The President and his advisors heard the first accounts of the war via internal reports and external news sources
Susan Rice, National Security Advisor: We knew that events were unfolding, we had all seen the war plan, so we waited and watched CNN. Until we got the word that we were ready to proceed with the next wave.
BBC Article Titled Coalition Attack On Sudan Begins
Coalition attack on Sudan beginsNovember 9th 2006Web posted at: 3:29 p.m. EST (2029 GMT)The United Nations Coalition has launched the first wave of strikes against Sudanese military targets, fulfilling months of warnings and UN Resolutions of military action over the genocide in Darfur. US defence officials said the attacks, the first major military offensive under a UN mandate since the 1991 Persian Gulf War, began with air and sea-launched cruise missiles.
The threatened action against Sudan and it’s allied militias were acted on when the first explosions were reported in the capital Khartoum at about 2000 GMT.
"The time has come for action," President Edwards said in a statement announcing military action had begun.Edwards said the military strikes have three objectives: to protect Sudanese neighbours, to halt Sudan from launching more attacks against Darfuri Sudanese and to cripple the governments forces laying the groundwork for further military action, possibly including a ground invasion.
(left) US Ship launches cruise missile (right) Khartoum building following explosion
Narrator: With air superiority quickly established over Sudan, the coalition air planners were now confident to begin more conventional military operations. Striking Sudanese and militia positions within the Darfur region
Maj. Jeff Tove, F-15 Pilot: My Squad was part of a large pack of planes, conducting the first raids over Darfur. My specific target was a command post in the east. There wasn’t a lot of return fire, maybe a pair of missiles, and we could avoid those quite easily.
Narrator: In Khartoum the first reports of the coalition bombing campaign came to Turabi, who resided in numerous safe houses and mosques throughout the conflict. The first strikes had been light but precise, causing critical damage to the country’s communications, roads and electricity.
Gen. Affez Kabbibi [Through Interpreter]: The Senior Intelligence Officials were panicking, they did not know how far the Americans would go, the airports were in flames, already our air forces were completely non-operational just in the first few hours, but Turabi remained confident, he believed there would be no invasion. “Look at this.” he said “These are just threats, but the Americans are weak, they cannot stomach the climate here,” he told us, “hold together”,
Narrator: Turabi was prepared to hold firm, despite a continued air assault on the capital and with no real means at his disposal of halting the attacks. While the coalition sought to further squeeze the government, with a blockade.
Susan Rice, National Security Advisor: There was a lot of concern in Washington, that this needed to be quick, that the coalition wouldn’t stay committed if we weren’t achieving our objectives quickly, but without causing large numbers of civilian casualties which is what we were there of course to prevent.
Tony Blair, PM, United Kingdom: I said to the President, Turabi needs to believe that we are willing to move against him everywhere, and that meant cutting off his cash flow completely, by shutting off oil exports. Look, the bottom line is, that he’s violated international law and there are great consequences for that, a message for everyone in the region, and indeed the world.
Adm. Mike Mullen, Chief of Naval Operations: There was still a split in the military policy, some believed that there was a way to use the war to force Turabi into compliance, to withdraw his forces and admit international peacekeepers, but many feared this would take too long, the blockade was supposed to speed up that decision.
Narrator: An armada of ships, assembled in the Red Sea, closed in on Sudan’s main ports including Port Sudan, where 90% of the country’s exports and imports came through. The fleet enforced a strict blockade of arms and petroleum products, insisting on the right to search and seize all shipping, strangling the already meagre Sudanese economy
Vice Admiral William Crowder, Commander, Coalition Navy Force: We hadn’t exercised a scenario like this, we were on the lookout for suicide craft, and possible missile fire from the coast and we knew there was a strong possibility we would be ordered to launch attacks, even capture the ports.
(Left to Right Coalition Leaders) UK PM Tony Blair, Canadian PM Frank Mckenna, Australian PM Kim Beazley and French President Lionel Jospin
Narrator: The first days of the Operation were broadly successful but by day three, problems started to emerge.
Michael Abramowitz “The Washington Post”: The Coalition was running out of approved targets, the French and Canadians were totally grounded by now, the Brits had delayed several of their sorties to actually prolong the air campaign and there was a lot of uncertainty as to when ground operations would have to begin, because everyone knows these troops can’t sit in active readiness for much longer.
George Mitchell, Secretary of State: There was hesitancy, even after the bombing started about moving into the country, because then we would be in it, and there would be no backing out. I was receiving calls from our allies asking ‘When is the President going to do this?’, obviously I couldn’t tell them, I didn’t know for certain, the President played his hand close to his chest. So I told them we were committed to forcing Sudan into compliance with international law, and our actions would be according to a timetable of our choosing. That must have been frustrating to hear.
Narrator: Without the order for ground operations to begin, the coalition looked for more targets, and a decision was made that sparked controversy.
Gen. Gary North: There was a lot of noise from Paris, whose bases we were borrowing especially about bombing targets outside of Darfur, we wanted to hit the electrical grid, desalination plants and some factories that we believed were being used to store arms, but those got overruled because of fears there would be excessive civilian casualties.
Narrator: The need for consensus, pushed coalition forces to target Sudan in the south of the country, where assisted by South Sudanese rebels the coalition could target the region's rich oil fields, a contentious move and one that could cause international outrage with the many countries who had invested there, including China.
Hugh Shelton, U.S. Secretary of Defence: Oil was directly connected to the genocide, 70% of Sudan’s oil money went straight to defence, to arming the militias, and we all viewed these sites as military targets.
Gen Gary North: These were great targets, wide open space giant platforms it really was a bomber's dream, and I think it shook a lot of their people, a lot of the Generals who were getting paid with these oil fields must have felt mighty bad, once those black plumes went up.
Narrator: The bombings would be the most costly of the war, totally shutting down oil production and costing the Turabi regime millions of barrels of crude a day, but they also cost the coalition politically.
Michael Abramowitz “The Washington Post”: There were a lot of poor villages clustered around these oil fields because that was where the protection was, the rebels couldn’t reach you, and the government didn’t want trouble so they were seen as safe areas, and now that stability was gone.
Coalition Spokesman: [Press Conference] We are satisfied we struck key military targets in the south of Sudan, key sources of the regime's power projection, and we are very confident these sites were struck and destroyed.
Narrator: It wasn’t for days that the first reports of the high death count became known, revealing large numbers of civilian casualties and injuries, on top of the environmental damage.
Alex Last “BBC”: Hundreds of houses were burnt, and hundreds were injured with very little left to their names, they used to scrape the oilfields to sell it on the black market, that was gone now, there were women crying out for their children. This was a genuine tragedy
Narrator: The oil fires, served as a strong reminder for the coalition, that no matter how righteous the cause, support for the war was going to drop especially amongst sceptical members.
Lionel Jospin, Prime Minister France: There was a strong consensus in favour of action, and we wanted to be in the loop on this, we pledged French support but that it couldn’t be indefinite, there was a mission and we wanted it done, to bring peace to Darfur.
Hugh Shelton: There was a suspicion that Turabi would agree to a ceasefire, offer to withdraw troops, just to extend the slaughter, or as we saw in Kosovo use a prolonged conflict to cover up his genocide, Tony Blair relayed that many times and kept asking the President. When? When are we moving in? Over the phone, he told the Prime Minister, ‘Very soon Tony, tell your boys to get ready’.
Narrator: The word came down. Within a few days, the air war would be over and the ground war would begin, tens of thousands of American, British, French, Australian, Canadian and other troops moved to final positions, and within 72 hours the invasion would begin.
…
(left) Sudanese Oil Fires, (Right) US soldier in Chad
Narrator: On the Chad-Sudan border only an invisible line separated one country from the other, advanced recon teams entered the territory and began to probe the region for minefields and potential ambushes, to chart a safe path for the troops to enter through.
Charles Penney, U.S. Marine: The place was covered, mines everywhere, many were exposed to the surface and there was some concern about snipers so we had to crawl while the artillery and mortars fired above us.
Narrator: The war plan called for three main thrusts designed to quickly secure the main population centres of the region, allowing coalition forces to deny the enemy access to supply lines and end the campaign.
Gen. Russel Honoré: The entire territory, which we were tasked with securing was the size of France, a massive territory that we had to capture with less than 100,000 troops, facing off against guys that knew the land, knew how to survive out there; we knew there would be some tough scrapes.
Narrator: Before dawn on November 14th the attack began.
Armour Commander: Move Out!
The New York Times, November 14th 2006
Sgt. Carl Jackson, 7th Infantry Regiment: We approached the city, it was deadly quiet, thousands of people lived there but you wouldn’t know it
Narrator: But hundreds of troops lay waiting, including the brutal Janjaweed militia the so-called ‘Devils on horseback’ And they were prepared to cause havoc
Rashid Al-Zufi, Local: The Janjaweed didn’t care about the city, or the people, they were there to kill and loot, some believed if they could capture an American they would get rich, and they could ransom him for lots.
Narrator: The first battle on the ground began.
Pvt Dan Miller, 7th Infantry Regiment: It all kicked off, all around you from doorways, rooftops, and alleyways there was no way of telling where they were hiding, just to pop up and take shots at you
Sgt. Carl Jackson: The bullets were flying, it wasn’t accurate fire, but it was heavy, I thought ‘We need to give as good as we get and push through’ We couldn’t go back and somehow we stumbled into the hornet nest
Narrator: The Battle of Geneina provided the first casualty of the war for the Allies, An American Private Eric Gillet when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his Humvee, injuring three others.
Gen. Russel Honoré: This was the first real battle and it steeled a lot of people that, just because the United States had allies and we were armed to the teeth, we could be in a mess, they weren’t giving up.
A Walk-Through Hell – My Time in Darfur
Book Cover of A Walk Through Hell, My Time in Darfur
The battalion rushed through the breach, the morning light burning through the taped-up windshield. “This place looks like shit,” said Anders. He was right, it looked like a wasteland, broken up by knocked-down road signs or the occasional abandoned or torched truck. So far, our greatest accomplishment in the war was liberating an empty village and shooting at some suspiciously dead dogs.
We were forward stationed, the tip of the spear moving through dirt track after dirt track, trying our best not to get lost, calling out everything that moved passing binoculars back and forth, and trading ‘critical info’ over the radios. Then we’re told something worth hearing, enemy forces to the west, and we were being diverted to engage.
We were all amped, ready to shoot at something that was shooting back for once and as we spotted some silhouettes in the distance, some guys and a couple of horses racing off, we let loose with bursts of M-4 rifles. Then a chopper swooped over, releasing a storm blasting the guys to bits before we got close enough
“Kill stealing bitches” Shouted Anders slapping his palm on the Humvee roof, again he was right.
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I really loved the chapter!
I guess, it seems to be TTL's Iraq, of course, it is not as bad as that, but as I said above, it is still bad.
I really loved the video too! It is a shame that youtube age-restricted it.
(Also, how many chapters after this one we can see some Turkish politics? I know that I repeat it quite often, but I love Turkey getting more than a mention of their names among many others, in timelines I love like yours.)
I guess, it seems to be TTL's Iraq, of course, it is not as bad as that, but as I said above, it is still bad.
I really loved the video too! It is a shame that youtube age-restricted it.
(Also, how many chapters after this one we can see some Turkish politics? I know that I repeat it quite often, but I love Turkey getting more than a mention of their names among many others, in timelines I love like yours.)
This was a nice update Iwanh. Sounds like the conflict in Sudan/Darfur is getting pretty intense.
I kind of sucks though that the YouTube video you made is age restricted and since I don't have a YouTube account, I probably won't be able to watch it.
an iraq war like war thats less like the war on terror more like the gulf war
cool at least the war is not as bad as in OTL
(i could see this version of a second gulf war being a cool level in a game like what moscow was in cruisn world)
also really liked the PBS documentary in the beginning
reminds me of something my parents would have watched on WNED buffalo back in the early 2000s
cool at least the war is not as bad as in OTL
(i could see this version of a second gulf war being a cool level in a game like what moscow was in cruisn world)
also really liked the PBS documentary in the beginning
reminds me of something my parents would have watched on WNED buffalo back in the early 2000s
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Thank you Iwanh! Good job on the video by the way. It looks like a program on PBS that my late maternal grandfather would've watched in order to learn more about what's going on.
I was wondering why the video was age restricted on YouTube to begin with only to find out around the 41 second mark. It's probably for the best that you did.
nice update but what about South Sudan and John Garang will they take the opportunity to declare independence from Sudan while the government troops fighting the us troops?
I'm curious here. Is the U.S. Army going to eventually adapt the Universal Camouflage Pattern (the grey one that was criticized to be terrible?)
Photo:
During the Iraq War in OTL, the U.S. Army and Marines used both the M81 Woodland Battle Dress Uniform and the Desert Combat Uniform (aka "coffee stain"). The Marines would use Digital MARPAT in Fallujah in 2004.
So is this controversial uniform going to be adapted?
Photo:
During the Iraq War in OTL, the U.S. Army and Marines used both the M81 Woodland Battle Dress Uniform and the Desert Combat Uniform (aka "coffee stain"). The Marines would use Digital MARPAT in Fallujah in 2004.
So is this controversial uniform going to be adapted?
The US will be working with South and West Sudanese rebel groups, including Garang who is not dead ITTL
How many percent are TTL American people support this war?
And I realize that in TTL Yanukovych elected president 6 years earlier
So would Euromaidan break out in TTL 2007? (OTL 2013)
Would Russia took Crimea in 2008 (OTL 2014)
If that so , the time of TTL Euromaidan and Orange revolution were closer
Basically every OTL events happened 6 years earlier
Or , all of these didn't happened , Russia decided to leave Ukraine alone in TTL?
And I realize that in TTL Yanukovych elected president 6 years earlier
So would Euromaidan break out in TTL 2007? (OTL 2013)
Would Russia took Crimea in 2008 (OTL 2014)
If that so , the time of TTL Euromaidan and Orange revolution were closer
Basically every OTL events happened 6 years earlier
Or , all of these didn't happened , Russia decided to leave Ukraine alone in TTL?
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its guessing its a hybrid of that uniform and the uniform they used in the gulf war (this uniform)I'm curious here. Is the U.S. Army going to eventually adapt the Universal Camouflage Pattern (the grey one that was criticized to be terrible?)
Photo:
During the Iraq War in OTL, the U.S. Army and Marines used both the M81 Woodland Battle Dress Uniform and the Desert Combat Uniform (aka "coffee stain"). The Marines would use Digital MARPAT in Fallujah in 2004.
So is this controversial uniform going to be adapted?
without 9/11 and the willpower to fight and "attack em back" i doubt people would support this war as much as they did in OTL but like the gulf war in OTL or the cambodian war in the blue skies TL it is a war that is contraversal yet revolutionary (while also not being as bad as the iraq war or vietnam in OTL)
unless the refugee crisis happens in TTL then IDK
IDK it was a matter of time before the russian goverment felt nostalgic for the days of the USSR
(maybe i could see more documentaries on the USSR and soviet movie remakes and drama reboots being made in russia,
kinda like what americas doing with alot of 80s/90s movie/tv show/game/music remakes/reboots as thats the the time period before OTLs 9/11 that americans are most nostalgic for in OTL)
i wonder if the russian ukrane war happens in 2016 instead of 2022 like in OTL
i wonder how this is going to turn out (as OTLs russian ukrane war hasn't ended yet)
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Desert BDU aka the "Chocochip". It works well if the desert has rocks.its guessing its a hybrid of that uniform and the uniform they used in the gulf war (this uniform)
In Iraq in 2003, the U.S. Army, Air Force, and the Marines also used the Desert Combat Uniform (DCU) or the "Coffee Stain" since it works with less rocky desert environments.
(Pic is actually from 2017, the Navy Seabees used the DCU until 2012).
There's a lot of butterflies. Ukraine may not even lean to the West for TTL. That would mean the Ukrainian Armed Forces would still be outdated, underfunded, and corrupt. OTL, the UAF only became adapted to the Western tactics and equipment after 2014.
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Support is very high at the moment, with months of buildup and media coverage, both parties support with no organized opposition, there will be anxiety against a long conflict, and as always support always spikes after hostilities begin, I will go more in-depth in the next update.
🤐
Thank you.
I will cover Turkey when we reach July 07 (for the elections). I can't say how many updates it will take as I don't massively pre-plan the TL
May we have the TIME magazine cover of TTL 2006 Sudan war and TTL September 12 2001? (OTL was a horrifying picture show Twin Tower exploded, only "September 11 2001" on it)
If you have extra time
I really love your realistic detail of newspaper and magazine
Right fonts is a key factor
Thank you so much
If you have extra time
I really love your realistic detail of newspaper and magazine
Right fonts is a key factor
Thank you so much
I'll definitely do one for Sudan, but there wouldn't be a Time for Sep 14th because it was a special edition. I've something else I can do though ...