Word: urban
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...mock battle, conducted amid 1,000 buildings in the biggest urban-war exercise the U.S. has ever held, confirmed what the Pentagon already knew: America may have the world's most fearsome military, but it is ill equipped to wage war in cities. The nation's recent triumphs--in Afghanistan, Kosovo, the Persian Gulf--were mostly air wars, carried out by American pilots far above the tangle of gritty city streets. On the ground, the Americans face enemies with the home-field advantage and lose their edge in state-of-the-art weaponry. In last month's exercises, for example...
...warriors do not always get to choose their battles. And while the U.S. has managed to avoid a protracted urban skirmish during the past decade, Saddam wants to provoke just such a fight. If the Bush Administration's goal is Saddam's ouster--and if Iraq's soldiers dig in for the battle--the U.S. may be unable to avoid an armed clash in Baghdad...
This is American planners' worst fear. City combat blunts the U.S. military advantages of speed and knowledge. What the Pentagon calls "urban canyons" offers hideouts for foes and civilians as well as sniper nests and underground lairs from which combatants can strike. Buildings create vast "dead spaces" for an enemy to exploit out of the sight of those trying to kill Saddam. They hinder communication and hamper anything flying low, like helicopters, spy drones and warplanes assisting forces on the ground. In cities, mobility and maneuver--two tenets of U.S. ground-combat strategy--hit a dead...
Commanders in urban environments can't survey the entire battlefield and instead see only bits and pieces; it's like playing chess while viewing only four squares on the board. This battlefield compression means that low-ranking corporals and sergeants--not colonels and captains--must often make life-and-death decisions. These choices come fast and furious when you're fighting downtown: 90% of the targets are less than 50 yards away and seen for only seconds. Killing innocent civilians--or your own men--is a risk that goes with the terrain. A quarter of all explosive rounds turn into...
...Trend Alert Boot Up, Urban Cowboy By KATE DRAKE/Hong Kong The deer and antelope are still less than abundant, but when it comes to fashion, Hong Kong is now at home on the range. Cowboy boots and fringe-covered suede boots are suddenly hotter than Death Valley in August. Local magazine Fashion & Beauty recently ran a full page story flogging the new style, and retailers are finding it difficult to keep their shelves stocked. Local store i.t, which started carrying Western-style boots in July, sold out its first shipment of over 1,000 pairs in just two weeks. Zarina...