Interesting article

[mbulriss]

http://www.wweek.com/editorial/2830/2814/

Mike Bulriss
1991 WB40 "Texas Minivan"
San Antonio, TX

[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

[mbulriss]

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
. I also noted that they seemed to indicate that the factory
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"
wrote:
>
> --- 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
>

[Howard O. Truitt]

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
. I also noted that they seemed to indicate that the factory
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"
wrote:
>
> --- 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
>






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