U.S.'s 'Iron Hammer' Code Name 1st Used by Nazis

[wtmusic]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military's code name for a crackdown on resistance in Iraq (news - web sites) was also used by the Nazis for an aborted operation to damage the Soviet power grid during World War II.

"Operation Iron Hammer" this week launched the 1st Armored Division's 3rd Brigade into the roughest parts of Baghdad to ferret out the attackers who have killed scores of U.S. troops since Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) was ousted in April.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&e=2&u=/nm/20031118/us_nm/iraq_hammer_dc

Just a coincidence. No, really.

[Zuni]

1. It might be

a coincidence. I have studied WWII for years and that is one code name i had never heard.

[Paschall]

33. Even so, I doubt you have at your disposal...

...all the resources of the Pentagon, the State Department, and our various military/war colleges.

Of course, there is the internet. Maybe they should check possible names against InterNIC? Domain names anyone? :shrug:

[RobertSeattle]

2. Was a thread on this last week

1st Armored Division is nicknamed "Old Ironsides" so they tend to use "Iron" in everything.

[mobuto]

3. Sarcasm aside

Please give me a reason why it should be seen as anything other than a strange irony.

[truthisfreedom]

8. it reflects the thoughtlessness and lack of foresight that have character-

ized this entire invasion and occupation, and hearalds a continuation of that same thoughtlessness, lack of foresight, and lack of hindsight. these people operate without researching anything... they shoot first and have knee-jerk reactions to every situation in Iraq. the fact that they'd name ANY American operation ANYWHERE after a nazi operation is just a reflection of their hideous minds.

[mobuto]

21. I doubt seriously that they named it after the operation

If they'd called it "Barbarossa," then maybe you'd have a case. But its pretty clear this was just an oversight. I for one never heard of Operation Iron Hammer.

[DrWeird]

35. I'm willing to bet..

they've got whole teams of PR people coming up with this stuff. Advertising agents, psychologists, war buffs... Hard to believe they didn't know about this.

[Mr. Brown of MD]

4. Only so many operations out there, I guess

Maybe they'd rather re-use an old one than have to break out Operation Sea Green Tutu.

Although that would be amusing in a very morbid way.

-CollegeDude
And therefore not surprising from this lot

[Code_Name_D]

7. Or operation "make off with the oil." nt

:hurts:

[truthisfreedom]

15. O.I.L... Operation Iraqi Liberation?

[leftchick]

25. We Should Honor Our CIC with an Operation Name...

I suggest OLP.... Operation Little Penis!

[helleborient]

5. Doesn't somebody have a database or something...

Of Nazi code names so they can check this out?

At best, it is very sloppy work...as is usual for this administration.

At worst, well....

[Scott Lee]

6. It's only fitting

The US soldiery now uses helmets based on German Nazi design.

The first "Shock and Awe" was the 1939 Blitzkrieg on Danzig, Poland.

Bush tells the world that "God" has sent him to do all this ("Gott Mit Uns", or 'God is with Us', was inscribed on every German soldier's beltbuckle in WWII).

Bush the First stood before the UN and once called for a "New World Order". That exact term was first used by an angry little Bavarian corporal right before he attacked the civilized world.

The parallels are all there.

[smallprint]

10. Not to mention...

... an ad for the Homeland Security Dept. in Texas Monthly that featured a Luftwaffe officer instead of a US Air Force officer --

...or these funny looking stamps:

[It was not a pretzel]

9. I pointed this out last week in GD

and got slated here for doing so. While it's coincidental I'm clearly not the only one who noticed.

[Drifter]

11. I would have to think that ...

over the course of the war, there were many code names on each side. The chance that both sides used some of the names is high.

I'll bet neither side used something like Operation "Weak Pansies".

My apologies to weak pansies.

Cheers
Drifter

[RobertSeattle]

12. Good article on Military Op Naming

http://www.dix.army.mil/PAO/archive00/Features/june/exercises.htm

[wtmusic]

13. 'Operation Velvet Pygmy' didn't even make the cut

'Iron Hammer' is illustrative of the 'shock and awe' (aka 'blitzkrieg') mindset which reeks of a quest for world domination, and power over diplomacy.

[Blitz]

14. Do you remember Operation Desert Fox?

eom.

[Aidoneus]

16. Indeed I do

I found it bizarre at the time that they named their bombing blitz after Rommel.

When they refer to the next invasion as "Operation Yellow", be afraid.

[Blitz]

20. But I rather doubt that Clinton or his administration

was trying to pay hommage to Rommel. Poor naming, in any event.

[Bridget Burke]

17. from Thor's Hammer, no doubt

The Nazi operation wasn't a great success, apparently.

[shamanstar]

18. you know there is no similarity

between bush and hitler- get over it and bring it on
/sarcasm off

[shamanstar]

19. no similarities

between bush and hitler- get over it and bring it on
/sarcasm off

[burrowowl]

22. A DUer

brought this up last week.
I e-mailed CNN when they asked if the operation was doing any good.
All they have to do is Google and you have lots of info.

[kayell]

24. Yep, I brought it up last week (maybe others too)

googled the name as soon as I saw it. As image concious as this administration is, and having made stupid mistakes before (Operation Infinite Justice), I have a hard time believing or understanding why they don't google all of their proposed operation names.

[54anickel]

23. They could use the naming method of exotic dancers....

Your first or favorite pet's name and the street you lived on as a kid. Maybe that's why so many are named Brandy something.

Anyway, there have been an awful lot of operation names in the past few days, all using the same tactics:

Iron Hammer
Ivy Cyclone
Ivy Cyclone II
Furious Fire

Too think this started out as
Operation Iraqi Freedom :eyes:

[Skydiver]

29. Iron Hammer

was a Nazi plan of German Luftwaffe to destroy the most important power plants of Moscow and Gorky, developed in 1943.
Fortunately, this plan was never realized :-)
http://www.infobitte.de/free/lex/ww2_Lex0/e/eisenhammer.htm

[54anickel]

30. Sorry was being sarcastic. Googled when it first came out and found

the tie to the not so succesful Nazi plan.

Came across this site while trying to remember the names of Operations. There have been a lot that I hadn't even heard of:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_ongoing_mil_ops.htm

edited to add Iraq Pacification Operations link

[kentuck]

34. I recall, 54anickel...

You are a little ahead of Reuters and CNN .. :)

[jpgray]

26. This is silly--these kind of macho names have ALL been used before

They're bound to run into a few that have been used by evil people at some point. The Soviet grid operation I doubt anyone knew about until this article.

[54anickel]

27. Ha! A bit off track, but yesterday I questioned if there was something

strange in the planet alignments with all the weird crap hitting the headlines on Bushco at once.

Here's a truth stranger than fiction for you.
Is Shrub using Rayguns astrologer or something?

http://www.llewellynjournal.com/article/553

[shamanstar]

28. the are no similarities

between bush and hitler- get over it and bring it on
/sarcasm off

[Military Brat]

31. The entire war should be called Operation FUBAR

Fucked Up Beyond All Repair

[LoneStarLiberal]

32. Or Operation Charlie Foxtrot

Cluster Fuck