American marines today launched a massive raid on an Iraqi town in a bid to kill or capture the notorious commander known as Chemical Ali. Planes, helicopter gunships and tanks pounded Shatra, north of Nasiriyah, where Ali Hassan al-Majeed was believed to be hiding. Then scores of marines swooped on a series of compounds, including the Ba'ath party headquarters, in the search for him. Ali was thought to be in Shatra with other senior Saddam henchmen, directing the paramilitary Fedayeen who have been harrying British and American forces. Under cover of darkness, aircraft dropped precision-guided bombs on buildings in the...