Posted on 03/22/2003 5:06:42 PM PST by joesnuffy
10 U.S. Soldiers Hurt In Grenade Attack March 22, 2003
Ten U.S. soldiers were injured, six or seven of them seriously, in a grenade and small arms attack at Camp Pennsylvania in northern Kuwait, reports CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassmann, who is traveling with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division.
Strassmann said the grenades were rolled into two commanders' tents at the camp. When officers ran from the tents, they were hit by small arms fire.
"From our reports it appears that a terrorist penetrated Camp Pennsylvania, one or more terrorists threw two hand grenades into a tent," said George Heath, spokesman at Fort Campbell, home base of the 101st.
Strassman said three suspects were being held for questioning, two Kuwaitis who served a translators and an American soldier described as a black Muslim.
The injured soldiers were rushed to a field hospital but military officials had no word on their conditions, Lt. Cmdr. Charles Owens said from Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar.
The military did not identify the unit of the 101st that was in the camp but said it had been in Kuwait for about one week. Most of the division has entered southern Iraq.
Separately, Strassmann reported, an Iraqi rocket fired at U.S. forces in Kuwait was destroyed by Patriot missiles launched from nearby Camp New Jersey.
The terror and missile attack came as the U.S. assault on Iraq gained steam. American and British forces besieged the southern city of Basra and pounded Baghdad with impunity. But tough fighting loomed for coalition troops as they pressed deeper into Iraq.
In other major developments:
Gen. Tommy Franks said 1,000 to 2,000 Iraqi prisoners were in custody, and thousands of others had deserted.
U.S. officials said very few Iraqi oil wells have been set ablaze; just seven wells are reported on fire.
It emerged that Ali Hasan Al-Majid, a cousin of Saddam known as "Chemical Ali" for his alleged involvement in chemical weapons attacks against civilians, was the target of an allied attack. It is not known if he was wounded or killed.
Two British Navy helicopters collided over the Persian Gulf, and seven on board were killed, including a U.S. Navy officer. A day earlier, eight British and four U.S. Marines died when their helicopter crashed south of Umm Qasr. A source at Central Command says six journalists have also been killed in action.
The Pentagon abandoned a plan to send heavy armored troops through Turkey into northern Iraq.
The latest CBS News/New York Times poll shows Americans are feeling optimistic about the progress of the war in Iraq, but they believe President Bush hasn't been clear about all the possible consequences of military action.
Tens of thousands of anti-war demonstrators, spanning 30 blocks, marched down Broadway in New York City, one of dozens of protests against the intensified war on Iraq.
CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reports the U.S. Army could soon clash with Iraq's elite Republican Guard at Karbala, while the Marines could encounter them at Al Kut.
The Republican Guards are better trained, better equipped and more loyal than the regular Iraqi army, which has put up little resistance to coalition forces so far, says CBS News Military Analyst Gen. Joe Ralston.
He says they’re "a capable force but no match for the U.S., though we could wind up with significant casualties."
Brig. Gen. Stanley McChrystal of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said U.S. forces launched 500 cruise missiles against Iraq over the past day, along with several hundred precision bombs.
Coalition ground forces are now 150 miles into Iraq and have crossed the Euphrates River. They’re still meeting only light resistance, with many Iraqi troops surrendering or simply leaving the battlefield.
McChrystal said there remains Republican Guard and special Republican Guard troops ahead and it is not known if they will fight.
He said ground forces are moving with "impressive speed" but there is concern that battles could lie ahead. McChrystal also said no scud missiles have been fired by Iraq, and that no scuds or weapons of mass destruction have been found inside the country.
Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said it's only a matter of time before the Iraqi regime is destroyed.
She said coalition forces are making "considerable progress," but warned that the situation in Iraq is fluid and challenges are ahead.
Elsewhere, Marine engineers sped across the Western desert carrying boats and bridges to span rivers en route to the capital. The Army's 3rd Infantry Division defeated the Iraqi 11th Division to capture the city of Al-Nasiriya as well as two bridges that cross the Euphrates, opening the road to Baghdad.
CBS News Correspondent Jim Axelrod reports the 3rd Infantry's 1st Brigade took several prisoners, then came under fire. They fought back, and ended up with more captives.
More units were waiting in Kuwait. Hundreds of tanks, armored personnel carriers, Humvees and trucks were lined up in parallel columns waiting in single-file to cross the Iraqi-Kuwait border.
A Central Command spokesman said some coalition forces have moved the same distance as the longest maneuver of the 1991 Gulf war in one quarter of the time.
The spokesman, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, said coalition forces had seized three southern oil facilities, at al Faw, Mina' al Bakr and Khawr al Amaya. They found weapons, ammunition and explosives there.
In his first appearance of the war, the invasion commander said the invasion was succeeding in throwing Saddam Hussein's government into disarray.
"There is a certain confusion that is going on within the regime. I believe the command and control is not exactly as advertised on Iraqi television," Gen. Tommy Franks said.
Franks said 1,000 to 2,000 Iraqi prisoners were in custody, and thousands of others had deserted.
In Baghdad, intermittent explosions were heard throughout the day in the first daylight air strikes of the war. At least 20 columns of dark smoke rose from points around Baghdad. Al-Jazeera television reported that the plumes were coming from fires that Iraqis had set to oil containers around the city to obscure targets.
Iraqi officials said more than 200 people have been injured in the bombing so far. One death has been confirmed.
At Al Yarmouk Hospital, one of the critically injured was Amal Hassan Kamel. She was in the hospital with her 8-year old son Wa'ad Hashim, who was injured in both legs by shrapnel.
"The Americans have no conscience," Kamel said. "What have our children done to deserve this?"
Meanwhile, the situation in northern Iraq grew more complicated. It was unclear whether Turkey had moved troops into the area.
A Turkish military official said they had, but the Turkish general staff denied the reports.
CBS News Correspondent Allen Pizzey reports fighting has erupted between Kurdish fighters and Ansar Al Islam — the group the Bush administration alleges in linked to al Qaeda. Kurdish officials said American advisers were traveling with their forces. About six U.S. cruise missiles or bombs hit an Ansar installation.
One of the journalists who was killed, an Australian, died in a car bomb blamed on Ansar. Women and children were also killed in the blast.
The five other journalists died in southern Iraq. Two Americans and one Frenchman were killed headed to al-Nasariya in southern Iraq. Two Britons were killed after crossing the Iraq-Kuwait border.
The Pentagon identified two Marines killed in combat Friday as 2nd Lt. Therrel S. Childers, 30, of Harrison County, Miss.; and Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, 22, of Los Angeles.
©MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
• Feedback • Terms of Service • Privacy Statement
I'm suspecting that you were in Vietnam. If so, please tell the folks just how many incidents of mutiny, sabotage, assault, rape and even murder were covered up in the interest of "race relations". Of course, no-one will believe it...
"Strassman said three suspects were being held for questioning, two Kuwaitis who served a translators and an American soldier described as a black Muslim."
Yeah, I wonder how far back the contacts go. Before they left the States for Kuwait, maybe? I hope this is an isolated incident here. If not, we could see some uncomfortable situations soon.
I agree...but that doesn't fit in well with the 1st Ammendment.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.