U.S. forces fight at Nassiriya, suffer casualties

Reuters ^ | 3-23-03 | By Sean Maguire

[Oldeconomybuyer]

SOUTHERN IRAQ – U.S. Marines battled for control of the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya on Sunday, taking "significant" casualties in a fight to open a route north to Baghdad, military officials said.

Correspondent Sean Maguire, travelling with the Marines First Regiment south of the city, said he could see explosions and huge plumes of smoke over Nassiriya, which lies on Iraq's Euphrates river about 375 km (225 miles) southeast of Baghdad.

"It looks like artillery, or possibly air strikes," Maguire said. "There's lots of smoke rising."

Maguire quoted military officials as saying the Marine battallion spearheading the fight had suffered significant casualties in the battle, but said they did not give details.

The firefight at Nassariya blocked an advance by U.S. forces, who had earlier reported securing two key bridgeheads to enable them to cross the Euphrates and strike northwards towards the Iraqi capital.

Maguire said military officials believed that the bridgeheads were now secure but that the area in between was not.

Maguire said there was heavy U.S. helicopter traffic over the area, and that hundreds of U.S. military trucks and armoured personnel carriers had stopped their advance.

U.S. officers also said that the 11th Division of the Iraqi army had "capitulated." That report could not be confirmed, and no details on the alleged surrender were available.

Iraqi officials on Saturday denied U.S. statements that the commander of the 51st Division had surrendered and a U.S. commander said his forces had fought and defeated elements of the 51st around the southern city of Basra.

Iraqi Information Minister Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf told a news conference in Baghdad that foreign invaders headed to Nassiriya had been "taught a lesson they will never forget."

"We have placed them in a quagmire from which they can never emerge except dead," he said.

Speeding columns of the U.S. Third Infantry have covered nearly two thirds of the 500 km (300 miles) from the Kuwaiti border in two days before running into Iraqi resistance near Najaf on the southwest bank of the Euphrates.

A strike north across the river towards the Tigris river and Baghdad could create a pincer movement on the capital.

U.S. officers believe units of President Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guards face them at Najaf – the Medina Division – and at other cities south of Baghdad, like Kut on the Tigris, where the Baghdad Division is thought to be based.

[max_rpf]

Nice of CNN to edit the minister's words for him. He said "SWAMP".

Looks like 10 casualties in this attack as per CNNs embed.

[You Gotta Be Kidding Me]

"We have placed them in a quagmire from which they can never emerge except dead," he said.

If the dead emerge, they're pretty much not dead. Oh, those silly saddamites.

[Arkie2]

It occurs to me that our decision not to prepare the battlefield with airpower in a 2 or 3 week sustained campaign, as we did in the Gulf war, may cost us significantly more ground casualties.

[CatOwner]

"It occurs to me that our decision not to prepare the battlefield with airpower in a 2 or 3 week sustained campaign, as we did in the Gulf war, may cost us significantly more ground casualties."

I think that is the price we had to pay for securing the oil fields and from the sound of it we were very successful (only 9 of 500 wells? sabotaged).

[tomahawk]

The pockets of resistance are Saddam's internal security forces. Their orders are to resist behind our lines, and hide behind civilians.

We have have to root them out.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

Maybe a few more casualties. But an air campaign first is what the Iraqis expected. The surprise of the blitzkrieg ground invasion first, mixed with shock & awe will prove to be the best move. If you can't handle 10 casualties, turn off the news.

[lavrenti]

Amazing the number of wimps around here.

As a teenager I was in a gang rumble where just as many wound up in the ER. Didn't even make the local papers.

[Bahbah]

Just heard on Meet the Press that some of our boys may have been taken prisoner and executed.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

We've got 250,000 troops in the region who are invading a soveriegn nation of over several million. We're not going to finish this with three paper cuts and a hang nail.

[Arkie2]

Well I don't have to "handle" the casualties and neither do you have to "handle" the casualties sitting safely behind your keyboard drinking your morning coffee. What an asinine and idiotic thing to say. Perhaps the troops in the field who actually have to "handle" the casualties have a different opinion.

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[okie01]

Note that what Reuters reported as "significant casualties" appears to amount to...about ten.

[Arkie2]

Nice handle, neighbor!

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

The thousands of pro Sadaam/anti Bush marchers in our large cities are encouraged by your reaction.

[Arkie2]

Kiss my ass.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

Bear it on your next peace march through the bay area

[Arkie2]

Preparing the battlefield is standard US doctrine you simpleminded bloodthirsty jackass. We didn't get it right because we waltzed too long with the UN and we're to damn preoccupied with minimizing civilian casualties. If you think that's a pacifist view, it's one that has been expressed by the leadership in our military. That's my point. 20 years in the Air Force as a pilot and a Gulf War veteran. What's your experience? Slinging a witty keyboard? Armchair generals like you really should stick to your knitting.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

Military genius,

Based on our objective, which is regime change, we don't want to obliterate Iraqi troops, but have them surrender. How much support are we going to get from the Iraqi people if we use MOABs to kill 100K of their fathers, sons, relatives??? Run the Psyops, scare the hell out of them with shock & awe, & get them to capitulate. Once we're in, we're in better shape. We will suffer behind the lines resistance which will kill many Americans, but based on our objective their is no way around it

You're air power to soften things up for the ground troops worked well to move the Iraqis out of Kuwait. Had you recommended these tactics on your War College paper for this war, They'd have laughed you out of Maxwell.

Obviously you didn't learn alot about military ops flying 141s around for 20 years.