Posted on 03/24/2003 11:55:47 AM PST by JohnHuang2
U.S. upbeat, Saddam defiant after five days of war
By Nadim Ladki
BAGHDAD, March 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. general commanding the invasion of Iraq said on Monday his forces were closing in on Saddam Hussein's power base in and around Baghdad as the Iraqi president told his people the invaders had miscalculated.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said U.S. advance units were just 60 miles (90 km) south of the Iraqi capital and predicted that a critical battle was fast approaching after five days of war.
But Saddam's deputy prime minister, Tareq Aziz, told a news conference the Iraqi leadership was in good shape, that Saddam himself was "in full control of the army and the country" and that their enemies had underestimated his popularity.
U.S. General Tommy Franks described Iraqi resistance as "sporadic" despite "terrific firefights" and said his forces were intentionally skirting enemy formations in their cross-country advance on Baghdad.
"Progress toward our objectives has been rapid and in some cases dramatic," Franks said, despite 24 hours of setbacks that included the death and capture of U.S. soldiers and the loss of at least one U.S. helicopter.
As fresh reports of clashes filtered through from the battlefield, and planes and missiles bombarded the outskirts of Baghdad, military planners and weather forecasters predicted sandstorms in the coming days.
Blair told the British parliament that the "vital goal" was to reach the Iraqi capital as swiftly as possible.
"A CRUCIAL MOMENT"
"Coalition forces led by the American 5th Corps are on the way to Baghdad. As we speak, they are about 60 miles south of Baghdad near Kerbala," Blair said.
"It is a little way from there that they will encounter the Medina Division of the Republican Guard who are defending the route to Baghdad. This will be a crucial moment."
U.S. President George W. Bush and Blair invaded Iraq accusing Saddam of hiding weapons of mass destruction and of oppressing his people, and vowing to topple him.
The Iraqi fightback has been sharpest around the southern city of Nassiriya.
Iraqi forces on Sunday attacked U.S. forces holding two strategic bridges across the Euphrates River there, killing some U.S. soldiers and stalling advancing armour waiting to cross at that point.
Financial markets have begun to factor in a longer war than expected to depose Saddam and disarm Iraq. Stocks suffered, sending investors back into safe-haven bonds. Oil prices and gold rose, while the dollar slipped.
But U.S. forces have been advancing to the west of the Euphrates. Reuters correspondent Luke Baker, travelling with U.S. army engineers, said they had set up an airfield near the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Najaf to put up unmanned planes and spy on Republican Guard holding the road to Baghdad.
As Franks spoke at his headquarters in Qatar, Reuters correspondent Sean Maguire said U.S. artillery had opened up on targets near Nassiriya. Reuters correspondent Andy Gray reported fighting near Samawa, further along the road to Baghdad.
In the Kurdish-ruled north, Reuters correspondent Mike Collett-White said U.S. soldiers were there, and Iraqi lines in the area were bombed for the first time, in signs that a second, smaller front may be opening in the war.
"THE ENEMY IS TRAPPED"
Saddam, shown twice on Iraqi television during the day, praised his commanders and fighters, who have stalled the U.S.-led advance in places, and told them U.S., British and other invasion forces had underestimated their resolve.
"The enemy is trapped in the sacred land of Iraq...brave fighters, hit your enemy with all your strength," he said, wearing a military uniform and reading a speech from behind a podium. "Be patient, victory is coming."
Saddam praised Iraqi resistance at the southern deep-water port of Umm Qasr. Bombs shook Baghdad before and after he spoke.
U.S. Marine Captain Rick Crevier said about 100 Fedayeen militia, infantry, Baath Party militiamen and Republican Guards were still holding out in Umm Qasr -- three days after U.S. and British forces first said they had secured the port.
Franks said two crewmen of a U.S. Apache Longbow helicopter shot down south of Baghdad were missing and a CNN correspondent reported U.S. helicopters had withdrawn in the face of a "hornet's nest" of fire near Kerbala.
In other setbacks, Britain said it lost its first soldier in action. Two others were missing.
In Damascus, the official Syrian news agency said a missile fired by a U.S. plane on Sunday had hit a bus carrying Syrians returning home from Iraq, killing five and wounding at least 10.
Saddam said Iraqis defending the southern second city of Basra were close to victory over attacking U.S. and British forces. He urged defenders of Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul, hit by repeated air strikes on Monday, to hold firm.
His 20-minute speech was probably recorded, like most of Saddam's speeches, but Middle East experts believed the man who gave it was the Iraqi president, rather than a look-alike.
His references to recent battles appeared calculated to quash speculation about his fate that has swirled since the war began with air strikes intended to kill him. U.S. officials suggested the tape could have been recorded much earlier.
"Reuters is to journalism as scrapple is to the meat case."But there are gold nuggets in the dirt. The establishment of Predator airfields in Najaf means they are centrally positioned to cover the east of the Euprates as well as the Battle for Baghdad. The Iraqi northern garrisons are under attack by the Kurds. There will be no help from Baghdad now, and the Iraqi conscript, huddled in his pathetic trench must now be hoping for the quick JDAM rather than the Kurdish knife.
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