Regards, Ivan
Posted on 03/25/2003 3:50:29 PM PST by MadIvan
US and UK warplanes flew 1,400 missions to pummel Iraqi Republican Guard positions on the outskirts of Baghdad on Tuesday, as US forces continued to move north in the face of a fierce sandstorm for their first large-scale engagement: with the Republican Guard's Medina division.
Military officials said some intense fighting between ground forces had already broken out between US armour and some Iraqi troops and irregulars in the 20-mile “Karbala Gap” stretch between the opposing lines. However, the bulk of the Medina's forces remained dug in near the Euphrates river.
Correspondents travelling with US columns advancing on Baghdad reported that choking dust storms had reduced visibility, forcing convoys to a halt, and preventing helicopter sorties.
In the southern city of Basra, British troops were reported to have fired in support of what was claimed to be a revolt against the regime of Saddam Hussein. "To avoid any excessive optimism at this stage I should say we don't have an absolutely clear indication of the scale or scope of this uprising, what has engendered it, or where it is going to take us," said Major General Peter Wall, the British chief of staff at central command in Qatar.
He added: "But it's very much in its infancy and it would be wrong to expect a rapid outcome from this.''
British military officials had said earlier they were planning to launch selective raids to neutralise pockets of loyal Iraqi troops holding the southern city of Basra - a key aim to secure humanitarian and military supply lines.
Tony Blair, British prime minister, insisted that the US and British advance on the Iraqi capital was going to plan, despite a series of setbacks in the past few days and deteriorating weather.
US Marines advancing from the south earlier on Tuesday crossed the Euphrates river and Saddam canal at Nasiriya for the first time after being held up for two days by fierce clashes with Iraqi troops that produced an unspecified number of casualties on both sides. The move will allow US soldiers to advance north on the same side of the river as Baghdad.
The Medina, Baghdad and al-Amara divisions of the Republican Guard, which together number some 40,000, are positioned to the west and south of the capital to block the US advance.
They have already been attacked by B-52 heavy bombers, warplanes, surface-to-surface missiles and Apache attack helicopters. In addition , more tanks and other heavy armour is set to be brought up from Kuwait to bolster advanced US forces.
Around the southern city of Basra, British forces said they have killed at least 20 loyalist Iraqi militia leaders and seized a senior official from Iraq's ruling Ba'ath party in a "smash-and-grab raid" on the southern town of Az Zubayr.
British military sources at US Central Command said the violent raid was a precursor to similar targeted assaults on Iraqi resistance leaders in Basra, where British troops have been consistently engaged in sporadic but intensive firefights with what they claim are "irregular" Iraqi forces.
President George W. Bush Bush has asked Congress for $74.7bn in extra funds for the war on Iraq. Mr Bush's war budget includes up to $8.5bn in direct financial aid to Turkey. The US is in talks with Turkey over its plans to send troops into Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Iraq.
The Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his senior officials have remained defiant. On Tuesday, a message said to be from Mr Hussein was read on Iraqi television, calling for continued resistance to the US and UK forces.
US and British forces are continuing to sustain casualties. The UK reported its first two combat deaths in fighting near Basra, adding to the 17 British deaths in helicopter accidents and a "friendly fire" incident since the war began. Another two British tank crew were killed in a further friendly fire incident, after being fired on by another British tank.
At least 10 US soldiers have been killed in action and at least 12 are missing. A further six US soldiers have died in accidents and one was killed in a grenade attack by a rogue colleague.
It is not clear how many Iraqi soldiers have been killed but some estimates put it at around 200.
Regards, Ivan
Soon, the bulk of the Medina's forces will be buried near the Euphrates river.
(No.) The word is "liberals". No, wait, that wouldn't work. It's "liberatorees". "Liberaces"? Oh, heck, how about "the liberated"?
When Republican Guard and Fedayeen heads begin appearing on spikes and their limbless torsos are being thrown out of the city, the extent of the uprising will be breathtakingly clear!
LMAO! Couldn't have said it better myself!
Hopefully, the Air Force can get RG properly preped for the 3rd Infantry Division.
You have to be kidding me! What the heck for? The sorry turds...errr...Turks reniged on the original plan to let us move troops through their land, then delayed airspace opening until after the start of the campaign, THEN they want to move their own troops into northern Iraq without our approval - Screw them..
The problem with your statement is that we're not supposed to bomb the urban areas where they're dug in. If they have the strength to defend all of our active approachs at once and we cannot drop good old volumes of B52 bombs on them, this is going to take a some time...
The new Iraqi administration will require an entire burocracy to rename the thousands of landmarks, bridges, hospitals, schools, etc, named after saddam over the past 23 years. The only place where his name will be seen is in the history books.
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