Posted on 03/27/2003 2:12:15 PM PST by demlosers
The Associated Press CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar
Iraqi paramilitary forces are seizing children and threatening Iraqi men with execution if they don't fight for the regime, U.S. and British officials said Thursday.
The U.S. commanders around the south-central city of Najaf reported the development to Gen. Tommy Franks, who is commanding forces in the Gulf, said U.S. Central Command spokesman Jim Wilkinson.
"Once again, we see the regime's terrorist tactics, where they bring the innocent onto the battlefield as they try to do anything to stay in power," he said.
He gave no further details. U.S. troops have engaged in fierce firefights in and around Najaf in recent days as they have pressed north toward Baghdad.
Air Marshall Brian Burridge, the top British commander in the Gulf, also reported Thursday that Iraqis loyal to Saddam Hussein were forcing Iraqi conscripts and regular army troops into combat near Basra with the threat of executing them or their families.
British forces destroyed 14 Iraqi tanks that tried to break out of the southern city of Basra on Thursday morning, and one official said the tanks were manned by Iraqi soldiers whose families were threatened.
In this image from video a U.S. Army Paladin artillery vehicle explodes due
to a misfire inside the vehicle during the Third Brigade's firefight with Iraqi
forces north of Najaf, Iraq, Thursday, March 27, 2003. Two soldiers were injured
in the incident but not seriously. (AP Photo/APTN)
"They are being forced to fight by these militia. They are going into, apparently, people's homes, forcing the men to drive these vehicles to try and lead the escape out of Basra," said Group Capt. Al Lockwood. "They are obviously coercing them into this action, whereas in fact we would have wished them to surrender."
Lockwood said the most recent behavior by the Iraqis showed the center no longer was holding.
"The enemy's options are now limited. They don't know what to do and they're guessing. It shows the command and control exercised by Baghdad has broken down. It's a suicidal approach which is irrational with no military logic to it. Military cohesion is sadly lacking."
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