Posted on 03/30/2003 10:06:28 AM PST by Sabertooth
The headquarters of paramilitaries loyal to Saddam Hussein and a communications mast were also said to be targets in the mission, the deepest coalition incursion into the city so far. The apparent aim of this mission was to strike a psychological blow at supporters of Saddam Hussein in the city. As many as six Iraqi tanks and more heavy artillery were hit, but there were no known casualties on either side, commanders said. The tank squadrons and armed infantry of the 7th Armoured Brigade met with what was described as live resistance by Iraqi forces inside the city. One report described tanks from the Scots Dragoon Guards heading into a hail of rocket-propelled grenades, leaving behind two-inch (5cm) dents. Three soldiers were said to have been injured in a last-minute mortar attack as they left Basra. 'It crumpled' The tank commander who destroyed the 20-foot (six-metre) statue said it was hit in the first round of fire. "It was a black, cast-iron statue of Saddam Hussein in a great coat with his right arm raised in the air. "It just sort of crumpled, there was a big flash and sparks everywhere and it disappeared, it was gone. I wish it was the real thing." British Army spokesman Colonel Chris Vernon, who said members of the Black Watch - armoured personnel carriers - had also entered Basra, said in all two statues were destroyed. "The purpose of that is psychological," he told a news conference in Kuwait. He said the ability of British troops to enter the city at will and destroy "representative tokens" of Saddam Hussein's regime would have sent "quite a shock" to Baathist and irregular organisations. "Targeting and eradication of the Baath party is now the critical effect we need to achieve and the British military's main effort."
British forces say they have staged a raid into the southern city of Basra to destroy a large statue of Saddam Hussein.
Troops relish Basra statue raid
It's 0600 and Basra is burning, black clouds of oily smoke drifting over the city to the east, the sound of gunfire rolling across the canal. The television mast that dominated the skyline is gone and many of the militia men, who have tormented the UK troops laying siege to the city and fired on their own people as they tried to flee, lie dead.
They fight their way through a barrage of mortar fire and rocket propelled grenades to a position four kilometres inside the city limits, the furthest forward they have ventured so far. From the base of where the tower stood there are flashes of orange flame as shells explode and tracer rounds fired from the British positions on the opposite bank arc slowly overhead, glowing red as they dip towards their targets. On the Iraqi side of the Shatt Al Basrah canal, there are two sudden, violent explosions as mortars open up on the armoured vehicles standing guard over the approaches to the bridge. Even on the far side of the canal, the shock waves take the breath away. But the mortar positions are quickly silenced. Revenge raid Just an hour after Iraqi fighters took the British troops by surprise on what had been thought to be a secure base camp, the Black Watch was exacting its revenge. That this morning's thrust into Basra had been planned for hours did not matter: they had survived a very close shave.
They race into the town across the bridge, Challenger tanks leading the way, Warriors fanning out behind them covering their rear. From every direction comes the sound of gunfire, but exposed to the heavy guns of the British vehicles, and struggling to make an impact on their armour, the defenders are fighting a losing battle. Adrenaline rush Everywhere Lee Webb, in the turret of his Warrior, looks there are Iraqis shooting at him, men on roofs firing rocket propelled grenades, Iraqi gunmen leaning out of windows to open up with their AK47s.
A massive statue of Saddam Hussein is blown up, shattering as the high explosive rounds detonate on impact. For the 21-year-old Lee, from Rosyth, it is his first real taste of action. "On the outskirts we saw five or six camouflage nets covering their positions about 100 metres away and we hit them too," he said. "We stayed there for maybe five or 10 minutes. We blew up some fuel tanks next to one of the bunkers and that took out the bunker as well, then we took out a big Saddam face painted on a wall." Street fighters Nearby is Sergeant Dougie Dunbar, 40, from Aberdeen, whose Warrior is covering the advancing tanks as they head towards the TV tower. "The road was about five kilometres long and there were bunkers and trenches all along, so it was obviously a well prepared position," he said. "It's my first stint over the bridge facing the mortar attacks and artillery and that's when you start to realise it's real." As the first wave heads back over the bridge to the relative safety of the far bank, the statue of Saddam is in ruins. It is the key target of the whole raid, a target which offers an intriguing insight into the way the British are tackling the problems posed by Basra. During the first Gulf War an Iraqi tank commander returning to the city fired a shot at the statue. The lack of any reaction to such an act of defiance is credited with triggering the start of the uprising in the south. The British hope that their action may have a similar effect, showing to the civilian population that the Iraqi regime is losing its grip on the city. But daring though the raid is, they still have a mountain to climb to avoid the dreaded prospect of street fighting.
Reporters with the US and British military are restricted in what they can say about precise locations or military plans.
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In pictures: UK forces in Iraq
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British and US Marines in a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter hunting Iraqi surface-to-surface missiles |
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British pilot Flt Lt Paul Francis checks the time beside his Harrier GR7, armed with a Maverick missile, at a Kuwait base |
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An RAF Puma's machinegun is trained on an Iraqi truck as British troops search for weapons in southern Iraq |
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RAF weapons junior technician Richard Cole walks past a row of freefall bombs stacked at a base in Kuwait |
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These British army Challenger tanks set out for a night of patrols around Basra |
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These Scots Dragoons play a waiting game at a makeshift camp, known as Bridge Four, just outside Basra |
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Locals leave their homes as a 42 Commando British Royal Marine looks on in Umm Qasr |
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Iraqis prepare to be frisked by members of the Parachute Regiment troops in southern Iraq |
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Captain Dai Jones of the Queens Lancashire Regiment, left, and Corporal Mark Pearsall of HQ 16 Brigade with Ramala locals |
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The RAF's Bobbie Winterbaker is 18 and one of the youngest British forces members in Iraq |
In that light I strongly suspect that those statues are worth the powder it takes to blow them to hell.
Leaving the statues and murals of Saddam in place might frighten the civilians into thinking that nothing is going to change after all. We did this to them once in 1991. We need to let them know that we aren't going to make the same mistake again.
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