Posted on 03/31/2003 9:21:34 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Forces not 'Paused'; Coalition Attacks Continue
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 30, 2003 -- Army Gen. Tommy Franks said coalition forces are not "paused" and are not suffering from a lack of supplies.
Franks, who spoke today at a press conference in Qatar, said, "Where we stand today is not only acceptable, … it is truly remarkable."
He spoke of "large and capable ground forces within 60 miles of Baghdad on multiple fronts." Coalition forces' combat systems are above 90 percent mission-capable and elements continue to attack Saddam Hussein's forces.
"The regime is in trouble, and they know it," Franks said. "Every day, we diminish the regime's ability to command and control its forces. Every day, we erode the regime's grip over the Iraqi people."
Franks listed the Operation Iraqi Freedom objectives met in the first 11 days of combat. He said the coalition has secured the southern oil fields, which Iraqi regime forces had wired with explosives. Starting the ground war early allowed coalition forces to save those resources for the Iraqi people, he said.
Franks said coalition forces have air and ground freedom of action in western Iraq, and this protects Iraq's neighbors from potential regime use of weapons of mass destruction.
Coalition air forces are working "24 hours a day across every square foot of Iraq." Every day, Franks said, the regime loses more of its military capability as Iraqi command and control facilities, missile launchers and Republican Guard assets are targeted and destroyed.
Coalition forces are now staging air operations from Iraqi airfields.
Franks said coalition special operations forces destroyed a massive terrorist facility in northern Iraq. Ground forces are already examining that site. He also said the introduction of coalition ground forces into the area poses a "real threat" to the Iraqi regime. Franks said these forces also have prevented feuding between Turks and Kurds.
"The entire Iraqi coastline is secured, and the ports stand as a gateway for humanitarian assistance for the Iraqi people," he said. The first aid has already started flowing to the Iraqi people, and seaborne aid is unloading at the port on Umm Qasr.
The Iraqi people are beginning to cooperate with coalition forces. "A member of the Free Iraqi Forces met his mother for the first time in 12 years in the town of Umm Qasr," Franks said.
"Two men stepped forward to surrender to U.K. forces," he continined. "They are brothers who were trained in Baghdad to be suicide bombers and were sent to Umm Qasr by the regime to kill American and U.K. forces. Amazingly, when they heard Free Iraqi Forces speaking Arabic in the south, they chose to fight for the future of Iraq rather than this dying regime."
Iraqi civilians are working with coalition forces in Nasiriyah to point out the regime death squads, Franks said.
He again said this military campaign is like no other before. "We will attack the enemy at times and at places of coalition choosing," he said. "We will continue to surprise the enemy by attacking at all times, day and night, all over the battlefield."
Coalition forces -- Still not losing after all these days
Saturday, Day 2 of a 6-day operational pause, ordered by U.S. commanders Thursday, brought another night of peace and tranquility to the beleaguered Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
Coalition warplanes rumbling over the ancient city, adhering strictly to the pause, paused to bomb relentlessly, blasting government buildings, Republican Guard positions, terrorist training facilities for peaceful Fedayeen and other key targets throughout Baghdad and outlying areas, including a huge military intelligence installation used by Ba'ath Party human rights loyalists to quash human rights -- especially of its domestic opposition.
Amid the billowing smoke after a peaceful night of heavy bombardment, with dozens of explosions rocking the capital, it became clear Allied forces were waging a major operational pause, exactly as trusty Reuters had first warned.
The bombing seems to grow heavier and more intense with each passing day of the operational pause, luminaries at Reuters have brilliantly noted, and, thus, Sunday brought even heavier pausing, with coalition warplanes, facing heavy anti-aircraft fire, pummeling the capital from every direction. Yesterday's pause reportedly shook the capital with 5 major explosions near the center of the city, including a strike on Saddam's propaganda Ministry, with telephone communications said to be severely disrupted after a steady barrage by operationally pausing U.S. and British bombers.
Another key target apparently hit Sunday: A presidential palace reportedly used by Saddam sonny boy Qusay. Reporters reported seeing flames billowing from the huge complex near the Tigris river.
U.S. troops just south of Baghdad, also adhering to the battle pause, pounded Republican Guard positions with heavy artillery, pulverizing the elite Medina division, said to be holding up so well it's lost more than 50% of its fighting force.
The operational pause didn't just encompass the capital, however, with coalition B-52 bombers dropping their pauses on strategic Kirkuk, a key oil center in northern Iraq, and nearby Mosul. Correspondents in the area reported hearing up to 5 major explosive pauses, sending untold numbers of Iraqi troops each on a date with 72 virgins.
As you know, women and children are viewed by Saddam's brave Ba'athist warriors as particularly 'dangerous', hence indiscriminate mortar attacks on women or children fleeing Basra, scene last week of incipient rebellion, continued unabated throughout the weekend.
While Saddam's lunatics were busy bombing civilians in Basra's market-places, Saddam's lunatics complained of bombing of civilians in Baghdad's market-places, accusing operationally pausing Allied forces of indiscriminate pausing. How dare you do what we do best?! One crowded market was apparently hit Friday, and Reuters, beacon of fairness and objectivity, naturally blamed coalition bombers.
Meanwhile, U.S. military leaders Sunday faced stiffer-than-expected resistance from media circles, with Rummy facing growing criticism for dragging the war out 12 whole days, when Desert Storm took only 40 days to wrap up.
The rosey scenario-ists, says the media, led the media to expect quick victory -- no more than in 3-5 weeks, tops. The Iraqi regular army, said the rosey scenario-ists, would largely fold, casualties would be light (no more than Desert Storm) and U.S. forces would face only pockets of resistance.
Well, 12 days into Operation Iraqi Freedom and
* The Iraqi regular Army largely folded (17 of Iraq's 23 divisions laid down their arms).
* Casualties remain light (less than Desert Storm).
* U.S. forces face only pockets of resistance.
In other words, the "rosey" predictions were wrong. Okay, maybe they weren't.
Still wondering why the public long ago tuned out media know-all arm chair commandos?
Anyway, that's..
My two cents..
"JohnHuang2"
I noticed this:
"Two men stepped forward to surrender to U.K. forces," he continined. "They are brothers who were trained in Baghdad to be suicide bombers and were sent to Umm Qasr by the regime to kill American and U.K. forces. Amazingly, when they heard Free Iraqi Forces speaking Arabic in the south, they chose to fight for the future of Iraq rather than this dying regime."
Hmmmm, methinks that this could be an important propaganda tool, get more of those Free Iraqi Forces in their.
That one is the killer. It sounds like it's nearly all over but the shouting. The US basically has them in a box and the idea is to simply keep the box closed, and let the aircraft and special ops do their thing in and around Baghdad until the regime implodes.
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