Replies

CENTCOM - Wed. Apr. 2:

Maj. Gen. Vincent Brooks:

Pics:

Regime C&C at s. end of Int'l airport in Baghdad - 26 different aim points for this target, each w/ different weapon applied. Mosque in complex remained intact. -

Baath Party hq (Mar. 25 attack) - Basrah -

"We remain very concerned w/ regime action taken against Iraqi civilians (and historical places)...Video of heavy equip transporter carrying tank nr. mosque. Second truck show up w/ tank...third.heavy equip transpot arrives w/ container on back..the container explodes. Coalition had no jets , missiles, bombs or anything eles in that area at that time...

Concerned w/ burning of oil trenches by Iraqi regime. Over 50 oil trenches on fire nr. Baghdad currently." Pic- Saddam canal in Baghdad, deliberately created trenches set on fire. Coalition forces had nothing to do with this

Precision air stikes against 5th army (north)...El Al-Islam...also, w. desert Spec. Ops very effective, searching for regime forces, ballistic missiles, video of mobile air craft, landing and taking off on additional patrol, these types of ops are occuring every night in w. desert...

"Coalition forces also seized the dam...(could flood Karbal...significant regime losses in the fight.

Two pronged attack 1st Marine Exp force...crossed Tigris, attacked El Kut...Baghdad div. has been destroyed..

5th corp attacked Medina and Nebadchunezr...nr. Karbala...coalition forces were disciplined...chose not to return fire on Al i mosque...regime deliberatley put (it in danger)

UK...destroyed any remaining ( threats) in the south....UK forces remain firmly in control of northern (approach) to Basrah..captured and destroyed enemy missiles, etc., maritime component handed over to ground component tonday...

A total of 67 RG troops surrendered to coalition forces...

Pics re. humanitarian aid:

Nasariah: team doing medical assessments, delivering foor and water -

over 4500 enemy POWs we treat according to Gen. Con. Red Cross has visited coalition prison camp nr. Umm Qasr. -

Questions:

Re. Jessica Lynch: "Coalition forces did stage a raid last night..Nasiriah...in Saddam Hosptial...were succesful..there were firefights outside of building getting in and out...no coalition casualties...we found ammo, mortars, maps, terrain model, (etc) it was being used as a military command poost...involved army rangers, air force pilots, US marines and Navy SEALs...done by some of our finest warriors dedicated to never leaving (a member of theri crew) behind.

Video of Blackhawk on ground, PFC Lynch being carried to safety on stretcher...under blackout conditions in the compound itself where helicopter landed...at this point she is safe...she's been retrived..(thanks to the brave souls who risked their lives..."loyal to a creed" that they will never leave someone behind)..

"The good news is she's alive.."...for her privacy I won't go into that (her condition). "The regime was holding her." "We did unfortunately retrieve the remains of 11 persons...2 in morgue...9 outside in grave...our forces were excorted to those locations by someone taken into custody during assault"...still investigating who remains are...

"In a number of towns...the regime death squads...2 (patterns) emerging...using schools (w/ children inside) and hospitals for military bases...likely to try to trigger a coalition response (then say we're attacking civikians)...fundamentally, it is against the laws of armed conflict...we don't do that. We will not do that..

Re. RG movements: "We have seen (over last few days) some repositioning...relocating to positions where they want to hold terrain..w. side n. of Karbala for example...first, their in trouble 2, they're under serious attack right now and those attacks will continue...the operation will continue as planned..

Re. hospital, torture? And marketplace attacks: "We don't have info that there were indications of torture divises (in hopital last night...will tell more when we know).."We are very deliberate about our targetting...particular the case in Baghdad...precision-guided munitions that can find their way to the targets...we've examined the (craters, flight paths...etc,) there is absolutely nothing that joins that to (the coalition"..re. first market report, we DID NOT do it)...

"We always give consideration to what actions are likely to occur next (re. cluster bombs use)...

"Efforts continue to the W (E. S.) of Karbala.."the dagger is clearly pointed at the heart of the regime now, and will remain pointed until the regime is gone."

"The dynamics of the battlefield create opportunities...whatever direction we decide to go..it will be (simultaneous with other actions..)..

Skynews guy...his reporter 30 S. of Baghdad: "We certainly know that the regime would like to do some defending in Baghdad. They'd like to draw us in." (We did a bunch of stuff, moved around them, destroyed them...we are flexible)."That dagger does remain pointed. It is firmly in our grasp and in good control."

Re. the regime firing from within a mosque "We CAN fire back. We chose not to." "How to deal with this...(bring it to the people...how it will unfold is a tactical decsion for a commander on the ground...will not willfully engage a sacred site...

Re. new guidelines for rounding up civilians: Red line, reporter referred to (?) has to do with WMD use...that's why we attack the regime...their methods of giving orders...it's all about preventing .(bad guys from using weapons)..

Re. Baghdad division being destroyed? "No longer effect...it's leadership is broken....some of its equip. destroyed...we killed or captured a number (of regime)...we can never completely know what the conditions are...either can the Iraqis..."they are in serious trouble and they remain in contact right now with the most powerful forces on earth."

"It would be difficult for us to judge whether this is the last resistance...we do believe that because of the changing tides among the people...the water's being drained from teh swamp...as the population has less and less tolerance, greater and greater boldness...Basrah...the population had enough...UK military actions put pressure on regime...population helped us locate bad guys...put pressure...squeeze bad guys out of town...they began to flee and were destroyed by our coalition forces...

Re. the Saddam video; "I wouldn't want to speculate on who's really in charge there...." Doesn't matter who, we'll get'em..."I can tell you that we're being effective...we have the regime on the run...our efforts are not complete because the regime is not completely gone..and until it is (our efforts will continue..)

Re. Red Crescent hosptial being attacked, and UK Spec Ops missing in North...haven't ehard reports. "Whenever we ahve someon missing, we seek to find them...putting a larger number at risk in the sake of rescue..(will not talk about til those missions are complete)..

Re. humanitarian aid: "I think we're making tremendous progress. This is a GREAT news story...inbound shipments \of wheat, water...Kuwaitis helping...more and more organizations helping every day...NGOs, civilians...recognize that things are going well so they're joining in at a rapid pace.."Each area we go to we bring some degree of aid and comfort"...

Re. chem weapons, red line: "It's a conceptual line ..no physical line out there...we ahve forces that have already crossed some of those red line...why (no WMD uses?) we've hit delivery systems..etc...if we're successful they will never ahve been used...caused us to heighten our awareness, maintain protective...(will not stop us)...

Re. bodies in hospital, why not full story told last night: "We still had forces (there) to finish to the work of (finding ammo, clearing area finding remains)...wanted to preserve safety of the forces...initial info on remains was skethcy...as we have more info...will provide..

Re. level of resisitance of RG, Baghdad division: "While some believe there was a pause, the RG knew there was no pause." "Sharing between strategic attack and forces in defensive position...as we get closer..we've seen some moving around..not seen significant effort to move into Baghdad (we would hit them on the move)...we are seeing some movement from t h north...don't want to seem overconfident...there is fighting...we have it under control...our forces remain very effective as we knew they would be...

"We have mobil exploitation teams...when suspicion of something untoward..(to have foundation to pursue when the fighting's over - re. weapons, etc),..

Re. changes of orders on battlefield , one embed said military gave orders to "shoot on site": 'This is a regime that is seeking tactical advantage (by doing bad things...) "We do have some signs that we've used before...3 diff. signs..in Arabic...saying to stop...realities of thebattlefield are measured..."we always maintain the inherent right of self-defense."