US opens path to Baghdad 3d Infantry strikes key Republican Guard units

Boston Globe ^ | 4/2/2003. | Anne Barnard and Brian MacQuarrie

[RJCogburn]

US ground forces punched through a crucial pathway known as the Karbala Gap at dawn today and surrounded the city of Karbala, advancing toward a much-anticipated assault on Baghdad. The movement occurred after elements of the US Army's Third Infantry Division unleashed an assault on key Iraqi Republican Guard divisions. The attack signaled a new phase in the war: engaging Iraqi tank divisions in ground fighting within a defensive perimeter less than 50 miles from the capital.

[11B3]

"Iraqi officials have tried to capitalize on the backlash against the war. Yesterday, Ramadan, the vice president, said that 6,000 volunteer fighters had arrived in Iraq, many of them ready to carry out suicide missions. ''They are a time bomb; you'll hear about them soon,'' he said."

Upon hearing this news, tank maintenance crews sent their thanks to the Iraqi leadership, as they no longer have to do any services on the tracks on Bradley or Abrams vehicles. The "volunteers" will grease them quite well.

[Pukka Puck]

Colonel Daniel Allyn of the division's Third Brigade said: ''We encountered less resistance that we expected. I think the enemy was caught off guard.''

That's what they get for listening to those bogus media reports about an operational pause lasting weeks because we didn't have enough troops in the country. Never believe anything you read in the NYT.