Obliterator ... Daisy Cutter bomb is the size of a car
Posted on 04/02/2003 7:47:57 PM PST by Pokey78
TWO entire divisions of Saddam Hussein’s feared Republican Guard were destroyed by the Allies yesterday.
The Baghdad Division — 12,000 men — was blitzed by two huge Daisy Cutter bombs.
And the Medina Division was overrun by American troops in the most successful day of Operation Iraqi Freedom so far.
Several thousand Iraqi soldiers were thought to have died and the rest fled or surrendered.
Last night the Allies were less than 19 miles from the outskirts of Iraq’s capital Baghdad, closing in a relentless pincer movement.
America’s 1st Marine Expeditionary Force was powering its way through from the south east and the US 3rd Infantry Division was approaching from the south west.
A senior US military official in Washinton said: “Our guys are able to see the (Baghdad) skyline. That’s how close we’ve gotten.”
A senior British officer at Central Command said: “We are marching on to Baghdad. We have significantly degraded two entire divisions and there’s little to stop us.
“We are well on our way down the path of the elimination of this regime.”
But there were fears that desperate Iraqi chiefs could still order chemical or biological attacks on advancing troops because they had crossed the so-called “red line”.
That is the defensive perimeter around Baghdad within which Iraqi forces are thought to be ready to use weapons of mass destruction.
Units in the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines were ordered to go to MOPP2 — the second highest alert to don protective clothing.
The Baghdad Division was hit near Al Kut, south east of Baghdad. The Medina Division fell in the south west.
Only the Al Nida Division still stood in the way of the US Fifth Corps as it pushed to the capital.
Alliance top brass decided to use the 15,000lb BLU-82 Daisy Cutters to speed up the assault and prove to enemy troops they faced certain death if they stood and fought.
The enormous fuel-air weapons — nicknamed Big Blue — were dropped from a pair of adapted C130 Hercules cargo planes.
They fell under stabilising parachutes and detonated only 3ft above the ground.
Witnesses saw two massive mushroom clouds billowing as blazing, explosive slurry was blasted over the battlefield, incinerating everything in a 600-yard radius.
Apache attack helicopters then strafed groups of shocked Iraqi troops with rotary cannon fire.
Brig Gen Vincent Brooks, spokesman at US Central Command, in Qatar, said: “The Baghdad Division was destroyed.”
Asked to elaborate, he said: “That means it is no longer effective at conducting combat operations as a cohesive force.
“It may mean that we have killed or captured a considerable number of the force to make that possible.”
Brooks said of the looming assault on Baghdad: “The dagger is pointed at the heart of this regime.
“It remains firmly in our grasp and when it comes to apply it further it will be applied.”
Soon after the annihilation of the Baghdad Division the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force swept 50 miles northwards along Highway 6.
It crossed the River Tigris at Al Kut after securing a key bridge which was defended by the Republican Guard. There were no reports of US casualties.
Gigantic clouds of dust rose as a column of Abrams M1 tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and artillery joined Highway 6 and fanned out across the desert.
The Allies plan to encircle Baghdad where a tense waiting game is set to unfold in the coming days.
Military chiefs demanded patience and warned the war may not be over as quickly as US President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair would like.
Commanders could not predict how quickly Saddam’s regime would crumble.
They aim to carry out raids on diehards hiding in the city centre. Any hardliners who refuse to give up will be targeted by Coalition special forces.
The US has fired 700 cruise missiles and more than 10,000 precision-guided bombs since the war began two weeks ago.
Iraq yesterday said more than 650 civilians had been killed during the conflict and 4,000 wounded. The claims could not be verified.
Some US commanders said yesterday they believed Saddam might be dead, leaving his lieutenants keen to surrender.
They were convinced the tyrant’s failure to appear on TV on Tuesday could have been a signal to the Allies that he had died.
Virtually no one in Iraq can watch state TV, which is now only available on satellite.
However, Iraqi TV showed footage yesterday of Saddam smiling and laughing with ministers, although it was not known when it was recorded.
As Allied bombers again pounded Baghdad there were claims that a Red Crescent hospital had been hit.
In northern Iraq, B-52 bombers attacked military positions. They pummelled the front line between the key city of Mosul and a Kurdish-controlled region.
Bombs also hit Iraqi positions near the oil hub of Kirkuk.
Kurds claimed to have seized some territory and prisoners.
The Iraqis retreated in such a hurry they abandoned ammunition and supplies of nerve gas antidote.
I can just see right now, how SADDENED little tommy dasshole is right now.
Good thin the 4th ID and the First Cav were there. Oh wait a minute, they're not in country yet.
I like that ratio.
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