< /sarcasm >
Posted on 04/03/2003 2:58:50 AM PST by kattracks
U.S.: Iraqi Troops on Verge of Collapse
By DAVID CRARY .c The Associated Press
U.S. Marines and infantrymen surged forward Thursday into the outskirts of Baghdad, yet to be slowed by the Republican Guard. A U.S. spokesman said the Iraqi forces appeared on the verge of collapse.
Lead units of the multi-pronged U.S. assault force were within about 10 miles of Baghdad, approaching Saddam International Airport. Army troops closed in from the southwest after crossing the Euphrates River; Marines advanced from the southeast in a long column along the Tigris River.
Paving the way, special forces infiltrated some Iraqi command posts in the Baghdad area during the night, seeking strategic information, and also secured bridges and dams, according to the U.S. Central Command.
``We are getting closer and closer,'' said Navy Capt. Frank Thorp, a Central Command spokesman. ``We will be in Baghdad within a matter of hours from when we decide to go.''
Another spokesman, Navy. Lt. Mark Kitchens, said U.S. forces ``are beginning to see strong and credible signs that the Iraqi forces are being overwhelmed and will soon collapse.'' However, Iraqi authorities vowed to make a stand, raising the possibility that some units had been pulled into Baghdad for urban warfare rather than risk a head-on clash outside the city.
En route toward the capital, Marines ordered every passing vehicle to pull to the side of the road; passengers got out and put their hands over their heads. The roadside was strewn with black combat boots, discarded by Iraqi men who no longer wanted to be identified as soldiers.
To the west, thousands of Army vehicles were crossing the Euphrates and moving toward Baghdad after an unsuccessful attempt by Iraqi forces to defend a bridge at Musayyib. Scores of blown-up Iraqi vehicles and dozens of bodies lined the roads as the U.S. troops passed by.
U.S. defense officials said two Republican Guard divisions were badly weakened by the approaching Americans on Wednesday. U.S. forces incurred minimal losses in those battles, but a Republican Guard commander vowed that resistance would stiffen.
``God willing, we will teach the enemy lessons on the battlefield that it will not forget,'' said an officer identified by the Arab television network Al-Jazeera as commander of the Republican Guard's Baghdad Division. The officer, whose name was not given, said 17 of his men were killed in the recent combat, but denied U.S. claims that the division had been destroyed.
Jim Wilkinson, a Central Command spokesman, said American forces have received ``reliable information'' that the Iraqi regime may be planning to bomb some Shiite Muslim neighborhoods of Baghdad, then blame the U.S.-led coalition for the destruction.
A spokesman for British segment of the coalition, Group Capt. Al Lockwood, suggested the Iraqis' prospects around Baghdad were bleak. ``They are in a position from which there is no escape,'' he said.
Iraq did prove it retains surface-to-air firepower, shooting down a Black Hawk helicopter and a Navy F/A-18C Hornet on Wednesday near the city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad.
A search was under way Thursday for the pilot of the Hornet, which was hit by a missile while on a bombing mission launched from the carrier USS Kitty Hawk. Seven of the soldiers aboard the Black Hawk were killed, while four were injured and rescued.
Despite the successful push toward Baghdad, senior U.S. commanders sought to lower expectations of an imminent takeover of Saddam Hussein's capital.
``We are planning for a very difficult fight ahead in Baghdad,'' Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal said Wednesday at the Pentagon. ``We are not expecting to drive into Baghdad suddenly and seize it.''
The Americans may soon face a choice between continuing their advance into the city of 5 million, with the possibility of costly street fighting, or waiting for reinforcements while giving Iraqis a chance to challenge Saddam's regime themselves.
``We hope that ultimately the regime will realize how ridiculous it is to continue with this effort, (and) surrender en masse,'' Lockwood said.
U.S. commanders would be pleased if their reception in Baghdad resembled the scene Wednesday in the southern city of Najaf, where American journalists reported that thousands of Iraqis poured into the streets to welcome a Humvee column carrying an American colonel and his troops.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the Americans had managed to secure Najaf's gold-domed Ali Mosque, one of the most sacred sites for Shiite Muslims, after three days of combat. The Americans said some of their troops had been fired on by Iraqi forces inside the mosque.
Jessica Lynch, the 19-year-old Army private freed from Iraqi captivity in a commando raid, was recuperating Thursday at a military hospital in Germany. She spoke by telephone for 15 minutes with her family in Palestine, W.Va.
``She's real spirited,'' said her father, Greg Lynch.
Randy Coleman, a military spokesman in West Virginia, said Lynch had fractures in both legs, and her family said one arm was injured. U.S. officials in Kuwait said she also had at least one gunshot wound.
Lynch, rescued Tuesday from an Iraqi hospital, shot several enemy soldiers after Iraqi forces ambushed her maintenance company, firing until she ran out of ammunition, The Washington Post reported.
She watched several soldiers in her unit die and was stabbed when Iraqi forces closed in, The Post quoted U.S. officials as saying. Pentagon officials and family members declined comment on the report.
In northern Iraq, government forces retreated in several areas, and abandoned hundreds of bunkers and command centers east of the city of Mosul. Thousands of local residents streamed into the vacated position, taking away metal sinks, chairs, pieces of wood and other items.
04/03/03 05:53 EST
Just wait until they have a more prosperous nation. Then they can loot for real!
< /sarcasm >
As usual, they project their own failings on us and our virtues on themselves.
So much for the plan failing. We need to make a "Woe Is Us" list of the media folks and sources who were crybabying about how our Iraq war plan was a failure. Of course, at the top of the list would be Peter Arnett followed by Seymore Hersh but there are a lot of others, including Peter Jennings. We NEED to make a "Woe Is Us" list so we can be reminded who the Media IDIOTS were.
Uh-huh. Sure. Keep talkin', Sparky. I'm thinking that the spankin' YOU'RE getting won't soon be forgotten.
Oh......and since Iraqis are notorious liars and obviously suck at math, that "17" men of his killed is probably off by a factor of 100, at a minimum.
And not a single post. What a waste of a good screen name.
And not a single post. What a waste of a good screen name.
Hmmm, looks like a screen name "reservation" ! Maybe it was a DUmmy disruptor waiting for the war to start so he could post demoralizing things when we were getting bad news. He must be pretty disappointed now...
Yep. They must have given up because good troll names are going unused.
Could not find anybody named 'Is it Vietnam yet?'
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