BRIEFING: AT WAR WITH IRAQ - Day 15, April 3, 2003

The World Tribune ^ | 3 April, 2003

[Happy2BMe]

---

BRIEFING: AT WAR WITH IRAQ

---

BY WORLD TRIBUNE.COM WITH MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE

---

Day 15 — April 3, 3003
See Previous Briefings: Day 1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

---

U.S.: Saddam has lost control of his military

ABU DHABI — The United States has assessed that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein lost control of his military.

U.S. officials said advancing coalition forces have encountered little to no resistance along the outskirts of Baghdad. They said Republican Guard formations around the capital show little will to defend the city.

"There is increasing evidence that the regime cannot control its forces or the Iraqi population in most of the country," Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, deputy operations chief for U.S. Central Command, said.

Officials cited the capture of Saddam's palace about 90 kilometers northwest of Baghdad on late Wednesday. They said U.S. special operations forces encountered little resistance and there were no senior officials in the facility.

---

Saddam in latest TV non-appearance: 'Fight them with your hands'

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, his capital increasingly besieged by coalition forces, remains in hiding.

Saddam has not made one verifiable television appearance since a punishing U.S. air attack on his Baghdad headquarters on March 20. Saddam's last speech was broadcast on Iraqi television on March 24.

On Thursday, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Sahaf read another statement attributed to Saddam on Iraqi television. The message again exhorted Iraqis to defend Baghdad against coalition troops.

"Fight them with your hands," the message attributed to Saddam said. "God will disgrace them. God is great."

U.S. officials said they suspect that Saddam has either been incapacitated by the March 20 attack or has gone into hiding in fear of assassination.

---

Kuwait angry at Arab failure to condemn Iraqi attacks

ABU DHABI — Kuwait has launched a campaign against the Arab League for its failure to condemn Iraqi missile attacks on the sheikdom.

The sheikdom has launched a review of its relations with Arab League members and is expected to reduce or eliminate aid to such countries as Lebanon and Syria. Authorities have also organized demonstrations by Kuwaitis against the Arab League.

On Thursday, hundreds of Kuwaitis protested the failure by Arab states to condemn Iraqi missile attacks on civilian targets. Demonstrators held up signs reading, "Where are the legitimate rights of Kuwait in the Arab view?"

"Iraqis should be rescued from a tyrant regime that ruled them for three decades," Abdul Rahman Al Humaidan, chairman of the Kuwaiti Lawyers Society, told the protesters.

---

In first, Baghdad is plunged into darkness

U.S. bombers and fighter-jets pounded Baghdad until the city lost its power supply.

The loss of electricity in the Iraqi capital came on late Thursday. It was the first time Baghdad sustained a power outage in the more than two-week-old U.S.-led war against Iraq.

It was not clear whether coalition forces had intended to cut off power to the city. U.S. aircraft have failed to stop Iraqi television broadcasts, which included messages attributed to President Saddam Hussein.

U.S. forces are amassing on the southern outskirts of Baghdad. Officials said units have reached the vicinity of Baghdad's international airport.

---

[Happy2BMe]

Recap.

[Joe 6-pack]

U.S. intelligence analysts indicate that republican guard may be in even worse condition than previously sought based on reports that saddam's bastard son, Otay hussein, has assumed command of the once elite units...

file photo