Huge Blasts Rock Blacked-Out Baghdad

AP ^ | 4/3/2003

[Leroy S. Mort]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Tracer fire, explosives and burning buildings lit up an otherwise blacked-out Baghdad early Friday, as a new round of explosions in the center of the city sent huge plumes of smoke into the skies.

All of Baghdad was dark, with power out for the first time in the capital since the American-led bombardments began two weeks ago.

The electricity went down across the city at about 8 p.m. Thursday as U.S.-led forces launched an attack at Saddam International Airport, nine miles southwest of downtown Baghdad.

Anti-aircraft fire could be heard near the airport, tracer rounds raced through the sky and artillery shells exploded in the air as aircraft roared overhead.

In Washington, U.S. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, declared that U.S. troops had reached Baghdad's outskirts.

Huge blasts shook the southern parts of the city in the evening, persisting for nearly 15 minutes before the power went out. Explosions were heard about an hour later in the city center, and then again after 2 a.m. Friday. Most of the blasts appeared to be on the outskirts of the city. Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television reported that ``a number'' of presidential palaces were hit.

The outage threatened to disrupt water supplies and the city's sewage system, which could mean widespread disease at a time when temperatures are rising.

It was unclear why the power was out. Myers said the U.S. military did not target the city's power grid.

As Baghdad fell quiet early Friday, uniformed men set up roadblocks in the Karada neighborhood, a sight not seen inside the city previously.

Amid the explosions, Iraq television aired footage of a relaxed and smiling Saddam Hussein meeting with more than a dozen senior government and Baath Party officials, including Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan.

``We would have liked to protect the Iraqi people from evil,'' a TV announcer reported quoted Saddam as saying, ``but the nation and the people are facing danger and we must fight and be steadfast until we defeat the enemy and achieve victory.

``We must chose the means and methods that tear off the ranks of the enemy and give him no chance to take his breath.''

It was not possible to verify if the footage was taken Thursday.

Earlier, Saddam exhorted Iraqis to ``fight them with your hands,'' according to a statement read Thursday by Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf.

Saddam hasn't delivered a speech live on television since March 24. When asked about the president, Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh laughed.

``I think you have seen his picture,'' he said, referring to the footage. ``He is very calm, confident.''

Iraqi officials took reporters to the airport Thursday afternoon before the U.S. attack. It was deserted, except for employees and armed guards. Three Iraqi Airways planes sat on the tarmac. The departure lounge was covered with a yellow coat of dust, left over from last week's two-day sandstorm.

Along the road to the airport from central Baghdad, a purple-hued, six-story building thought to belong to one of Iraq's security agencies was severely damaged. A complex of low buildings along the road was wrecked. It was not clear who had occupied those buildings.

The airport has seen severely limited use since the 1991 Gulf War and the subsequent no-fly zones in the north and the south enforced by the United States and Britain.

Charter flights bringing in food and medicine bought under the U.N. sanctioned oil-for-food program have landed sporadically, and domestic flights have operated only for limited periods.

[Leroy S. Mort]

``We must chose the means and methods that tear off the ranks of the enemy and give him no chance to take his breath.''

Code..?

[Larry Lucido]

tear off the ranks of the enemy and give him no chance to take his breath.''

He's confused. He meant "take off every zig," and "you have no chance, make your time."

[bvw]

Well, if power is out it's pretty easy to radio-locate back-up power supplies and a lot of live wiring.

[kesg]

"We must chose the means and methods that tear off the ranks of the enemy and give him no chance to take his breath."

If this means what I think it means, it will be a huge mistake form them to make. But it could be merely more of the same tiresome, poor-grade Iraqi trash talking.

[TheLion]

They keep hitting the palaces to also keep the bad guys away from the area.....so we can go in! Today, special-ops got some great information out of one of them.

[blam]

They'll still be airing these old Saddam films ten years from now from some clandistine site.

[Jmann]

"HUGE BLASTS ROCK BAGHDAD"

Man, is this getting repetitious or what?

So what else is new?

When are we gonna get some REAL NEWS?

Sorry to seem so impatient, but I would really like to see this thing resolved.

If Rummy and friends have their way, the more the reconstruction costs, the more their wallets will benefit.

As just as this action is, just remember, there are some that stand to make a bundle on the clean-up.

Those who study the Illuminati will understand where I am coming from.

[blam]

"Today, special-ops got some great information out of one of them."

What did they get?

[Boundless]

> Baghdad was dark, with power out for the first time ...

What's really astonishing about this is not that we waited
so long, or didn't take down the grid at the outset, but
that the Iraqi's didn't do so themselves.

In WW-II, "blackout" was the rule of the day, err, night,
that is, so as not to make it easy for the enemy to bomb
in the dark.

I guess in the age of PGMs, blackout is now passe'
(oops, as is French, sorry).

[Thinkin' Gal]

It might as well be Babelfish.

[Fester Chugabrew]

Much has been made about the electrical blackout. Maybe it's just a primitive way for the enema to keep the city less visible at night. After all, we are dealing with some backasswards folks here.

[TheBattman]

You forgot to warn us that we needed a tinfoil hat to read your post.....be more careful next time....

[TheLion]

Fox hasn't given any details yet. Said they had gotten documents etc.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

[_Jim]

if power is out it's pretty easy to radio-locate ...

How exactly does this relate to getting rotating machinery (like LARGE generators usually powered by coal or oil-fired boilers) 'turning' again?

[Justice]

Well ... you are impatient. Jeeze my heart really goes out to ya. While our troops are facing life threatening attacks on an hourly basis you feel impatient. Many are saying that the execution of this American led war plan is brilliant and that the advance on the enemy capital has been very fast indeed. But the fast food (instant gratification) crowd gets tired as they watch events unfold on TV too slowly for their liking. Take a hike.

[laz17]

Yeah, this war is being fought by the real axis of evil -- Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld -- so that all their buddies can get rich. /sarcasm

Go back to DU, troll.

[Trailerpark Badass]

As just as this action is, just remember, there are some that stand to make a bundle on the clean-up.

And some American engineers and technicians who work for the Illuminati may be able to keep their jobs. It's a win-win!

[DoorGunner]

I THINK he meant that in a power outage certain places will have a small generator, which comes on automatically.

In a place like Iraq, one might imagine that these places would include: hospitals; power, water, and wastewater utilities; communication facilities; Military posts (including C&C); and, Homes of the Rich and Famous (including Presidential Palaces, and their attached underground bunkers, tunnels, etc.)

IOW, a power outage might be an excellent opportunity to locate, say, a bunker with life support systems operating? Maybe pull the plug on Saddam's underground ICU?

But, he may have meant something else.

DG

[MississippiMan]

I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf is the highest ranking Iraqi official left, if he's in fact running the show. We're hearing an awful lot out of him.

MM