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U.S. Marines from Task Force Tarawa walk through the streets of Nasariyah, Iraq, on Saturday. After five days here, they're not quiet sure whether each Iraqi man they meet is friend or foe. Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty Images NASIRIYAH, IRAQ — Somehow, even under the cloud of death, life goes on in this town. A girl skips playfully in a yard. Herders tend to livestock. A police siren wails in the background. But the illusion of normalcy never lasts for very long. Sporadic gunfire is commonplace, and sends residents scrambling into their homes. Artillery blasts are less frequent,...

My son Ian is in Kuwait, serving his country as a crew chief for the A-10 Warthog. His work carries considerable responsibility, especially for a 19-year-old. But he was prepared to do his job by the outstanding training he received in the United States Air Force. Ian recently wrote family and friends an e-mail that describes his plane and its lethal payload. A follow-up e-mail shows that our son is trying to keep focused on his job and not dwell too much about the death and destruction around him. The subject line of the first e-mail was "The A-10":...

Australian FA-18s Striking Targets March 30, 2003 AUSTRALIAN F/A-18 Hornets launched strikes against Iraqi headquarters infrastructure overnight, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) said today. They also flew counter air missions but it was not yet clear if their actions were a success, ADF spokesman Brigadier Mike Hannon said. Also overnight, clearance divers continued clearing the Khawr Abd 'Allah waterway around Umm Qasr. Australian ADF troops were safe and well, Brigadier Hannan said. "Our clearance divers have continued with clearance of the port facilities, and that will go on for a few days yet," Brigadier Hannan told ABC Radio. "The remainder...

TILLIL AIRFIELD, Iraq - This fast-developing American air hub in southern Iraq now provides a way station for tank-busting A-10 Warthog jets, a key weapon in the U.S.-led assault on Saddam Hussein's Medina division of the Republican Guard. The first A-10 came into Tillil Saturday night, and through the day and night Sunday the jets flew hard-turning arcs in the sky near the embattled city of An Nasiriyah. In combat, the jets fly low in close support of ground troops as they hunt enemy armored vehicles. With Tillil, the jets have a place to launch missions within an hour...

<p>FROM A FORWARD AIR BASE, Iraq — U.S. Air Force attack jets began flying Saturday from a captured base in Iraq, the first combat missions flown from Iraqi soil. A pair of A-10 Thunderbolt jets bearing the distinctive Flying Tigers teeth of Pope Air Force Base's 75th Fighter Squadron were the first U.S. fighters to touch down here at midday.</p>