Free Republic

03/29/03 - WASHINGTON -- A pair of Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles attacked a Ba'ath Party headquarters building in southern Iraq on March 28, where some 200 leaders of the Iraqi "irregular forces" were meeting. According to Maj. Gen. Victor Renuart, U.S. Central Command director of operations, the attack was meant to destroy some of the terror cells that are holding hostage many of the cities in southern Iraq. "Each time we make one of these attacks, we degrade the regime," Renuart said during the daily CENTCOM press briefing at the command's forward headquarters in Qatar on March 29. Renuart...

U.S. jets bomb Basra paramilitary meeting AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar, March 29 (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes have used laser-guided bombs to destroy a building in the southern Iraqi city of Basra where some 200 paramilitary members were meeting, U.S. Central Command said on Saturday. A spokesman at Central Command's battle headquarters said early reports indicated that "no one came out" of the shattered two-story structure. The spokesman said the bombing was part of the campaign to take Basra, Iraq's second largest city, from forces loyal to President Saddam Hussein. Iraqi forces have prevented U.S.-led forces from seizing control of Basra,...

<p>CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar (AP) -- A pair of F-15E Strike Eagles destroyed a two-story building in Basra where some 200 Iraqi regime paramilitary members were believed to be meeting Friday night, the U.S. Central Command said.</p> <p>The U.S. Air Force jets used laser-guided munitions to destroy the building, while leaving undamaged the Basra Christian Church 300 yards away, the officials said. They said a delayed fuse allowed the bombs to penetrate the structure before detonation, minimizing the effects of the blast.</p>