Free Republic

The ongoing search by U.S. and allied forces for Saddam Hussein's remaining arsenal of Scud missiles is not limited to western Iraq, a hotbed of missile firings during the 1991 Gulf War, according to a senior U.S. Central Command official. No Scud firings have been reported in this conflict, but the United States and its allies remain vigilant.In 1991, Iraq launched 39 Scud missiles against Israel from its western desert -- launches that bedeviled U.S. commanders because a large amount of air and special operations assets had to be diverted to hunt them, in part to assure Israel the United...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Secretive US special operations troops have wrested control of a large part of western Iraq from President Saddam Hussein's regime, The Washington Post reported Friday. US officers told the Post that special forces have established themselves 300 kilometers (200 miles) into Iraq from its western border with Jordan. "I wouldn't say we control all the area, but it is territory that Saddam no longer controls," a senior official told the Washington daily. The job of special forces is to prepare terrain for the arrival of troops. Many have been in Iraq doing just that for months,...

SECRET DESERT AIRSTRIP US army engineers have built a secret new airstrip in central Iraq to carry out aerial spying missions. The half-mile strip was fashioned from a patch of bumpy desert and scrub using giant earthmoving equipment and heavy rollers. At an unknown location, it will allow unmanned spy planes to patrol the skies around Baghdad and gather information for an assault. The remote-controlled UAVs will provide US military commanders with essential details on Iraqi force sizes, capabilities and movements. They are particularly keen to learn more about the Medina division of the Republican Guard. With around 120 tanks...