Thrust Aims to Put Iraqis Off Balance
By MICHAEL R. GORDON
nytimes.com
AMP DOHA, Kuwait, April 5 — The United States Army's audacious drive through the streets of Baghdad today was a calculated bit of muscle flexing to demonstrate to residents that the American military was indeed at the gates of the city and determined to operate inside. It also served important tactical ends, enabling American forces to test the mettle of their foe, reduce Iraq's defenses and clear a path for similar forays in future.
Advertisement
This was not a hurried drive-by through hostile territory, but a three-hour journey along two of the city's major arteries, bringing the soldiers into contact with thousands of Iraqi paramilitary and other fighters.
It was just the first of a series of armored thrusts and raids by light infantry that are intended to keep the Iraqi military confused and off balance. The Americans are also considering seizing strategic points within the capital and stationing troops there to turn them into bases of operations within the city.
As they operate inside Baghdad the Americans are also seeking to cut off the major roads that lead in and out of Baghdad. The intent is to seal off much of the city even as American armored formations, light infantry and Special Operations forces try to attack the government inside.
The incursion today began when an armored formation moved from a staging area on the southern outskirts of Baghdad and roared north on Hilla Road into the city. Traveling past Umm Al Tabul Square, the column then rumbled west on the expressway to the airport.
The M1 tanks and M2 Bradley fighting vehicles left a trail of destruction, blowing up 30 Iraqi trucks, one tank and one armored personnel carrier. About 2,000 Iraqis soldiers and paramilitary fighters were killed, according to military officials here.
The Americans drove by infantry from the Republican Guard Nebuchadnezzar Division, the division's command and control unit, air defense batteries and D-30 artillery batteries. American officers familiar with the operation said the Iraqis had not organized the much-feared urban defense of fortifications, artillery and strong points.
But there was resistance. Firing rocket-propelled grenades, the Iraqis hit the track of an M1 tank, scoring what the military calls a "mobility kill." The Americans tried to tow the tank home, but it caught on fire and they blew it up so that the Iraqis could not use it. At least six American soldiers were reported to have been wounded in the operation, some critically.
As a demonstration of raw power, the operation complemented the campaign of radio broadcasts and leaflets that have been telling Baghdad's residents that Mr. Hussein's days are numbered and the Americans are coming to their city to remove him from power.
The residents of Baghdad are familiar with American firepower. They endured 43 days of airstrikes during the 1991 Persian Gulf war and have seen Mr. Hussein's palaces and other centers of power pounded repeatedly during bombing that started with a strike on a leadership bunker in the early hours of March 20, Iraqi time.
But this is the first time that American tanks have driven through the streets of Baghdad. The arrival of the tanks came as a shock to one Iraqi colonel who was captured by American soldiers. Military officials said he told his captors that he had been told the American troops were 100 miles away — the very official Iraqi perception the Americans hoped to dispel with their raid.
The foray into the capital served several purposes. First, it enabled the Americans to strip away the Iraqi defenders on the roads that link the airport and the Third Infantry Division assembly area, the two locations where the Army's forces have set up camps.
Second, it allowed American forces to gauge the Iraqis' strength, and third, it prompted the Iraqis to react, giving American intelligence an opportunity to listen for panicky radio messages and to observe the Iraqi movements. With every new probe, the Americans prompt the Iraqis to move out of their hiding places and revetments and to reveal their positions.
The Iraqi government still appears to be exercising control within the capital. It is believed to be using couriers and land lines to transmit messages within Baghdad so that Americans cannot destroy its command-and-control system or listen in. But the system seems to be fraying. American military officials are no longer sure how the defense of Baghdad is being directed or which disparate groups of fighters are operating on their own.
Advertisement
Baghdad is not the only arena. American military officials said they believed that the home of Ali Hassan al-Majid, who is known as "Chemical Ali" and is a cousin of Saddam Hussein, had been successfully bombed in a Basra attack. Mr. Majid earned his nickname because he oversaw the the use of chemical weapons in Kurdish northern Iraq in the 1980's and has been placed in charge of Iraqi forces in the southern part of the country. He has been the target of repeated attacks, including one in Amarah that reportedly narrowly missed. His death would probably expedite a British victory in Basra.
A number of steps have been taken to weaken Baghdad's defenses. After taking the airport two nights ago, American warplanes bombed Republican Guard forces north of Baghdad. A major goal of the American attacks has been to prevent retreating Iraqi defenders from taking up positions inside the capital. Iraqi Army forces and troops from the Republican Guards Hammurabi Division, which have been sent west of Baghdad, were attacked by a cavalry unit as they sought to move east toward the capital, military officials said.
There have been no substantial counterattacks. American forces have received intelligence that Iraq is planning to strike back with suicide bombers. Earlier this week, a vehicle full of propane exploded after it was stopped at a checkpoint near Samawa by soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division.
Marines also reported encountering fighters from Jordan, Egypt and Sudan as they approached Baghdad. There have been reports of fighters from Syria and Chechnya in southern Iraq.
But the major focus was on what was happening inside Baghdad. The Americans and British have discovered that many Iraqis in the south have been reluctant to challenge the government until they are certain that the allies are really determined to destroy President Hussein. So there is an important psychological benefit from operating inside Baghdad. The foray today is a sign of American seriousness and an indication of further attacks to come. |
