Massive air campaign; many surrenders
knoxstudio.com
By BILL STRAUB
Scripps Howard News Service
March 21, 2003
- American and British forces pushed more than 100 miles into Iraq on what the Pentagon described as "A-Day" in the Persian Gulf War II, securing the port of Umm Qasr as the historic city of Baghdad underwent a brutal pounding from U.S. cruise missiles for a third day.
"The regime is starting to lose control of their country," said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Troops from the 101st Airborne, the Army's elite air assault division, breezed into Southern Iraq without opposition on Friday and moved inland across deep desert sands, their course cleared by Marines who led the initial assault.
"You train your whole career for this," said Staff Sgt. Steve Wright, 32, armed with a $150,000 stinger missile and carrying 120 pounds of gear on his back. "Does any soldier want to go to war? I would say no but you rely on your training. That's where you build confidence."
The 101st found little evidence of the earlier Marine-led battle - a couple of damaged and destroyed cars and bottled water was the only hint that other troops had preceded them. Iraqi forces managed to torch a still-undetermined number of oil wells in the vicinity and gave U.S. and British Marines a harder time than expected as they moved to take over the oil-rich southeastern section of Iraq.
Two Marines were killed in that early fighting, according to the Pentagon. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. troops thus far have faced "sporadic resistance."
Late Friday, U.S. Apache attack helicopters reported substantial surface-to-air fire 200 miles from Baghdad. Several hundred Iraqi troops have surrendered - with some Friday even trying to give themselves up to journalists. Others have abandoned their positions to flee but many others are standing and fighting, reports from the front indicated.
Iraq's air force has been missing in action to this point. Though a less-than-formidable threat, Saddam Hussein's warplanes still could cause allied forces headaches. Similarly, no reports of chemical or biological weapon attacks have surfaced, and no Iraqi Scuds or other ballistic missiles have been lobbed at Israel or the ethnic Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
While some Iraqi units have slowed the advance of the Marine and Army ground offensive in a few instances, U.S. forces so far have been able to gain the upper hand each time with relative ease, defense officials and reports from the front said.
While the "Screaming Eagles" of the 101st Airborne were advancing, scores of F-16s, F-18s, A-10s and British Harriers from a forward base in the Persian Gulf joined hundreds of other planes in a massive air strike against Baghdad. American military experts predicted that 3,000 bombs would pelt Baghdad in a "shock and awe" campaign intended to stun Iraqi troops into submission.
With the campaign in full force Friday afternoon - Saturday morning in Iraq - orange balls of fire lit up the sky and several government buildings were reported to be in flames.
Though it was difficult to know immediately exactly what sites had been hit and how successful the strikes had been, the list of targets included key government buildings and other high-visibility symbols of Saddam's regime.
At least three major fires were reported near Saddam's "Old Palace" compound, which sits west of the Tigris River and includes offices for the prime minister's staff and cabinet.
The complex is one of Saddam's eight presidential palaces, sprawling compounds made up of more than 1,000 buildings and covering close to 32 miles. The compounds contain elaborate mansions, guest villas, offices, garages - even manmade lakes and farms.
"This is what we've been waiting for," said F-16 crew chief Jerry Shillingburg, as dozens of aircrew members emptied fighter hangars at one base, preparing the planes for missions.
On the runway, jets launched nearly every 30 seconds, generating so much exhaust that it obscured the "candlestick" refinery fires burning natural gas in the distance. The smell of fuel hung in the air, and the air traffic was so heavy that trucks trying to access the hangar area had to quickly pull over on the taxiway shoulder when surprised by the black silhouettes of A-10s.
The commander of the 524th Squadron said Friday night's hits were "a strategic strike northwest of Baghdad."
"There were a lot of surface-to-air missiles fired around Baghdad," he said. "We could see explosions. We couldn't see exactly what targets were being hit."
He was one of the eight F-16 pilots in the initial launch from one base in the Persian Gulf.
Even before "shock and awe" started, jets from the same Persian Gulf air base were involved in a bombardment of Basra described by military officials as an attempt to "prepare the battlefield." The air base launched 144 sorties in 24 hours, mostly A-10s flying low-altitude missions. The A-10 carries a 30mm Gatling gun capable of destroying enemy tanks and can carry up to 16,000 pounds of bombs.
All the pilots returned safely but reported heavy fire, particularly around Basra.
While the fighting raged, Secretary of State Colin Powell said efforts are under way to cut the hostilities short.
"There are a number of channels open to Baghdad," Powell said. "There are a number of individuals in countries around the world who have been conveying the message to the Iraqi regime that it is now inevitable that there will be a change. Coalition forces are doing very well. The operation is going, I think, in a very fine manner. And in order to prevent any loss of life beyond that which may have occurred already, it would be wise for Iraqi leaders to recognize that their day is over and that this is going to happen."
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