U.S. Troops Reach Baghdad Airport (NEWS)

[MKSheppard]

By CHRIS TOMLINSON, Associated Press Writer

NEAR BAGHDAD, Iraq - The battle for Baghdad reached its international airport Thursday, after U.S. forces rolled through a six-mile shooting gallery — a single-lane road on the capital's southern outskirts with Iraqi fighters firing from all sides.

American soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division reached Saddam International Airport late Thursday, according to military reports. However, there was still firing in the area before dawn Friday, and it was unclear whether the airport, located about 10 miles southwest of the city center, was under American control.

Artillery fire and explosions could be heard near the airport, and tracer rounds raced through the blackened sky.

To the southeast, in Kut, Marines fought building to building, at one point mowing down a small group of Iraqis with AK-47s who tried a suicide charge against a tank. To the northwest, at Lake Tharthar, Special Operations forces raided one of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s palaces.

The focus, though, was on Baghdad, and on the looming battle for the capital city.

Thousands of 3rd Division vehicles moved on Baghdad from the southwest — at one point, using a four-lane freeway, where one of the exits marked in English and Arabic read "Baghdad Airport."

But on a road on Baghdad's southern fringes, the 3rd Division pressed through a phalanx of gunfire. For four hours in punishing heat, the tanks and Bradley armored vehicles tried to pick out the soldiers and fighters amid civilians standing next to their houses, watching the armored column pass.

"They're running alongside us," Staff Sgt. Bryce Ivings of Sarasota, Fla., shouted into the intercom.

"Fire, fire, kill them," said Capt. Chris Carter from Wakinsville, Ga., the commanding officer of Alpha Company. "Got it."

Then Ivings spotted another group of fighters.

"He's got a weapon, oh ... there's civilians in the way, he's using these people are shields," Ivings said. He did not fire.

Under fire from the main gun of the M1A1 Abrams tank and the 25mm cannon on the Bradleys, treelines 200 yards off the road across farmer's fields exploded in orange flashes. At least seven pillars of black smoke rose from the horizon from the burning vehicles.

At least one U.S. soldier was killed by friendly fire; he was outside his vehicle when U.S. forces blasted an Iraqi tank nearby. Three were wounded by Iraqi fire, and three soldiers collapsed from heat exhaustion as temperatures rose to about 90 degrees outdoors and over 100 degrees inside the tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles.

The troops destroyed more than seven Iraqi armored personnel carriers and more than 15 Iraqi tanks. The number of Iraqis killed was unknown.

Iraqis fired a rocket-propelled grenade that hit the turret of one of the Bradleys, injuring one of the soldiers seriously. Another soldier was shot in the leg as he stepped from his refueling vehicle along the route.

"My point man was hit in the turret. He's now on the street unprotected," shouted First Lt. Jeff McFarland. Infantrymen inside the Bradley ran out and pulled the soldier to safety while an armored ambulance rushed to the scene.

Along the road from the Euphrates River to Baghdad, there were hundreds of burning vehicles, both civilian and military. Hundreds of dead Iraqis, most in uniform, lay next to the vehicles.

The drive stalled briefly at a bridge over the Euphrates, as U.S. engineers removed explosives left by the Iraqis.

At Kut, a military town on the Tigris River southeast of Baghdad, the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines battled Iraqis building to building. The Marines jumped from rooftop to rooftop and went through all the rooms in some buildings.

They fought at close range in a date palm grove, tossing grenades at each other. Late in the battle, a small group of Iraqis with assault rifles tried a suicide charge against a tank.

"At the end, they came charging in a human wave — 10 to 15 guys with AKs that we mowed down," said Lt. Col. B.P. McCoy. All told, he said, 30 Iraqis were killed.

A Sea Knight helicopter evacuated three injured Marines; two suffered minor gunshot and shrapnel wounds, but the third died in the helicopter. Another died when the truck he was driving slammed into another on a dusty road, injuring at least 10 others.

Across Iraq (news - web sites), fighting flared and evaporated throughout the day:

_South of Baghdad, the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry, came under sniper fire and saw something truly chilling, according to CNN's Walter Rogers: upward of 20 dead Iraqi troops wearing gas masks. Rogers, attached to the unit, gave no indication that chemical weapons had been used.

_At Lake Tharthar, about halfway between Baghdad and Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, Special Operations for the first time raided one of his presidential palaces. They overcame sporadic resistance from anti-aircraft artillery fire and fighters on the ground; they left with some documents, but without any indication of the whereabouts of Saddam or his two sons.

_In Basra, British troops told Associated Press Television News they had found the villa of Gen. Ali Hassan al-Majeed, the cousin of Saddam who is known as "Chemical Ali" for ordering Iraqi forces to use chemical weapons on Kurds in northern Iraq in 1988.

"Yeah, good find," said Capt. Ken Jolly of the Seventh Armored Brigade. "Just hoping there is something around us that will give us any clues about what is going on."

_Marines from the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, crossed the Tigris River on their way to Baghdad. Along the way they encountered not Iraqi soldiers, but places were Iraqi soldiers had been: Empty bunkers, built atop levees with commanding views of the main roads. A few pieces of clothing. An occasional piece of food, or a coffee pot.

Asked where the soldiers had gone, local people pointed northward, toward Baghdad.

[Sea Skimmer]

Whoever's in charge of Bagdads defenses had better start cratering the cities highways and main streets about now.

[Strafe]

"At least one U.S. soldier was killed by friendly fire; he was outside his vehicle when U.S. forces blasted an Iraqi tank nearby. Three were wounded by Iraqi fire, and three soldiers collapsed from heat exhaustion as temperatures rose to about 90 degrees outdoors and over 100 degrees inside the tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. "

This may be a stupid question, but do Abrams, and Bradleys have some sort of air conditioning?

[MKSheppard]

In this image made from video, a convoy of U.S. military vehicles
arrives at Saddam International Airport, Friday, April 4, 2003, in
Baghdad, Iraq

[Master of Ossus]

In this image made from video, a convoy of U.S. military vehicles
arrives at Saddam International Airport, Friday, April 4, 2003, in
Baghdad, Iraq

That's impossible. The Iraqi Info Minister just told me that the Americans don't hold any part of Iraq.

[MKSheppard]

That's impossible. The Iraqi Info Minister just told me that the Americans don't hold any part of Iraq.

And according to our British members, US troops should be doing THIS
instead of agressively attacking and seizing ground:



British soldiers dig trenches as they move closer towards the center of Basra, southern Iraq (news - web sites), Wednesday, April 3, 2003. British forces launched earlier an attack on Iraqi forces around Basra to movecloser towards the center. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

[Master of Ossus]

I don't really see the two scenarios as being similar. The Americans are trying to take the initiative from a fleeing Republican Guard. The British have already lost the initiative, and so they've decided to wear down the Iraqis that are left. I don't see this as being "lazy" the way you do. I just see it as being an alteration to a plan that was originally not as successful as planners were hoping. The British have thus altered the original plan of action by changing the manner in which they're attacking.

On a strategic sense, speed is more necessary than on a tactical sense. The Americans needed to move quickly to keep the Iraqis retreating, and to prevent them from destroying highways/bridges/tunnels/etc. The British, however, are engaging an Iraqi force that has already dug in, cannot retreat, and has nowhere to go.

[jegs2]

"At least one U.S. soldier was killed by friendly fire; he was outside his vehicle when U.S. forces blasted an Iraqi tank nearby. Three were wounded by Iraqi fire, and three soldiers collapsed from heat exhaustion as temperatures rose to about 90 degrees outdoors and over 100 degrees inside the tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. "

This may be a stupid question, but do Abrams, and Bradleys have some sort of air conditioning?

It's not a stupid question. No, they don't.

[MKSheppard]

It's not a stupid question. No, they don't.

I thought US Tanks had air conditioning...or was that a refit
the Israelis added to their M-60 Pattons?

[Beowulf]

It's not a stupid question. No, they don't.

I thought US Tanks had air conditioning...or was that a refit
the Israelis added to their M-60 Pattons?

Probably a refit. Remember, the Abrams and Bradley were designed for a European land war, which doesn't usually reach the tempatures encountered in the Middle East.

[weemadando]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s824143.htm

Still heavy fighting at Baghdad airport. I give it a day or more before it falls.

Everyone remember the silos in Russia that the Germans ran into?

We can only hope.

[MKSheppard]

Everyone remember the silos in Russia that the Germans ran into?

We can only hope.

The Germans didn't have Paveway II LGBs

[MKSheppard]

ooh

Sky News is reporting that Saddam International has just been renamed
Baghdad International

[Warspite]

Shep, MoO, keep Basrah discussions in it's appropriate thread, we're talking here about Bagdad.

[Vympel]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay. ... n=dialogue

One word: odd.

"Was it true, the Iraqi minister of information was asked at his daily 2pm press conference (11pm NZT) - a routine institution of usually deadly tedium - that the Americans were at the airport?

"Rubbish!" he shouted. "Lies! Go and look for yourself."

So we did.

And, alas for the Anglo-American spokesmen in Doha and the US officer quoted on the BBC, the Iraqi minister was right and the Americans were wrong. But it's a good idea to take these things, if not with a pinch of salt, then at least with the knowledge that there are always two reasons for every decision taken in this violent, ruthless land.

Sure, the Americans had been caught lying again - as they were about the "securing" of Nasiriyah more than a week ago - but was that the only reason journalists were permitted to visit Baghdad airport? We saw no Republican Guards - just as the Americans have themselves somehow failed to discover the 12,000 Republican Guards supposedly facing them."

[The_Nice_Guy]

Uh huh. So who do we believe?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar ... 3Apr4.html

If we take the majority view, as well as that from embedded reporters, the US troops have indeed reached the airport. Whether they have secured it is another matter.

I suspect somebody is lying. It's either one side or the other. Unfortunately, the New Zealand Herald doesn't hold as much water as the Washington Post. Also, Robert Fisk has been slammed a few times for being an outright liar before.

Oh yeah, and he was also the idiot who got attacked by Afghans last year. And blamed it on the US.

The Nice Guy

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

ooh

Sky News is reporting that Saddam International has just been renamed
Baghdad International

So, now that we've gotten the airport, when do you think Baghdad will fall, and at what cost? And also, what knid of ruler names an airport after themself in the first place?

[Montcalm]

What kind of ruler names an airport after themself in the first place?

A megalomaniac fuckhead.

[Companion Cube]

ooh

Sky News is reporting that Saddam International has just been renamed
Baghdad International

So, now that we've gotten the airport, when do you think Baghdad will fall, and at what cost? And also, what knid of ruler names an airport after themself in the first place?

Well, this is a good start at least, and might serve to boost the morale of the anti-Saddam citizens in Baghdad. Or not, because the war is now literally on their doorstep...

[MKSheppard]

The journalist Michael Kelley, who was embedded with US troops for the Atlantic Monthly Magazine was reported killed during the military action at Baghdad International airport.

[The_Nice_Guy]

Well, that certainly settles it. Fisk is the liar here. While he might have been fooled by superior Iraqi acting, it sure didn't seem that way.

Perhaps he truly believes in giving false information to feed the anti-war sentiments of 'quagmire' and 'stalemate'?

The Nice Guy

[Sea Skimmer]

"At least one U.S. soldier was killed by friendly fire; he was outside his vehicle when U.S. forces blasted an Iraqi tank nearby. Three were wounded by Iraqi fire, and three soldiers collapsed from heat exhaustion as temperatures rose to about 90 degrees outdoors and over 100 degrees inside the tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. "

This may be a stupid question, but do Abrams, and Bradleys have some sort of air conditioning?

It's not a stupid question. No, they don't.

The Abrams does have an air conditioner, but its runs through the NBC system. I'm not sure about the Bradley

[Sea Skimmer]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay. ... n=dialogue

One word: odd.

"Was it true, the Iraqi minister of information was asked at his daily 2pm press conference (11pm NZT) - a routine institution of usually deadly tedium - that the Americans were at the airport?

"Rubbish!" he shouted. "Lies! Go and look for yourself."

Load of Bullshit. Unless someone wishes to argue that the US Army has built a replica of the airport to show for the cameras.

[Coyote]

Why, Skimmer, of course. Didn't you know? The entire war is taking place on a movie set in Los Angeles; there isn't a single soldier within miles of Iraq at all! It's nothing but propaganda to scare the Iraqis into giving up their oil.

In fact, you may not know this, but there actually is no US military at all! It's all lies and propaganda! They have "will work for food" guys put on uniforms and act whenever they need to show something on the news. They give them a bag of Doritos and a Fresca and that's it!

Lies! All lies and propaganda! Everyone knows that Third World nations that can barely manage a sewer system always tell the truth in all things and never ever ever tell lies and propaganda! Just the US does!

Lies, all lies!

[Montcalm]

Baghdad airport is now open for travel.
"Freedom we have tickets to freedom"