Post Latest Iraq War News Here - Part II

[ajbera]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/30/sprj.irq.arnett/index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. war plan has "failed," veteran war correspondent Peter Arnett told Iraqi TV in an interview that aired Sunday.

"The first war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance. Now they are trying to write another war plan," Arnett said. "Clearly, the American war planners misjudged the determination of the Iraqi forces."

Arnett -- who is reporting for National Geographic Television and NBC News -- also said Iraq has given him and other reporters a "degree of freedom which we appreciate," this despite the fact that Iraq has expelled several journalists, including CNN's Baghdad team, and apparently has imprisoned two journalists from the New York newspaper Newsday.

[CrONoS]

New US warning to Syria
The United States Secretary of State Colin Powell has given a tough warning to Syria and Iran to stop supporting terrorism.

Mr Powell was speaking to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee - the most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group in the United States.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2901689.stm

[CrONoS]

British troops say attacked by U.S. "cowboy" pilot

LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) - British soldiers wounded by "friendly fire" in Iraq said their convoy had been hit by a U.S. aircraft and one of them called the pilot a "cowboy" with no regard for human life, the Times newspaper reported on Monday.

"You've got an A10 with advanced technology and he can't use a thermal sight to identify whether a tank is a friend or a foe. It's ridiculous," the newspaper quoted Lance Corporal Steven Gerrard as saying from his bed on the hospital ship RFA Argus.
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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L318939.htm

[GRU]

http://www.strana.ru/stories/03/03/20/3304/176081.html

Iraqi general Valid Hamid Taufik gave a live interview to Al-Jazeera TV. He said that information about his capturing by coalition force near Basra is a little bit incorrect ;-). He continues to lead Iraqi warriors in the battle for Basra.

[Messer Niccolò]

Reuters

NEWS - DAY 12 OF THE WAR
* U.S. troops battle Iraqi forces about 110 km (70 miles)south of Baghdad; U.S. says many Iraqis, at least one American dead
* U.S. Marines launch dawn raid on Shatra, north of Nassiriya, targeting "Chemical Ali" and other senior Iraqi
officials they believe are directing guerrilla attacks
* Baghdad bombed overnight and at dawn; domestic Iraqi TV off the air
* Rumsfeld says no plans for pause or ceasefire, says Iraq's banned weapons are stockpiled in Baghdad and Tikrit


QUOTES
Rumsfeld: "The area in the south and the west and the north that coalition forces control is substantial...It happens not to be the area where weapons of mass destruction were dispersed."

CASUALTIES
* U.S. - At least 45 killed, 17 missing
* Britain - 24 killed
* Iraqi military - no confirmed figures
* Iraqi civilians (Iraqi estimates) - 589 killed, 4,582
injured

MILITARY ACTION
BAGHDAD: Explosions rock Baghdad, large oil-filled trench ablaze; government targets hit; U.S. says cruise missile targets Information Ministry.
SOUTHERN IRAQ: U.S. troops battle Iraqi forces on a front line about 110 km (70 miles) south of Baghdad near Imam Aiyub.
U.S. forces say many Iraqis and at least one American died.
British Royal Marines clash with paramilitaries south of
Basra, says British spokesman.
Defence official says troops from U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne
Division placed near Nassiriya to protect supply lines.
NORTHERN IRAQ: B-52 bombers pound positions near Mosul, Kirkuk. U.S.-led forces seen scouting Iraqi front-line positions. The United States says it destroyed a "massive terrorist facility" in northern Iraq which could have been used by the militant groups Ansar al-Islam and al Qaeda to make chemical weapons.

[Chemical Ollie]

Brits go offensive in Basra

600 Royal marines, supported by artillery and air, have entered the south east part of Basra in the largest Brittish effort so far in this war - "Operation James". Several Iraqi army vehicles have been destroyed and 300 Iraqis have been taken POW so far. Brittish casualty figures from this action have not yet been announced.

Source: Aftonbladet/AFP

[spiritof1202]

Arnett fired by NBC/MSNBC

Interview from the today show with Arnett 'regretting' will be shown later on MSNBC (10.30 EST)

On Latest War Developments 'ticker' at www.msnbc.com

Peter Arnett to leave Baghdad
NBC: War remarks were wrong

[Ned]

3rd Squadron 7th Cavalry
Armed reconnaissance Troopers with the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, reported that Iraqis rammed them with trucks and buses last week. The squadron suffered only minor damage and injuries, says its commander, LTC Terry Ferrell. U.S. forces have faced several machine -gun attacks from Iraqis in pickups.
''Their tactic is to put those trucks right in your face,'' Ferrell says. ''They're not afraid to die. They're not afraid to fight.''

Troops say they're surprised by what they've encountered. ''I expected wide open deserts, not the close-in fighting like we were in the last couple of days,'' says Capt. Jeff McCoy, Troop commander of C Troop, 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry.

http://www.us7thcavalry.com/ActiveUnits/

[SlowwHand]

Iraqis Welcome U.S. Marines in Shatra
16 minutes ago


By Sean Maguire

SHATRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Hundreds of Iraqis shouting "Welcome to Iraq (news - web sites)" greeted Marines who entered the town of Shatra Monday after storming it with planes, tanks and helicopter gunships.



Latest news:
· U.S. Forces Iraq to Shore Up Elite Guard
AP - 5 minutes ago
· U.S. Moves to Within 50 Miles of Baghdad
AP - 5 minutes ago
· U.N. Plans Major Food Aid for Iraq
AP - 14 minutes ago
Special Coverage





A foot patrol picked its way through the small southern town, 20 miles north of the city of Nassiriya, after being beckoned in by a crowd of people.


"There's no problem here. We are happy to see Americans," one young man shouted.


The welcome was a tonic for soldiers who have not always received the warm reception they expected after U.S. and British leaders told them the Iraqi people were waiting to be freed from repression under President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).


"It's not every day you get to liberate people," said one delighted Marine.


As they searched the town, the Marines pushed back the excited crowd. An interpreter urged local people through a loudspeaker on a Humvee not to hinder their movements.


But as night approached with the town not fully under their control, the Marines pulled back.


It had been a day of mixed fortunes.


It began with a predawn raid to try to kill senior Iraqi officials believed to be directing guerrilla attacks on U.S. troops and their supply convoys.


The ambushes have slowed the advance on Baghdad. This Marine unit retraced its steps back south down Highway 7 to Shatra after bypassing the Iraqi forces there in their rapid advance last week.


IRAQI GENERAL, FEDAYEEN FLEE


Planes dropped precision-guided bombs on four targets during the morning raid.


Tanks and armored personnel carriers then moved to the edge of the town and helicopter gunships raked the rubble-strewn target sites with heavy machinegun fire.


The targets were the local Baath party headquarters and "associated planning sites," Marine officers said.


Having entered the town, the Marines searched without success for the body of a comrade who was killed last week and whose corpse was believed to be in a hospital in the town.


They trampled over the ruins of a local headquarters of Saddam's Baath party.


Another Baath party building across the street had been set ablaze by looters who carried away sofas from inside.





Intelligence reports had suggested that Ali Hassan al-Majeed, or "Chemical Ali," the cousin whom Saddam has put in charge of the southern front, was in the town.

But Majeed, who earned his nickname for overseeing the use of poison gas against Kurdish villagers in 1988, was nowhere to be seen.

The Marines had also received intelligence reports that an Iraqi general was holed up inside the town but arrived just too late to capture him, military officials said.

"He got away just before we got here," said company commander Capt. Mike Martin. "We believe there are about 200 to 300 Baath party loyalists and Saddam Fedayeen irregulars in the town," he added.

The Fedayeen paramilitary forces had also fled.

Marines found a light still on and the telephone ringing when they entered what was thought to be their headquarters.

[CrONoS]

The flamewar that have delivered themselves for a few days Damas and Washington became extensive by the declaration of a spokesman of the Syrian ministry of the Foreign Affairs which affirmed Monday that Syria decided to support the Iraqi people against what it qualifies "illegal invasion américano-British".

"Syria chose to place at the sides of the Iraqi people brother who faces an invasion illegal and unjustified and against which all kinds of crimes against humanity are made" declared the spokesman,
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http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/

[Dinner]

For those of you who have been enjoyed quoting Peter Arnett's one sided reports you may want to know he has been fired by both NBC and National Geographic for biased reporting due to his propaganda like broadcast on Iraqi T.V..

NBC announced Monday that both NBC and National Geographic severed their relationships with veteran war correspondent Peter Arnett.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/31/sprj.irq.arnett/index.html

[Chemical Ollie]

Iraqi officials claim to have shot down 4 Apache helicopters in the last 36 hours, according to minister of information Muhammed Said Al-Sahaf. Furthermore, they claim to have killed 43 coalition soldiers and destroyed 13 tanks, 8 transport vehicles and 6 APCs.

About a 1/3 of USA's arsenal of 2000 Tomahawk missiles have been used so far. The US Navy is trying to raise money to replace them.

Six civilians were killed in a bombing raid against the area of al-Amin in eastern Baghdad on Monday.

Colin Powell will travel to Brussels and Ankara on Thursday, to discuss the war.

Source: Expressen/TT

[Dinner]

Interestingly enough the Americans are denying they are missing any helecopters or air planes. The Iraqis seem to make inflated claims all the time.

[Eli]

Suicide car bomb near the British Embassy in Tehran, no casualties but the bomber.

[CrONoS]

22:34 Car crashes into main gate of British Embassy in Tehran, catching fire and killing driver; not clear if terror attack
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http://www.haaretzdaily.com/

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TRUCK PLOUGHS INTO BRITISH EMBASSY
A pick-up truck has smashed into the wall of the British embassy compound in Iran, three days after it was besieged by anti-war protesters.
The cause of the incident, in which the driver died, was unclear, a British diplomat told reporters.
Iran's student news agency ISNA said the vehicle hit the compound wall close to the embassy's main gates at around 1015 pm and burst into flames.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1085816,00.html

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