Post Latest Iraq War News Here - Part III

[Kirnwaffen]

MSNBC's David Bloom dies of a pulmonary embolism while traveling with 3 ID. He was 39 and leaves behind a wife and three daughters.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/896267.asp?0cv=CA01

[DanS]

Much/most of Basra (outside of the old city) now under Coalition control.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2922977.stm

[DanS]

American troops welcomed in Karbala.

"Like a carnival!"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43375-2003Apr6.html

[Kyle]

Looks like something big is going on in Baghdad. Turn on a tv.

[The Mad Monk]

Troops, journalists undergo cleanup for nerve gas exposure
By TOM LASSETER
Knight Ridder Newspapers

ALBU MUHAWISH, Iraq - U.S. soldiers evacuated an Iraqi military compound on Sunday after tests by a mobile laboratory confirmed evidence of sarin nerve gas. More than a dozen soldiers of the Army's 101st Airborne Division had been sent earlier for chemical weapons decontamination after they exhibited symptoms of possible exposure to nerve agents.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/5573683.htm

[Eroberer]

hey guys, CNN is showing a giant statue of Saddam that is about be blown up.

Apparently, from what I've heard, the Presidential Palace in Baghdad has been taken, and a US flag and a UGa (Univ. of Georgia) flag have been hoisted. The two commanders that met there were in the same fraternity chapter at different times in UGA, apparently.

[Eroberer]

correction, no flags hoisted, but will be put on the tanks. They decided that to push the point that they are there to liberate, not to occupy.

[MichaeltheGreat]

"Chemical Ali" apparently bites the dust - "breaking news" headling on cnn.com and reported by AP:

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WAR_CHEMICAL_ALI?SITE=CALOS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

"'Chemical Ali' Found Dead in Basra

BASRA, Iraq (AP) -- Ali Hassan al-Majid, dubbed "Chemical Ali" by opponents of the Iraqi regime for ordering a poison gas attack that killed thousands of Kurds, has been found dead, a British officer said Monday.

Maj. Andrew Jackson of the 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment told The Associated Press that his superiors had confirmed the death of the man who is also President Saddam Hussein's first cousin.

Jackson said the body was found along with that of his bodyguard and the head of Iraqi intelligence services in Basra.

Saddam had entrusted al-Majid with defense of southern Iraq against invading coalition forces.

One of the most brutal members of Saddam's inner circle, al-Majid, in his 50s, led a 1988 campaign against rebellious Kurds in northern Iraq in which whole villages were wiped out. An estimated 100,000 Kurds, mostly civilians, were killed.


He also has been linked to the bloody crackdown on Shiites in southern Iraq following a 1991 uprising following the Gulf War. He served as governor of Kuwait during Iraq's seven-month occupation of the emirate in 1990-1991."

Too bad it was so quick and easy for the bastard.

[Shi Huangdi]

AL Jazeera: Britain has Basrah under control

http://english.aljazeera.net/topics/article.asp?cu_no=1&item_no=1979&version=1&template_id=277&parent_id=258

[DRoseDARs]

Before you read this, two (rhetorical) questions: What is Minister al-Sahhaf smoking...and why isn't he sharing?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030407/ap_on_re_mi_ea/war_iraqi_spokesman&cid=540&ncid=716

Iraq Spokesman Denies U.S. Is in Baghdad
59 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - With U.S. tanks rolling into central Baghdad, Iraq's information minister denied in a rooftop news conference Monday that the Americans were in the city, declaring: "Be assured Baghdad is safe, secure and great."

"They are sick in their minds. They say they brought 65 tanks into center of city. I say to you this talk is not true. This is part of their sick mind," Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf said. "There is no presence of American infidels in the city of Baghdad at all."

Sahhaf, speaking outside the Palestine Hotel to a crowd of foreign reporters, said amid sirens and clouds of dust that Saddam Hussein's forces had given invading coalition forces "poison and bitterness."

"Their forces committed suicide by the hundreds. ... The battle is very fierce and God made us victorious. The fighting continues," he said. "Yesterday, we slaughtered them and we will continue to slaughter them."

Sahhaf said coalition forces pushed one of the armored carriers and tanks into the city and "we killed most of them and we will get of rid of them soon. Baghdad will be their graveyard."

Reacting to reports that the U.N. Security Council was to meet Monday, he called on the United Nations to denounce the war "before the United Nations becomes a place for prostitution under the feet of the Americans."

[Messer Niccolò]

NEWS - DAY 19 OF THE WAR
* U.S. forces burst into heart of Baghdad, enter two Saddam palace complexes, but say the aim is not to take ground
* Iraqi, U.S. troops exchange fire in area of central
Baghdad that includes a residential district
* Two U.S. Marines killed, many injured in fighting to
secure two bridges on edge of Baghdad, U.S. military says. Marines say both bridges badly damaged
* British military say believe "Chemical Ali" found dead
* U.S. troops near Iraqi Information Ministry but it is
still in Iraqi hands
* Iraq says U.S. columns slaughtered, says "Baghdad is safe"

QUOTES
U.S. military spokesman: "The goal of this is not to take
ground. This is an armoured raid through the city...There's a lot of tough battles ahead."
Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf: "Be assured, Baghdad is safe, protected. Iraqis are heroes."
British military spokesman: "We believe we have found the body of Chemical Ali however we need to get that confirmed."

CASUALTIES
* U.S. - 83 dead, 8 missing
* Britain - 30 dead
* Iraqi military - U.S. says about 2,000 killed since U.S.
forces started attacking the outskirts of Baghdad. Iraq has given no figures for its military losses in war
* Iraqi civilians (Iraqi estimates) - 1,252 killed, 5,103
injured

MILITARY ACTION
BAGHDAD: U.S. forces mount raid into the heart of Baghdad and enter two palace complexes of Saddam Hussein. U.S. officer says 65 tanks and 40 Bradley fighting vehicles take part in the operation. U.S. forces near the Information Ministry and central Rashid Hotel but do not take them. Iraqi forces block many Tigris bridges, defend key ministries with rocket-propelled
grenades.
Iraqi, U.S. troops exchange fire in a "battle zone" in
central Baghdad that includes a residential district, a Reuters witness said. Two U.S. Marines are killed and many injured in fighting to secure two bridges over a river on the edge of Baghdad, U.S. military says. Marines say both bridges are badly damaged in the fighting, rendering them impassable for tanks and
heavy armour.
BASRA: British say they control most of Basra, but continue to face pockets of resistance in the old city.

[Shi Huangdi]

Messer:

Please provide links to any news u r providing

[lightblue]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=WRIUOYNJJ2JA4CRBAELCFFA?type=topNews&storyID=2521303

US Marines find Chemically tipped warheads - smoking gun:

Report: U.S. Finds Missiles with Chemical Weapons
Mon April 7, 2003 10:25 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. forces near Baghdad found a weapons cache of around 20 medium-range missiles equipped with potent chemical weapons, the U.S. news station National Public Radio reported on Monday.
NPR, which attributed the report to a top official with the 1st Marine Division, said the rockets, BM-21 missiles, were equipped with sarin and mustard gas and were "ready to fire." It quoted the source as saying new U.S. intelligence data showed the chemicals were "not just trace elements."

It said the cache was discovered by Marines with the 101st Airborne Division, which was following up behind the Army after it seized Baghdad's international airport.

U.S. Central Command headquarters in Qatar had no immediate comment.

The United States and Britain launched the war against Iraq to rid the country of weapons of mass destruction. Iraq denies having such weapons.

[Messer Niccolò]

NEWS - DAY 19 OF THE WAR
* U.S. forces burst into heart of Baghdad, enter two Saddam palace complexes; U.S. says commanders on the ground will decide whether to stay in captured areas
* Intensive bombing resumes across Baghdad; Red Cross says conditions "terrible" in Baghdad hospital
* At least four U.S. soldiers killed as Iraqi forces fight
back, blocking many Tigris bridges and defending key ministries; two journalists also killed
* U.S. says it has checkpoints on all major roads into
Baghdad; civilians will be allowed to come and go freely
* Oil prices fall to four-month low in London before
recovering; U.S. stock markets surge on opening


CASUALTIES
* U.S. - 91 dead, 14 missing
* Britain - 30 dead
* Iraqi military - More than 2,320, according to U.S.
military. Iraq has given no figures for its military losses
* Iraqi civilians (Iraqi estimates) - 1,252 killed, 5,103
injured

MILITARY ACTION
BAGHDAD: U.S. forces mount raid into the heart of Baghdad and enter two palace complexes of Saddam Hussein. U.S. officer says 65 tanks and 40 Bradley fighting vehicles take part. U.S. forces near the Information Ministry and central Rashid Hotel
but do not take them. Iraqi forces block many Tigris bridges, defend key ministries with rocket-propelled grenades.
Iraqi, U.S. troops exchange fire in a "battle zone" in
central Baghdad that includes a residential district. Two U.S. soldiers and two journalists killed, 15 injured and six missing in Iraqi attack on communications centre south of Baghdad.
Two U.S. Marines are killed and many injured in fighting to secure two bridges over a river on the edge of Baghdad, U.S. military says. Marines say both bridges are badly damaged in the fighting but say they have crossed the river using one of the bridges and a new crossing laid by military bridge-laying machines.
Heavy bombing of Baghdad resumes.
BASRA: British say they control most of Basra, but continue to face pockets of resistance in the old city.
---------------
Reuters News

[SlowwHand]

U.S. investigates chemical find

Initial tests indicate presence of blister, nerve agents

By Dana Lewis
NBC NEWS

NEAR KARBALA, Iraq, April 7 — U.S. Army commanders say they have discovered more than a dozen barrels of chemicals in an agricultural facility 30 miles northeast of here that have tested positive as blister and nerve agents. If that initial analysis is backed up by further testing, it would be the first confirmed seizure by U.S. forces of Iraqi chemical weapons.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/895392.asp?cp1=1