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Forces Seize Key Iraqi Airbases

Friday, March 21, 2003

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly ... 40,00.html

BAGHDAD — Six American B-52 bombers took off from Fairford Airbase in Britain Friday morning -- a sign that major nighttime air strikes could be launched against Iraq Friday.

Forces could enter Baghdad within the next three or four days, a spokesman for British forces in the Persian Gulf said Friday.

One U.S. official involved in military planning said the B-52s had been scrambled en masse and the air strikes would be bigger than anything seen thus far in the conflict.

On Wednesday, six B-52s left Fairford to be prepositioned closer to Iraq.

The 14 heavy, high-altitude bombers -- used for bombing campaigns during Vietnam -- are expected to to be a big part of the coalition's "shock and awe" campaign. Each B-52 can carry 12 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), eight Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missiles (CALCMs) inside and another 12 externally, or a variety of other non-precision bombs.

American forces also seized two key western Iraqi airbases where Saddam Hussein is believed to have Scud missiles.

The airbases captured Friday are known as H-2 and H-3. The Iraqi Air Force is not a threat, but the bases were near the so-called "Scud Box," where it was feared Iraq could launch Scud attacks on Israel. Special operation forces secured the bases, which will now become operational for coalition forces.

Meanwhile, American forces seized important ground in south and western Iraq.

Fox News reported Thursday night that the Marines secured the Iraqi border town of Umm Qasr, the only major seaport for goods to enter Iraq, and raised the American flag to signal their victory. Umm Qasr is 30 miles to the south of Basra, and would give coalition forces access to a port for military and humanitarian supplies and hasten the end of Iraqi resistance in the south.

But on Friday, Marines were still encountering pockets of resistance.

"We've taken most of the port, and at least a couple of hundred prisoners," a U.S. military official said. "We're not done securing it at this time."

Coalition troops advanced freely across the desert into Iraq on Friday, as hundreds of Iraqi soldiers began to surrender -- further enhancing the theory that Iraq's central command structure was in shambles.

Also, a U.S. Marine was killed in combat on Friday, marking the first combat casualty of the war.

More terrain in southern and western Iraq are now under control of coalition forces than has been officially confirmed by Central Command or the Pentagon, senior Defense officials told Fox News.

"We have more of the south and more of the west," the official said. "We don't confirm places we've taken until we moved far past them."

"This is the start of the march to Baghdad," coalition sources told Fox News Thursday night.

As coalition forces have moved northward they have encountered "huge surrenders" of Iraqi forces, the senior official said.

As to the fate of Saddam, the official said: "he underestimated our ability to track him. One might deduce from that that non-U.S. citizens in Iraq are less fearful of speaking than before."

This may confirm that key Iraqis are cooperating with U.S. intelligence.

The first coalition casualties occurred Friday when a Marine CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed and burned in Kuwait while returning from a mission, killing eight British and four American Marines.

President Bush was informed of the fatalities around 7 a.m. Friday.

A senior administration official told Fox News that the president expressed his "sympathies and condolences to the families of those involved." He added, "This is a reminder to the American people that this is war."

Allied officials were trying to determine the cause of the crash, but said it was an accident. The helicopter was assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

On Friday, the Iraqi troops weren't giving up their oil without a fight.

U.S. Marines ran into mortar fire as they took control of the main highway leading to Basra, which coalition forces hope will be the first major Iraqi city to fall. Basra lies at the heart of Iraq's southern oil facilities.

Thick smoke filled the skies from fires at the many wells and processing facilities in the region, where pipelines funnel oil across the al-Faw peninsula to the Persian Gulf. British troops were reported as having taken the peninsula by midday Friday.

U.S. forces took the border town of Safwan, where residents waved. A woman threw herself at the Marines' feet until a man hurriedly came and led her away.

Another man said he welcomed the arrival of the U.S. troops: "We're very happy. Saddam Hussein is no good. Saddam Hussein a butcher."

One convoy from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force was targeted by Iraqi rockets and small-arms fire after it crossed over the border from Kuwait.

The Marines' 7th Infantry's 3rd Battalion delayed its foray into Iraq after it was reported that numerous tanks were sighted on the Iraqi side of the border.

Iraq also fired another Scud missile on Friday, but Patriot missiles successfully intercepted the rocket over the desert.

The 1st Marine Division needed air support Friday to suppress Iraqi mortar and small-arms fire while seizing Route 80, which leads from Kuwait to Basra.

"Every now and then they pop off to let us know they're still there," said Marine Lt. Col. Steve Holmes.

Supported by Cobra attack helicopters and howitzers, Marine tanks and armored vehicles rolled down Route 80 through the demilitarized zone. Tanks were placed on berms to provide cover for Marines moving on the road. Until then, the Marines had taken side roads.

U.S. military commanders held back-channel negotiations with Iraqi commanders and refrained from all-out bombardment.

U.S. missiles and bombs struck specific targets - including the main presidential palace in Baghdad and strongholds of the Iraqi army's elite Special Republican Guard.

British military sources told Fox News that 20 percent of Saddam's elite Republican Guard had surrendered or were surrendering.

The BBC also reported that scores of Iraqi troops had surrendered to British Royal Marine commandos in southern Iraq on Friday. At least 200 Iraqi soldiers gave up to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit in that region.

One group of 40 Iraqis marched down a two-lane road toward the Americans and gave up. They were told to lie face down on the ground, then were searched.

U.S. officials said Iraqi forces appeared cut off from their leadership after the initial missile attack on a Baghdad compound. They said there was no definitive word on whether Saddam was caught in the attack, but they indicated that medical workers were summoned to the compound.

ABC News reported that witnesses told U.S. intelligence officials that Saddam was observed being taken from the bombed complex on a stretcher, an oxygen mask over his face.

Fox News confirmed Friday that Saddam's sons, Uday and Qusai, were with him. The Washington Times said Saddam was meeting with top Iraqi leaders, including military commanders.

The official said the question was whether Saddam had left the building before the strike. Iraqi information minister Mohammed Sa'eed al-Sahhaf said Friday that Saddam was not hurt during the attack.

Saddam appeared on Iraqi television Thursday a few hours after the attack; U.S. intelligence experts were analyzing the footage to determine if it was taped before the air strike.

The Iraqi military said four of its soldiers were killed and six others wounded in Thursday's air strikes.

Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division crossed into Iraq and encountered several Iraqi armored personnel carriers, destroying at least three, troops reported by radio.

Back in Kuwait, U.S. troops watched Iraqi soldiers appeared to be either digging defensive positions or setting land mines.

Fox News' Major Garrett, Chris Wright, Bret Baier, Greg Kelly and The Associated Press contributed to this report.