US blasts Baghdad, troops cross Iraqi border
( 2003-03-21 08:10 ) (7 )

Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne assemble before leaving to move to forward positions at Camp New Jersey in the Kuwaiti desert Thursday, March 20, 2003. [AP]

The United States and Britain blasted targets in Baghdad with cruise missiles on Thursday, setting government buildings on fire, and sent advance troops probing into southern Iraq ahead of a full-scale invasion.

Events unfolded swiftly on the first full day of a US-led campaign aimed at ridding Iraq of suspected weapons of mass destruction and destroying the rule of President Saddam Hussein.

Witnesses in the Iraqi capital reported several explosions near government buildings after cruise missiles swooped down, shaking the city with massive explosions. There was relatively little Iraqi anti-aircraft fire.

One of the targets struck was Saddam's main Baghdad palace complex on the banks of the Tigris River. Another housed an office of Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz.

It was the second round of US attacks after Saddam defied a US ultimatum to leave the country. The previous raid at dawn on Thursday targeted the Iraqi president himself. Saddam was shown on Iraqi television a few hours later, although it was not clear if the image was live or recorded.

The United States launched the war to remove Saddam from power, saying he continued to develop weapons of mass destruction that had to be neutralized before they could be used. It was the first use of a new US strategic doctrine of pre-emptively attacking any country seen to pose a threat. Iraq denies having such weapons.

After two waves of attacks, the skies quieted once again, although air raid sirens sounded at least three more times. US and British officials said the main brunt of the assault was yet to come.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the initial missile and bombing attacks in and around Baghdad were just a first taste of what would soon be unleashed.

"What will follow will not be a repeat of any other conflict," he said. "It will be of a force and a scope and a scale that has been beyond what we have seen before."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, addressing a nation in which anti-war sentiment is strong, said British forces were fighting Iraq from air, land and sea. A British military source said British submarines had fired several Cruise missiles at targets in Baghdad.

To the south, US and British forces entered Iraq, crossing the desert border from Kuwait under cover of an intense artillery barrage. Large explosions were reported from the direction of the Iraqi city of Basra.

MAIN OFFENSIVE IMMINENT

A British military source said the main offensive was about to begin. US officials said their aim would be to "shock and awe" the enemy to the point that Iraqi leaders and soldiers would lose the will to resist.

In Baghdad, Reuters reporter Nadim Ladki said missiles flew in at a very low altitude and hit several targets. He could see buildings ablaze in the southeast of the city and around the Planning Ministry in the center of Baghdad.

State-run Iraqi television said four of their soldiers and one civilian were killed and five soldiers wounded on Thursday.

Three hours after the raids began, a grim-faced Saddam appeared on state television in military uniform, black beret and thick-rimmed glasses.

"The criminal little Bush has committed a crime against humanity," he said, reading from notes. US sources said the voice appeared to be that of Saddam, but it was unclear whether he was appearing live or whether his statement was recorded.

He urged Iraqis to "draw your sword" against US invaders -- a striking metaphor for the disparity in power and military technology between the United States and Iraq.

Units of the U.S Marine 1st Expeditionary Force crossed from Kuwait into southern Iraq to begin securing positions for a thrust northward by US and British troops massed in Kuwait near the border, US officials said.

The Kuwaiti news agency said US-led troops had captured the Iraqi border town of Umm Qasr.

A number of Iraqi troops, who had been laying a minefield, surrendered to US Marines who had just crossed into Iraq, a CBS radio reporter traveling with the unit said.

Reuters correspondent David Fox, reporting from near the Kuwaiti border, said he heard big explosions from the direction of Basra, which will be an important early objective of the ground invasion.

Other reporters saw US missiles strike areas in southern Iraq as well as helicopter gunships firing at ground targets. About 280,000 US and British troops are in the Gulf region, many of them in Kuwait, poised to invade Iraq.

IRAQ FIRES AT KUWAIT

Iraq responded to the first US attack with several missile strikes on northern Kuwait. All missed their targets or were intercepted by US missiles.

On Wall Street, share prices moved into positive territory as news of the second round of air attacks came in. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average closed 21.15 points, or 0.26 percent, higher.

Rumsfeld urged Iraqi citizens to stay in their homes and told Iraqi troops to disobey any orders to use chemical weapons or destroy oil wells. He said those who surrendered would have a place in a future free Iraq but those who fought would share Saddam's fate.

Rumsfeld said Iraq may have set fire to three or four oil wells in the south of the country. Kuwait television said several wells near Basra had been set alight by Iraqi troops. Iraqi Oil Minister Amir Muhammed Rasheed denied the reports.

Reaction to the US attack was swift and largely negative, as nations that had opposed the American effort to disarm Iraq decried the conflict, and Arab protesters took to the streets.

Anti-war demonstrators staged marches across the world, often clashing with police as they converged on heavily guarded US embassies. Thousands of protesters blocked streets in San Francisco and other US cities.

(Reuters)