Baghdad blitzed, invasion force advances swiftly
( 2003-03-22 10:30 ) (7 )

The United States and Britain unleashed an awesome air assault on Baghdad on Friday when their troops punched deep into Iraq toward the capital where President Saddam Hussein's defenders were dug in.

The air bombardment triggered giant fireballs, deafening explosions and mushroom clouds above Baghdad. Repeated blasts reddened the night sky and shook the ground in the biggest raid of the war by far.

After a brief lull, Iraqi anti-aircraft fire crackled again in the pre-dawn hours on Saturday as a second and third wave of warplanes swooped on targets in the outskirts of the city.

U.S. planes also hit military targets in the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the Iraqi leadership was in disarray, its grip on the country was crumbling and the scale of the assault was intended to show Iraqis that Saddam's rule was "history."

A commander of Iraq's regular 51st division surrendered to American Marines in southern Iraq, U.S. defense officials said. It was not known how many troops were involved, but there were reports of many Iraqi soldiers deserting their posts.

"The regime is starting to lose control of their country," Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon. "The confusion of Iraqi officials is growing. Their ability to see what is happening on the battlefield, to communicate with their forces and to control their country is slipping away."

Iraq said Saddam had survived an attempt by U.S. stealth fighters and cruise missiles to eliminate him on Thursday, but U.S. officials said they did not know whether the Iraqi leader was dead or alive.

Acting on intelligence, the United States attacked a residence compound in a Baghdad suburb, where Saddam and his two sons Uday and Qusay, were believed to have been, dropping precision-guided bombs and nearly 40 Tomahawk missiles.

DEAD OR ALIVE?

Rumors persisted that Saddam was dead or injured and he was not seen in public on Friday.

"If he was in that strike and he was sitting in the right place at the right time when a missile landed, then he may very well have been killed," British Defense Chief of Staff Michael Boyce said in London. "We don't know that. We are still evaluating and analyzing."

Bombs and missiles slammed into one of Saddam's palaces and blitzed other targets in Baghdad.

U.S. warships launched some 320 Tomahawk missiles at targets around Baghdad on Friday alone, said the commander of the USS Kitty Hawk battle group, Rear Adm. Matthew Moffit.

"The intention is to convince the (Iraqi) regime that it's time to leave and if they don't, we're going to take them out," he told reporters aboard the American aircraft carrier.

Iraqi state television headquarters was among the buildings hit but it remained on air, broadcasting pictures of Saddam with his son Qusay. It was not clear when the pictures were shot.

After long delay, Turkey opened its air space to U.S. planes. "In the end it was determined the opening of air space was in Turkey's interests," said Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul.

But within hours a Turkish commando force of around 1,500 crossed the border into northern Iraq, underscoring Ankara's rejection of American demands to keep its troops out of Kurdish-controlled Iraqi territory.

Turkey contends that it needs troops in northern Iraq to prevent refugees from flooding across its border. A Turkish military official told Reuters the commando force was a precursor to a larger deployment of Turkish soldiers in Iraq.

HUNDREDS OF TARGETS

In Washington, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said hundreds of targets would be hit in Iraq in the next 24 hours. He also said U.S. and British forces should secure oil fields in southern Iraq.

Despite the surrender of several hundred Iraqi troops, Rumsfeld said the United States had not held general surrender talks with the Iraqis. Efforts to persuade parts of Saddam's military to capitulate had not yielded sufficient results to avert an all-out assault.

But he added: "It may very well be that, with the initiation of the ground war last evening and the initiation of the air war this afternoon, that we may find people responding and surrendering."

Saddam has concentrated his best forces, including the elite Republican Guard, in Baghdad, where he may be planning to force the invaders into hazardous street fighting.

The United States and Britain launched the war, saying they needed to strike Iraq preemptively to deprive it of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons that could one day become a threat. Iraq denied having such weapons.

U.S. Marines captured the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr while other troops seized two desert airfields west of Baghdad. British Marines also launched an amphibious and aerial assault and secured oil installations at the head of the Gulf.

The startling speed of a U.S. advance from Kuwait up to 100 miles into the Iraqi desert in 48 hours prompted some British and American officers to predict a quick victory.

"We're making progress," President Bush told lawmakers in the Oval Office. "We will stay on task until we've achieved our objective, which is to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and free the Iraqi people."

Iraqi ministers vowed to "incinerate" the invaders. "Baghdad will remain defiant and its walls will be an incinerator for the invaders," declared Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf.

Two U.S. Marines were confirmed killed in action in the first day of fighting. Eight British and four U.S. soldiers also died in a helicopter crash in Kuwait.

Rapid U.S. and British advances seemed to reassure oil markets. Britain's most senior military officer said only seven oil wells had been set on fire by the Iraqis. Iraq denied torching the wells, saying it set oil-filled trenches ablaze to try and obscure targets from U.S. and British aircraft.

Widespread opposition to the war showed no sign of abating. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in American cities, sparking scores of arrests. Anti-war demonstrators also turned out in some Arab capitals and clashed with police.