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thedrifter
03-21-03, 11:38 AM
Explosion hits Baghdad
Pentagon: Friday is 'A-Day' for air war
Friday, March 21, 2003 Posted: 12:31 PM EST (1731 GMT)


INSIDE SOUTHERN IRAQ (CNN) -- A large explosion rocked Iraq's capital and air raid sirens anticipated a possible U.S.-led airstrike in Baghdad on Friday, as U.S. and coalition ground forces swept across the southern Iraqi desert.

The explosion was felt at about 8:10 p.m. in Baghdad, 12:10 p.m. EST. Air raid sirens also were reported in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Pentagon officials told CNN's Barbara Starr that Friday is "A-day," the day a promised campaign of "shock and awe" is to hit Iraq.

Earlier Friday, coalition forces seized a pair of strategic airfields and took control of a peninsula and its key port city, U.S. and British officials said.

U.S. forces are also in northern Iraq, as part of the operation to topple the regime of President Saddam Hussein, a senior U.S. military official said.

A caravan of Bradley fighting vehicles and M1A1 Abrams tanks and other vehicles was heading unimpeded toward Baghdad in what CNN Correspondent Walter Rodgers described as "a huge wave of steel" that stretched for 20 miles.

Rodgers, who is accompanying the 3rd Squadron of the U.S. Army 7th Cavalry Regiment, lead element of the 3rd Infantry Division, said the U.S. forces could reach Baghdad in two to four days. (Slide show, On the scene)

U.S. and British troops seized the two strategically important airfields in western Iraq and oil fields, west of Basra in southern Iraq, during lightning raids, a senior U.S. military official said.

The two airfields, known as H-2 and H-3, are considered important to the continued military operation inside Iraq. U.S. intelligence suspects the H-3 field may be a weapons of mass destruction site, according to an informed official.

A U.S. Marine was killed during the operation in was killed in action during the oil field operation, becoming the first coalition combat fatality of the war, Marine officials said. The Marine was a member of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, and was based at Camp Pendleton, California.

Also, coalition forces have taken control of the strategic Faw Peninsula, according to Lt. Col. Rick Long, spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. The peninsula includes key oil installations, as well as the port city of Umm Qasr -- Iraq's only outlet to the Gulf. The old port was taken by British troops; U.S Marines seized the new port. (Full story)

A second Marine from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force was killed during the fight for Umm Qasr.

Iraqi troops at first resisted and some were killed, but U.S. and British officials said that resistance faded and hundreds of Iraqis surrendered.

Most of Iraq's oil infrastructure on the peninsula is still intact, Adm. Michael Boyce, Britain's chief of staff said, adding that only seven oil wells had been set afire, not 30 as earlier reported.

Umm Qasr was a main port for the United Nations' oil for food program, which used proceeds from oil sales to provide food for Iraqis. The U.S.-led coalition expects to be able to start using the port to bring in humanitarian aid within a few days, officials said.

A U.S. Marine CH-46 helicopter crashed in northern Kuwait early Friday morning, killing all 12 people on board -- 8 British military personnel and four American crew members, Pentagon officials said. The accident took place about nine miles south of the Iraqi border.(Full story)

President Bush said U.S. and allied forces are "making progress" Friday, during a meeting with Congressional leaders.

Other developments
• Tens of thousands of protesters in Cairo, Egypt, pelted police with rocks and vowed to burn down the U.S. Embassy and kick out the ambassador. Riot police used batons and water cannon to disperse the crowds. Protesters also hit the street in Egypt, Jordan, Yemen and Lebanon, venting their rage against the United States and its allies. (Full story)

• Coalition forces, led by Australia, captured an Iraqi tug boat that apparently was preparing to lay sea mines in the Persian Gulf, the top Australian military official in the U.S.-led coalition. Brig. Maurie McNarn also said that Australian soldiers have been involved with several firefights with Iraqis. (Full story)

• Iraqi authorities Friday expelled CNN's four journalists from Baghdad effective immediately, said CNN Chief News Executive Eason Jordan. The CNN team plans to leave for the Jordanian border at the first opportunity, Jordan said.

• U.S. military planners are devising strategies in case the Iraqi military triggers a flood of the Tigris River, the Pentagon said Friday. If the Iraqi military were to release water into the Tigris from upstream reservoirs, extensive flooding could occur between Baghdad and Kut, displacing thousands of Iraqis. (Full story)

• Officials believe Saddam Hussein and one or more of his sons were in the Baghdad residential bunker compound attacked by coalition forces early Thursday, a senior U.S. intelligence official told CNN. Sources told National Security Correspondent David Ensor it's not known whether Saddam was injured or killed in the massive attack. Iraq insists Saddam is safe. (Full story)

• Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday that the United States sees no need for Turkish troops to enter Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Turkey is holding up U.S. overflight rights for the war in Iraq until the Bush administration agrees to its request to send troops into northern Iraq. Powell said he will be speaking with Turkish leaders soon in hopes of clearing up the disagreement. (Full story)

CNN correspondents Walter Rodgers, Rym Brahimi, Ryan Chilcote, Christiane Amanpour, Diana Muriel David Ensor, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, John King, Nic Robertson, Barbara Starr, Chris Plante, Jason Bellini and Lisa Rose Weaver, and CNN Radio Correspondent John Bisney contributed to this report.

EDITOR'S NOTE: CNN's policy is to not report information that puts operational security at risk.

Sempers,

Roger

mrbsox
03-21-03, 01:51 PM
... but it just seemed to FIT :D

Get some :marine: