American soldier held in attack on Army camp.

[wrbones]

(CBS) An American soldier is among three suspects being held in connection with a grenade and small-arms attack that injured at least 16 U.S. soldiers at Camp Pennsylvania in northern Kuwait, reports CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassman, who is on the scene with the Army's 101st Airborne Division.

Eleven of the injured were hurt so seriously they had to be choppered out of the camp.

Strassmann said three grenades were rolled into three officers' tents at the camp. When officers ran from the tents, they were hit by small arms fire.

Three suspects were being held for questioning: two Kuwaitis who served as translators and an American soldier described as an engineering sergeant.

The American was found injured and hiding in a bunker. Asked if he was hurt throwing a grenade, Strassman reports the soldier replied, "Yes."

Separately, Strassmann reported, an Iraqi rocket fired at U.S. forces in Kuwait was destroyed by Patriot missiles launched from nearby Camp New Jersey.

The attacks on U.S. troops came as the American assault on Iraq gained steam.
American and British forces besieged the southern city of Basra and pounded Baghdad with impunity.

Coalition ground forces crossed the Euphrates River and were within 150 miles of the capital. They’re still meeting only light resistance, with many Iraqi troops surrendering or simply leaving the battlefield.

But six divisions of the Republican Guard, Saddam's best and most loyal soldiers, were still in the way.

In other major developments:


Coalition B-52's were leaving Fairford, England, Saturday night for unannounced targets.


An Australian journalist was killed by car bomb in northern Iraq, and there are reports of five other journalists killed.


Six Britons and a U.S. Navy officer died Saturday when two Royal Navy helicopters collided over the Persian Gulf. On Friday, two U.S. Marines were killed in combat and a helicopter crash left eight British and four U.S. Marines dead.


U.S. officials said just seven Iraqi oil wells have been set ablaze.


U.S. military officials gave up on using Turkish bases to move heavy armored forces into northern Iraq, and redirected ships loaded with the weaponry to the Persian Gulf.


Tens of thousands of anti-war demonstrators, spanning 30 blocks, marched down Broadway in New York City, one of dozens of protests against the intensified war on Iraq.


The latest CBS News/New York Times poll shows Americans are optimistic about the progress of the war in Iraq, but they believe President Bush hasn't been clear about all the possible consequences of military action.

As coalition forces press deeper into Iraq, they're moving closer to encounters with Iraq's toughest defenders, the elite Republican Guards.

CBS News Military Analyst Gen. Joe Ralston says the Republican Guards are better trained, better equipped and more loyal than the regular Iraqi army, which has put up little resistance to coalition forces so far.

Ralston says they’re "a capable force but no match for the U.S., though we could wind up with significant casualties."

Brig. Gen. Stanley McChrystal of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said U.S. forces launched 500 cruise missiles against Iraq over the past day, along with several hundred precision bombs.

He said ground forces were moving with "impressive speed" but there is concern that battles could lie ahead. McChrystal also said no scud missiles have been fired by Iraq, and that no scuds or weapons of mass destruction have been found inside the country.

Elsewhere, Marine engineers sped across the Western desert carrying boats and bridges to span rivers en route to the capital. The Army's 3rd Infantry Division defeated the Iraqi 11th Division to capture the city of Al-Nasiriya as well as two bridges that cross the Euphrates, opening the road to Baghdad.

CBS News Correspondent Jim Axelrod reports the 3rd Infantry's 1st Brigade took several prisoners, then came under fire. They fought back, and ended up with more captives.

More units were waiting in Kuwait. Hundreds of tanks, armored personnel carriers, Humvees and trucks were lined up in parallel columns waiting in single-file to cross the Iraqi-Kuwait border.

A Central Command spokesman said some coalition forces have moved the same distance as the longest maneuver of the 1991 Gulf war in one quarter of the time.

The spokesman, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, said coalition forces had seized three southern oil facilities, at al Faw, Mina' al Bakr and Khawr al Amaya. They found weapons, ammunition and explosives there.

In his first appearance of the war, the invasion commander said the invasion was succeeding in throwing Saddam Hussein's government into disarray.

"There is a certain confusion that is going on within the regime. I believe the command and control is not exactly as advertised on Iraqi television," Gen. Tommy Franks said.

Franks said 1,000 to 2,000 Iraqi prisoners were in custody, and thousands of others had deserted.

In Baghdad, intermittent explosions were heard throughout the day in the first daylight air strikes of the war. At least 20 columns of dark smoke rose from points around Baghdad. Al-Jazeera television reported that the plumes were coming from fires that Iraqis had set to oil containers around the city to obscure targets.

Iraqi officials said more than 200 people have been injured in the bombing so far. One death has been confirmed.

At Al Yarmouk Hospital, one of the critically injured was Amal Hassan Kamel. She was in the hospital with her 8-year old son Wa'ad Hashim, who was injured in both legs by shrapnel.

"The Americans have no conscience," Kamel said. "What have our children done to deserve this?"

Meanwhile, the situation in northern Iraq grew more complicated. It was unclear whether Turkey had moved troops into the area.

A Turkish military official said they had, but the Turkish general staff denied the reports.

CBS News Correspondent Allen Pizzey reports fighting has erupted between Kurdish fighters and Ansar Al Islam — the group the Bush administration alleges in linked to al Qaeda. Kurdish officials said American advisers were traveling with their forces. About six U.S. cruise missiles or bombs hit an Ansar installation.

One of the journalists who was killed, an Australian, died in a car bomb blamed on Ansar. Women and children were also killed in the blast.

The five other journalists died in southern Iraq. Two Americans and one Frenchman were killed headed to al-Nasariya in southern Iraq. Two Britons were killed after crossing the Iraq-Kuwait border.

The Pentagon identified two Marines killed in combat Friday as 2nd Lt. Therrel S. Childers, 30, of Harrison County, Miss.; and Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, 22, of Los Angeles.


©MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.




My Note: It would appear that the fears of some have been realized. Arab/American soldiers who turn against their friends.

[wrbones]

CAMP PENNSYLVANIA, Kuwait (CNN) -- Intruders lobbed a hand grenade and fired small arms into a command tent of the U.S. Army's front-line 101st Airborne Division early Sunday, wounding 13 people, six seriously, military spokesmen said.

The incident targeting top officers gathered in the Tactical Operations Center of the legendary division's 1st Brigade was first reported by Time magazine correspondent Jim Lacey, who is accompanying the unit.

The camp spokesman said six of the wounded soldiers were evacuated to a field hospital at Camp Arifjan, also in the northern Kuwaiti desert.

Lacey, who was in a tent about 20 yards from the blast, helped move two of the wounded to an ambulance. "The carnage inside those tents was pretty severe," he said.

A major told Lacey he saw a grenade roll by him before the explosion.

Lacey said two people "ran off into the darkness" after the explosion. Two people were being held by the military but it was unclear whether they were suspects, he said.

A suspicious bag made of camouflage material was being checked by military investigators.

Lacey said the bag did not "look like any piece of military equipment" and said it had been moved to one side and people were being told to stay away from it.

"I don't know if they think it's a bomb, or they're just not taking any chances with it," Lacey said.

Lacey said a "full company" of soldiers was guarding the perimeter of the camp before the blast, but there had been traffic in and out, including "trucks, buses, and contractors. It's not a foolproof system."

About 2,100 soldiers are encamped at the post. Lacey said immediately after the blasts soldiers were assembled and deployed around the compound.

[wrbones]

Military officials said 13 soldiers were injured, two critically, during the early Sunday morning attack at Camp Pennsylvania of the 101st division. Military officials have detained one member of the 101st division as a suspect in the attack, and are searching for another suspect.

Time reporter Jim Lacey told ABCNEWS that he talked to an eyewitness who said that grenades were rolled into tents that housed the leaders of the brigadier unit. A culprit, the witness told Lacey, shot the first two people who exited the tent.

The injured soldiers were rushed to a field hospital but there is no word on their condition.

Meanwhile, ABCNEWS' Don Dahler reported seeing a large explosion in the sky near Camp New York, which is about 5 kilometers from Camp Pennsylvania in northern Kuwait. Military officials said the blast was a U.S. Patriot missile that was encountering and destroying an enemy missile.

Camp Pennsylvania was named to honor of the victims of plane that crashed in Pennsylvania during the Sept. 11 attacks. The camp, located approximately 20-30 miles south of the Iraqi border, is surrounded by large berms and guarded by armed soldiers, with others in observation posts watching the desert. The camp is also home to Patriot missile batteries.

Progress, Yet Danger

The attack came as military officials reported that U.S.-led coalition ground troops were making swift progress, advancing halfway to Baghdad from the border with Kuwait. Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, vice director for operations at the Pentagon, said that troops have crossed the Euphrates River and advanced 150 miles north of the border with Kuwait.

While trumpeting the progress of the troops, Pentagon officials warned that they still face many dangers ahead.

"We've still got significant Iraqi forces in front of us. They may fight, they may not," Maj. Gen. McMcChrystal said at a Pentagon briefing today. "If they fight, there could be a tough battle to be taken. The operation's not over. There's a long way to go, and much of the "Iraqi armed forces — highlighted by six Republican Guard divisions, and special Republican Guard divisions — may still fight. So, we must remain prepared for potentially tough fights as we move forward."

President Bush also cautioned that the coalition troops may encounter more resistance they closer they get to Baghdad.

"A campaign on harsh terrain in a vast country could be longer and more difficult than some have predicted," Bush said in his weekly national radio address.

White House officials confirmed that the United States is engaged in surrender talks with a few top Iraqi officials, and the subject came up for discussion Bush's meeting with his war council at Camp David. Also under discussion are efforts with top Iraqi officials to avoid a massive battle for Baghdad.

There were no details on the progress of the talks, but Maj. General McChrystal said that so far 1,000-2,000 Iraqi soldiers have surrendered under enemy prisoner of war status and many more have been "melting away" from battlefields.


Baghdad Braces

Meanwhile, residents in Baghdad braced for another air assault as air raid sirens and explosions have been heard on-and-off in Iraq capital throughout the day, evening and early Sunday morning, Baghdad time.

Military sources said over a 24-hour period between Friday and Saturday, the Navy flew about 150 sorties and launched more than 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles. ABCNEWS' John McWethy added that several coalition targets could lie outside the Iraqi capital.

"Baghdad is only one of many, many areas that will be hit," McWethy said.

CENTCOM commander Gen. Tommy Franks told reporters that coalition forces in Iraq were using "shock, surprise and flexibility" to conduct Operation Iraqi Freedom "on our own terms" and keep Iraq troops off-guard and overwhelmed






Oil Fires: Screen or Display?

Early Saturday morning in Baghdad, ABCNEWS' Richard Engel said he was heard fresh rounds of explosions on the outskirts of the city as thick plumes of smoke billowed from what appeared to be fires deliberately set at Baghdad's perimeter. A wall of smoke, Engel said, rose from an estimated 20 fires had almost surrounded the city.

U.S. military forces believe the fires were set to trenches around Baghdad filled with oil and Engel said they appeared to have been an effort to hamper daylight airstrikes by U.S.-led forces. But it was not clear if it was an effective strategy.

ABCNEWS' McWethy said the smoke could provide a cover for Iraqi ground movement against unmanned U.S. surveillance planes. The smoke could also obscure the ability to use laser-guided bombs, said McWethy, although coalition forces have been using mostly satellite-guided bombs on Baghdad.

In a Pentagon briefing today Assistant Secretary of Defense Victoria Clarke said she believed the Iraqi regime may have lit the fires to try and present "dramatic images of Baghdad."

Amid reports of a number of Iraqi oil wells being set on fire, Gen. Vince Brooks of CENTCOM, briefing reporters in Qatar with Franks, said only nine of the 500 oil wells in the southern area of Rumaila had been set on fire.

Baghdad has consistently denied that it would set fire to Iraqi oil wells.

U.S. Ships Redirected, Advances in Other Parts

Franks' CENTCOM briefing was the first since start of the war in Iraq. Amid conflicting reports about the status of the strategic southern Iraqi city of Basra, Franks said the city had been secured although the coalition military intention was to not to "create military confrontations in the city."

Meanwhile, the U.S. military today gave up on Turkey allowing coalition ground forces to launch an offensive into northern Iraq from its territory.



A U.S. soldier is being questioned in connection with an attack on the the U.S. 101st Airborne Division in Kuwait, which injured 13.
The Pentagon reports that U.S.-led forces have progressed 150 miles into Iraq, halfway to Baghdad.

Coalition forces defeat Iraqi troops outside Basra, taking prisoners and isolating the country's second-largest city.

President Bush meets with his war council and one of the topics was ongoing talks with Iraqi officials about avoiding a battle for Baghdad.

One Australian journalist is killed and 23 others are wounded in a car bomb attack in Northern Iraq.

Iraqi state television shows Saddam Hussein meeting with his younger son Qusai and Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz.






About 30 U.S. ships were being redirected from their positions in the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal into the Red Sea and around to the Persian Gulf, where several divisions on board will join U.S. and British troops in southern Iraq pushing towards the north, ABCNEWS' McWethy reported.

Washington had hoped to use Turkey as a staging area for moving troops across the border and into northern Iraq.

Meanwhile, in northern Iraq, more than 100 missiles struck targets near the town of Halabja, said ABCNEWS' Charles Glass, reporting from the Kurdish-controlled city of Sulaymaniyah.

The missiles hit targets of the militant Islamic group Ansar al-Islam, which Washington has linked with al Qaeda. Kurdish sources estimate that the attack had caused more than 100 Ansar casualties.

U.S. and British officials today said U.S. Marines had taken full control of the strategic port of Umm Qasr, about 30 miles from Basra after coalition troops encountered Iraqi resistance for the complete control of the port of Umm Qasr.

Civilian and Military Casualties

In the third day of war, casualties on both sides were mounting.

Battles are occurring near several Iraqi cities. (Maps.com/ABCNEWS.com)

After a massive air attack on Baghdad Friday night, Iraqi Health Minister Umeed Midhat Mubarak today said three people were killed and about 215 wounded in overnight strikes, which he said, also hit civilian households.

International Red Cross workers in Baghdad said there were at least 100 people wounded in a Baghdad hospital, but they could not confirm the casualty figures given by Iraqi officials.

Earlier today, two British helicopters collided over international waters in the Persian Gulf, killing seven crewmembers on board, British military officials said. The Department of Defense identified an American officer killed in the collision as Navy Lt. Thomas Mullen Adams, 27, of La Mesa, Calif.

Journalists have also become victims in this war. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said that Paul Moran, a freelance cameraman engaged by them, was killed when a bomb exploded in a car that had pulled alongside his vehicle as it was travelling outside the village of Khurmal in northern Iraq. Moran, 39, originally of Adelaide in Australia, is survived by his wife and baby daughter.

And in southern Iraq today, three British journalists were missing after a four-member British crew came under fire near Basra. The four journalists were not embedded with the U.S. military.

"The situation in Iraq is fluid, it is quite dangerous, there are combat operations under way in a number of areas," Assistant Secretary of Defense Victoria Clarke warned today. "We ask all news organizations to exercise restraint." Hours before his briefing, four U.S. soldiers were killed in action in Iraq, according to a reporter from Britain's Sky TV who was travelling with them. The soldiers reportedly died when their Humvee vehicle was hit with a rocket propelled grenade, but Pentagon officials told ABCNEWS they could not confirm the incident happened.

ABCNEWS' Kevin McKiernan in Northern Iraq, Richard Engel in Baghdad, Ted Koppel, Bob Woodruff and Mike Cerre traveling with the U.S. military, George Stephanopoulos in Qatar, Mike von Fremd in Kuwait City, and John McWethy and Martha Raddatz in Washington contributed to this report.

[wrbones]

sorry. Correction, 'suspected' MUSLIM/American soldier