wrbones
03-23-03, 02:00 PM
Twelve U.S. Troops Missing in Battle; New Explosions in Baghdad
Sunday, March 23, 2003
CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar — Twelve U.S. troops were reported missing during heavy fighting with Iraqi forces in Nasiriyah, an American general said during a Central Command press briefing Sunday.
Meanwhile, a Reuters witness reported hearing two explosions in Baghdad shortly after 10 p.m. local time (2 p.m. EST).
Lt. John Abizaid said Marines were killed and wounded in Nasiriyah, the "sharpest engagement" yet of the war so far.
Abizaid said the service members were reported missing as a result of an ambush of an Army supply convoy at Nasiriyah, a major crossing point over the Euphrates River northwest of Basra.
"In spite of our losses, the enemy remains in great danger and our victory is certain," Abizaid told reporters.
Another general at the news conference characterized Sunday as "a tough day."
The latest explosions in Baghdad seemed to have been on the outskirts of the capital city, and anti-aircraft fire went off overhead, the Reuters correspondent said.
Earlier Sunday, U.S. forces surged to within 100 miles of Baghdad, while Arab satellite television showed what it said were Americans dead in an Iraqi morgue and others it said were U.S. troops taken prisoner.
Fox News' Rick Leventhal reported that the 3rd Infantry Division was in the middle of a "pretty serious firefight."
Sunday was the fourth full day of the war in Iraq and could well turn out to be the bloodiest for U.S. troops to date.
In a press conference, President Bush said he and first lady Laura Bush had prayed for the American soldiers who had died in battle and their families.
He said many Iraqi troops "welcomed" American forces and were "surrendering gleefully."
"We're on course," the president said of the war. "We're making good progress."
Explosions also shook the Iraqi capital about 5:30 p.m. local time (9:30 a.m. EST) and again after 7 p.m. (11 a.m. EST). Air raid sirens wailed and anti-aircraft were reportedly seen in the sky.
U.S. and British Air Force officers said coalition warplanes mounting the attacks were in fact coming under heavy fire.
"At the moment we've had no contact with the Iraqi air force but we are receiving significant amounts of ground-to-air fire, both missiles and anti-aircraft," Royal Air Force spokesman Group Captain Jon Fynes said at a briefing in Kuwait.
The 3rd Infantry division, 2nd Brigade -- also known as the Spartans -- covered about 230 miles in 40 hours to take up fighting positions ahead of all U.S. forces, about 100 miles from Baghdad.
"It's going more rapidly than I expected. We're making very, very rapid progress," said U.S. Air Force Major-General Daniel Leaf.
On NBC's Meet the Press Sunday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld characterized the progress of the five-day-old war as excellent, noting that, "there are periodic instances when the resistance is quite stiff. ... The fact that there is a firefight, someone ought not to be surprised."
<B>Meanwhile, State Department officials confirmed to Fox News that Russian technicians are currently in Baghdad helping Iraqis with jamming equipment -- technology that throws aircraft and missiles off course -- sold by Russian arms dealers. The United States has vigorously sought Russian government assistance to stop the sales but has met with "ridiculous responses," according to the officials.</B>
Possible Prisoners of War
The Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera aired footage from Iraqi television Sunday of interviews with what the station identified as captured American prisoners, and also showed bodies in uniform in an Iraqi morgue that it said were Americans.
Rumsfeld told CBS that if they are indeed coalition soldiers, "those pictures are a violation of the Geneva Convention."
There was no confirmation that the prisoners were U.S. troops. Two of the prisoners identified themselves as belonging to a maintenance unit.
Military officials who viewed the video with Fox News believe that what they saw were U.S. personnel consistent with the region in which they were reportedly taken. They described the footage as "very disturbing."
In the broadcast, a number of bodies could be seen lying on the ground, apparently dead after being shot through the head execution-style.
In the Iraqi television footage at least five prisoners, including one woman, were interviewed separately. Two were bandaged; one of the wounded was lying on the floor. They spoke American-accented English.
The Al-Jazeera reporter at the Pentagon said that the station stopped airing the TV footage for one hour, noon to 1 p.m. EST, at the Defense Department's request. There was no word on what would happen when the hour was over but notification of the soldiers' families was mentioned.
Iraqi Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed told a news conference on Sunday that it would respect the Geneva Convention and wouldn't hurt prisoners of war, Reuters news service reported.
Iraq also said that 25 U.S. soldiers had been killed in fighting in the southern city of Nasiriyah. A military communique said the fighting began yesterday when U.S. forces launched an attack on the city from three directions. There had been reports Sunday of heavy fighting in the area, as well as casualties.
The communique did not give more details on the fighting. But Ahmed told reporters that Iraqi forces had repelled an allied attack on Nasiriyah from more than one direction and destroyed several tanks and armored personnel carriers in the fighting across the southern part of the country.
Sunday, March 23, 2003
CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar — Twelve U.S. troops were reported missing during heavy fighting with Iraqi forces in Nasiriyah, an American general said during a Central Command press briefing Sunday.
Meanwhile, a Reuters witness reported hearing two explosions in Baghdad shortly after 10 p.m. local time (2 p.m. EST).
Lt. John Abizaid said Marines were killed and wounded in Nasiriyah, the "sharpest engagement" yet of the war so far.
Abizaid said the service members were reported missing as a result of an ambush of an Army supply convoy at Nasiriyah, a major crossing point over the Euphrates River northwest of Basra.
"In spite of our losses, the enemy remains in great danger and our victory is certain," Abizaid told reporters.
Another general at the news conference characterized Sunday as "a tough day."
The latest explosions in Baghdad seemed to have been on the outskirts of the capital city, and anti-aircraft fire went off overhead, the Reuters correspondent said.
Earlier Sunday, U.S. forces surged to within 100 miles of Baghdad, while Arab satellite television showed what it said were Americans dead in an Iraqi morgue and others it said were U.S. troops taken prisoner.
Fox News' Rick Leventhal reported that the 3rd Infantry Division was in the middle of a "pretty serious firefight."
Sunday was the fourth full day of the war in Iraq and could well turn out to be the bloodiest for U.S. troops to date.
In a press conference, President Bush said he and first lady Laura Bush had prayed for the American soldiers who had died in battle and their families.
He said many Iraqi troops "welcomed" American forces and were "surrendering gleefully."
"We're on course," the president said of the war. "We're making good progress."
Explosions also shook the Iraqi capital about 5:30 p.m. local time (9:30 a.m. EST) and again after 7 p.m. (11 a.m. EST). Air raid sirens wailed and anti-aircraft were reportedly seen in the sky.
U.S. and British Air Force officers said coalition warplanes mounting the attacks were in fact coming under heavy fire.
"At the moment we've had no contact with the Iraqi air force but we are receiving significant amounts of ground-to-air fire, both missiles and anti-aircraft," Royal Air Force spokesman Group Captain Jon Fynes said at a briefing in Kuwait.
The 3rd Infantry division, 2nd Brigade -- also known as the Spartans -- covered about 230 miles in 40 hours to take up fighting positions ahead of all U.S. forces, about 100 miles from Baghdad.
"It's going more rapidly than I expected. We're making very, very rapid progress," said U.S. Air Force Major-General Daniel Leaf.
On NBC's Meet the Press Sunday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld characterized the progress of the five-day-old war as excellent, noting that, "there are periodic instances when the resistance is quite stiff. ... The fact that there is a firefight, someone ought not to be surprised."
<B>Meanwhile, State Department officials confirmed to Fox News that Russian technicians are currently in Baghdad helping Iraqis with jamming equipment -- technology that throws aircraft and missiles off course -- sold by Russian arms dealers. The United States has vigorously sought Russian government assistance to stop the sales but has met with "ridiculous responses," according to the officials.</B>
Possible Prisoners of War
The Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera aired footage from Iraqi television Sunday of interviews with what the station identified as captured American prisoners, and also showed bodies in uniform in an Iraqi morgue that it said were Americans.
Rumsfeld told CBS that if they are indeed coalition soldiers, "those pictures are a violation of the Geneva Convention."
There was no confirmation that the prisoners were U.S. troops. Two of the prisoners identified themselves as belonging to a maintenance unit.
Military officials who viewed the video with Fox News believe that what they saw were U.S. personnel consistent with the region in which they were reportedly taken. They described the footage as "very disturbing."
In the broadcast, a number of bodies could be seen lying on the ground, apparently dead after being shot through the head execution-style.
In the Iraqi television footage at least five prisoners, including one woman, were interviewed separately. Two were bandaged; one of the wounded was lying on the floor. They spoke American-accented English.
The Al-Jazeera reporter at the Pentagon said that the station stopped airing the TV footage for one hour, noon to 1 p.m. EST, at the Defense Department's request. There was no word on what would happen when the hour was over but notification of the soldiers' families was mentioned.
Iraqi Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed told a news conference on Sunday that it would respect the Geneva Convention and wouldn't hurt prisoners of war, Reuters news service reported.
Iraq also said that 25 U.S. soldiers had been killed in fighting in the southern city of Nasiriyah. A military communique said the fighting began yesterday when U.S. forces launched an attack on the city from three directions. There had been reports Sunday of heavy fighting in the area, as well as casualties.
The communique did not give more details on the fighting. But Ahmed told reporters that Iraqi forces had repelled an allied attack on Nasiriyah from more than one direction and destroyed several tanks and armored personnel carriers in the fighting across the southern part of the country.