wrbones
03-30-03, 05:10 PM
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/24/iraq/main541815.shtml
(CBS) A Marine UH-1 Huey helicopter crashed at a forward supply and refueling point in southern Iraq, killing three people aboard, the U.S. military said.
U.S. Central Command confirmed that all four people aboard the helicopter were Marines. Three were killed and one was injured.
The cause of the 8:30 p.m. crash was unclear. The helicopter had been taking off on a support mission.
This raises to 22 the number of U.S. and British forces killed in helicopter crashes since the war began, reports CBS News Correspondent Bob Fuss.
U.S. officials, meanwhile, responded to growing questions about the coalition's strategy in light of the strong resistance met by U.S. and British forces.
Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said the campaign was on track.
“We're in fact on plan. And where we stand today is not, in my view, only acceptable, but truly remarkable,” he said at the U.S. Central Command headquarters in Qatar Sunday.
Franks sidestepped questions about whether the war would last into the summer.
“One never knows how long a war will take,” he said.
In other major developments:
U.S. Marines discovered chemical suits, masks and nerve gas antidote during a raid Saturday on buildings used by the Iraqi army in the southern city of Nasiriyah, U.S. Central Command said Sunday. And south of Basra, British troops found a stash of Iraqi training equipment for nuclear, biological and chemical warfare — including a Geiger counter, nerve gas simulators, gas masks and protective suits, according to British press reports.
The security situation in Iraq remains too dangerous for aid agencies to move beyond the Gulf port city of Umm Qasr and fan out deeper into the country, aid coordinators said Sunday.
A man in civilian clothes drove a pickup truck into a group of U.S. soldiers standing outside a store at the Kuwaiti desert base of Camp Udairi on Sunday, wounding 15 of them, a U.S. military official said.
The Pentagon says at least 36 U.S. soldiers have been killed and 16 are missing. Twenty-three Britons have also been reported killed. Iraq says it has captured seven prisoners of war. Roughly 425 Iraqi civilians have been killed and more than 4,000 wounded, by Iraq’s tally. U.S. officials say they are holding 4,000 Iraqi prisoners of war.
Anti-war protests continued worldwide. About 30,000 Germans held hands in a 31-mile-long chain. More than 10,000 people protested in Paris. Thousands rallied against the war in Boston, New York and other cities. In Harrisburg, Pa., thousands turned out to support U.S. troops and speak out against anti-war groups.
Like Franks, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday he did not know when the war might be over.
"We've never had a timetable. We've always said it could days, weeks or months and we don't know. And I don't think you need a timetable," Rumsfeld said in a broadcast interview.
The fiercest fighting and gravest danger lie ahead for U.S. troops as they advance toward Baghdad, and the Pentagon's plan will result in victory, the defense secretary said.
Appearing Sunday on CBS News Face The Nation, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed that sentiment.
"War is a chaotic event. It is not a science," Myers said. "There is a lot of art to this. I think we are seeing the art done beautifully by Gen. (Tommy) Franks and his commanders, and ... we are not going to be on a timeline. There is not a timeline that defines this war. We are going to let events shape our action."
Rumsfeld denied published reports that he had rejected requests from U.S. war planners for additional troops.
"The planners are in the Central Command. They come up with their proposals and I think you'll find that if you ask anyone who's been involved in the process from the central command that every single thing they've requested has in fact happened, Rumsfeld said in a separate broadcast interview.
The plan developed by Franks is "a good one and it's working. I think the people who are talking about it really are people who haven't seen it," the defense secretary said.
He also took on critics of the war strategy who contend the United States underestimated Iraqi resistance.
"It's been going on nine days. It's a little early for post-mortems," Rumsfeld said.
Thousands of U.S. Marines pushed north toward Baghdad in "seek and destroy" missions Sunday, trying to open the route to the Iraqi capital and stop days of attacks along a stretch that has become known as “Ambush Alley.”
In Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, the 101st Airborne division encircled the city Sunday, severing inroads and preparing to go door to door to root out paramilitary supporters who have waged stiff resistance for days.
``This is our type of fight,'' said Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin Hill. ``This is probably the most dangerous part of combat and that's urban. Sometimes you don't find out who the enemy is until they're shooting at you.''
There were other pockets of Iraqi resistance in Sanawah, Karbala and Diwaniyah in southern-central Iraq. Aircraft flying in these areas continue to take fire from machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft artillery.
In action near the southern city of Basra, an Iraqi general was captured — the highest-ranking Iraqi prisoner of war so far — and Royal Marine Commandos killed a colonel in the elite Republican Guard. Basra, Iraq's main seaport, has been encircled by British troops for days.
In the south, the port of Umm Qasr reopened a few days ago and humanitarian aid flights have started to arrive, a U.S. Marine intelligence analyst said. The British secured the key port city after days of street fighting.
Despite complications from Saddam's arming of paramilitary groups, his preparations for street warfare in Baghdad and in other cities and Iraqi soldiers' fake surrenders, Pentagon defense leaders remained confident about the pace of the invasion. They said the deployment of 100,000 additional forces to Iraq was planned months ago.
The military has moved to shore up protections at U.S. checkpoints and other sites after a suicide bomber posing as a taxi driver asked American troops for help and then blew up his vehicle Saturday, killing himself and four soldiers.
Iraq's vice president warned suicide attacks would become routine.
©MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(CBS) A Marine UH-1 Huey helicopter crashed at a forward supply and refueling point in southern Iraq, killing three people aboard, the U.S. military said.
U.S. Central Command confirmed that all four people aboard the helicopter were Marines. Three were killed and one was injured.
The cause of the 8:30 p.m. crash was unclear. The helicopter had been taking off on a support mission.
This raises to 22 the number of U.S. and British forces killed in helicopter crashes since the war began, reports CBS News Correspondent Bob Fuss.
U.S. officials, meanwhile, responded to growing questions about the coalition's strategy in light of the strong resistance met by U.S. and British forces.
Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said the campaign was on track.
“We're in fact on plan. And where we stand today is not, in my view, only acceptable, but truly remarkable,” he said at the U.S. Central Command headquarters in Qatar Sunday.
Franks sidestepped questions about whether the war would last into the summer.
“One never knows how long a war will take,” he said.
In other major developments:
U.S. Marines discovered chemical suits, masks and nerve gas antidote during a raid Saturday on buildings used by the Iraqi army in the southern city of Nasiriyah, U.S. Central Command said Sunday. And south of Basra, British troops found a stash of Iraqi training equipment for nuclear, biological and chemical warfare — including a Geiger counter, nerve gas simulators, gas masks and protective suits, according to British press reports.
The security situation in Iraq remains too dangerous for aid agencies to move beyond the Gulf port city of Umm Qasr and fan out deeper into the country, aid coordinators said Sunday.
A man in civilian clothes drove a pickup truck into a group of U.S. soldiers standing outside a store at the Kuwaiti desert base of Camp Udairi on Sunday, wounding 15 of them, a U.S. military official said.
The Pentagon says at least 36 U.S. soldiers have been killed and 16 are missing. Twenty-three Britons have also been reported killed. Iraq says it has captured seven prisoners of war. Roughly 425 Iraqi civilians have been killed and more than 4,000 wounded, by Iraq’s tally. U.S. officials say they are holding 4,000 Iraqi prisoners of war.
Anti-war protests continued worldwide. About 30,000 Germans held hands in a 31-mile-long chain. More than 10,000 people protested in Paris. Thousands rallied against the war in Boston, New York and other cities. In Harrisburg, Pa., thousands turned out to support U.S. troops and speak out against anti-war groups.
Like Franks, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday he did not know when the war might be over.
"We've never had a timetable. We've always said it could days, weeks or months and we don't know. And I don't think you need a timetable," Rumsfeld said in a broadcast interview.
The fiercest fighting and gravest danger lie ahead for U.S. troops as they advance toward Baghdad, and the Pentagon's plan will result in victory, the defense secretary said.
Appearing Sunday on CBS News Face The Nation, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed that sentiment.
"War is a chaotic event. It is not a science," Myers said. "There is a lot of art to this. I think we are seeing the art done beautifully by Gen. (Tommy) Franks and his commanders, and ... we are not going to be on a timeline. There is not a timeline that defines this war. We are going to let events shape our action."
Rumsfeld denied published reports that he had rejected requests from U.S. war planners for additional troops.
"The planners are in the Central Command. They come up with their proposals and I think you'll find that if you ask anyone who's been involved in the process from the central command that every single thing they've requested has in fact happened, Rumsfeld said in a separate broadcast interview.
The plan developed by Franks is "a good one and it's working. I think the people who are talking about it really are people who haven't seen it," the defense secretary said.
He also took on critics of the war strategy who contend the United States underestimated Iraqi resistance.
"It's been going on nine days. It's a little early for post-mortems," Rumsfeld said.
Thousands of U.S. Marines pushed north toward Baghdad in "seek and destroy" missions Sunday, trying to open the route to the Iraqi capital and stop days of attacks along a stretch that has become known as “Ambush Alley.”
In Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, the 101st Airborne division encircled the city Sunday, severing inroads and preparing to go door to door to root out paramilitary supporters who have waged stiff resistance for days.
``This is our type of fight,'' said Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin Hill. ``This is probably the most dangerous part of combat and that's urban. Sometimes you don't find out who the enemy is until they're shooting at you.''
There were other pockets of Iraqi resistance in Sanawah, Karbala and Diwaniyah in southern-central Iraq. Aircraft flying in these areas continue to take fire from machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft artillery.
In action near the southern city of Basra, an Iraqi general was captured — the highest-ranking Iraqi prisoner of war so far — and Royal Marine Commandos killed a colonel in the elite Republican Guard. Basra, Iraq's main seaport, has been encircled by British troops for days.
In the south, the port of Umm Qasr reopened a few days ago and humanitarian aid flights have started to arrive, a U.S. Marine intelligence analyst said. The British secured the key port city after days of street fighting.
Despite complications from Saddam's arming of paramilitary groups, his preparations for street warfare in Baghdad and in other cities and Iraqi soldiers' fake surrenders, Pentagon defense leaders remained confident about the pace of the invasion. They said the deployment of 100,000 additional forces to Iraq was planned months ago.
The military has moved to shore up protections at U.S. checkpoints and other sites after a suicide bomber posing as a taxi driver asked American troops for help and then blew up his vehicle Saturday, killing himself and four soldiers.
Iraq's vice president warned suicide attacks would become routine.
©MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.