Sparrowhawk
04-09-03, 10:14 AM
BAGHDAD, Iraq — In a scene of triumph and jubilation televised live throughout the world, Iraqi citizens in the heart of Baghdad -- with help from a U.S. tank -- toppled a huge statue of Saddam Hussein and began dancing on it Wednesday.
Iraqi ride, drag Saddams head throughout streets of Baghdad
http://www.foxnews.com/images/87085/49_1_040903_statue.jpg
BAGHDAD, Iraq — In a scene of triumph and jubilation televised live throughout the world, Iraqi citizens in the heart of Baghdad -- with help from a U.S. tank -- toppled a huge statue of Saddam Hussein and began dancing on it Wednesday.
It was a historic moment: the people of Iraq conveying to the world that they are finally free of the brutal dictator who has maintained a vice grip on them for almost 30 years.
Earlier in the day, American tanks drove straight into the center of Baghdad, and Iraqi citizens poured into the street, some taking their shirts off and waving them around in celebration.
A group of men led journalists and cameramen toward the gigantic statue of Saddam in the middle of Firdos Square, and they began tearing pieces off of it -- a clear sign that they are finished with their brutal dictator.
Before the statue came down, some Iraqi men even climbed up it -- mounted on a huge pedestal -- and tied a rope around the neck of Saddam.
One man took a sledgehammer to the statue's base, then handed it off to others to take a swing, including young boys.
Before a U.S. tank pulled the statue down, U.S. troops -- with the aid of an Iraqi man -- put an American flag over the statue's face, then replaced it with an Iraqi flag. Both were taken down before the statue was toppled.
U.S. troops walked around the square, checking rooftops for snipers, but they met little to no resistance in that part of the city, east of the Tigris River.
"He's [Saddam] kept us on our toes but we're ready to be finished and go home," one Marine told Sky News.
One Iraqi in the square was asked by Sky News reporter David Chater what the coalition presence means for him.
"It's safety for me ... they don't hurt anyone," he said. "All the people here is happy -- I see happy."
Marine were greeted by people cheering and waving white flags.
Civilians gestured to the Americans with V-for-victory signs. "We were nearly mobbed by people trying to shake our hands," said Maj. Andy Milburn of the 7th Marines.
But in another part of the capital, U.S. Marines were in a fierce firefight with Saddam's Republican Guard. Fighting was particular intense around Baghdad University.
In one part of Baghdad, a Marine unit came under heavy fire near a bridge, and loud explosions went off.
"It's still a combat situation. We have to stay on our toes," said U.S. Central Command Capt. Frank Thorp.
But Central Command says Sddam -- if he's still alive -- has lost control of Baghdad.
"The capital city is now one of those areas that has been added to the list of where the regime does not have control," Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said at a briefing in Qatar. But "there is still work to be done."
Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday the world is seeing the collapse of Iraqi central authority in Baghdad. The White House said President Bush is pleased with the progress, but warned that danger may still lie ahead.
Saddam loyalists continue to hold out in the north and there' still a threat of weapons of mass destruction
Fox News' Rick Leventhal, embedded with Marines a few miles east of the jubilant Baghdad square scene, said U.S. troops are still wary.
"They're still on guard here because there's still a threat from snipers, from Baath Party loyalists, from fedayeen and from soldiers who have taken off their uniforms but have weapons and are still shooting at marines," Leventhal said.
"There's still some things we haven't taken care of yet," one Marine told Leventhal.
Looting Spree Continues
At police stations, universities, government ministries, the headquarters of the Iraq Olympic Committee, looters made off with computers, furniture, even military jeeps.
"Thank you, thank you, Mr. Bush," some shouted. An elderly man beat a portrait of Saddam with his shoe, while a younger man spat on it.
In the southern city of British-controlled Basra, looters are plundering government buildings, universities, even hospitals, which could delay relief efforts.
Fox News' Greg Kelly, embedded with the 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad, said other parts of Baghdad were strangely quiet and that the looting was at a minimum.
But U.S. officers said their forces faced continued disorganized resistance from small groups of holdout pro-Saddam fighters.
This resistance is being felt the strongest in the north, Jim Wilkinson, spokesman for U.S. war chief Tommy Franks, told Fox News on Wednesday.
"The regime has lost control in most places in Iraq" but there are "significant pockets" of resistance in the north, Wilkinson said. "We'll continue to go where those pockets are and destroy them."
"There are still many days of perhaps fierce fighting to follow," said Capt. Frank Thorp, a Central command spokesman. "We're seeing good signs here, but I would definitely stay on the cautious side and say we still have more to come."
U.S. commanders focused attention on targets to the north -- including Tikrit, still a stronghold of loyalist troops, and the northern city of Mosul.
Special operations forces and air strikes were "actively engaging" Iraqi forces in both cities.
Thorp said there were several areas of Iraq where coalition ground troops have yet to arrive, specifically mentioning Tikrit, where the Air Force, Navy, Marines as well as British aircraft were conducting strikes against military targets on Wednesday.
U.S. special forces and Kurdish fighters seized a strategic hilltop near Mosul.
Tikrit -- population 260,000 -- is defended by well-trained troops, and home to many of Saddam's most devoted followers.
Coalition airstrikes are targeting the Republican Guard's Adnan division in Tikrit to pave the way for ground forces.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Saddam is hiding in Tikrit. U.S. officials don't know if he escaped Monday's bombing of a site in Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood, where he and at least one of his sons reportedly were meeting.
Coalition forces still don't have in their control the site that U.S. forces decimated when a U.S. jet dropped four 2,000-pound bombs there.
A senior administration official told Fox News that the Bush administration still does not know if Saddam is alive. It could take two to three more days to complete DNA testing once a body is found.
The Web site of Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera said Saddam is holed up inside the Russian Embassy in Baghdad.
A Russian military intelligence official told Al-Jazeera that there is or have been efforts by Russia to negotiate a deal that would get Saddam out of the country in order to avoid bloodshed. The Al-Jazeera reporter, however, acknowledged the information may not be credible.
The Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow neither confirmed nor denied the report to Fox News. The Russian Embassy in Washington denies that Saddam is in its Baghdad Embassy and said 12 people are still there.
Coalition Takes More of Baghdad
U.S. forces steadily expanded their reach in more quiet parts of Baghdad, securing a military airport, capturing a prison, setting fire to a Republican Guard barracks. They are now operating in every quadrant of the city.
Maj. Gen. Buford Blount II, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, visited a command post set up at the New Presidential Palace, overlooking the Tigris River. Col. David Perkins, whose 2nd Brigade was at the command post, told Blount his forces can go anywhere in the city and meet only sporadic sniping.
The two commanders discussed what buildings could be used to house U.S. military units and a new government to replace Saddam's.
"That's the next mental jump, is for the Iraqis to realize that even if [Saddam] is still alive, he's not in charge anymore," Perkins said.
Iraqi state television went off the air Tuesday, and on Wednesday, foreign journalists said their "minders" -- government agents who monitor their reporting -- didn't turn up for work.
Also, there was no sign of Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, whose daily briefings have constituted the main public face of the regime during the war.
Fox News' David Lee Miller, James Rosen and Liza Porteus and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Iraqi ride, drag Saddams head throughout streets of Baghdad
http://www.foxnews.com/images/87085/49_1_040903_statue.jpg
BAGHDAD, Iraq — In a scene of triumph and jubilation televised live throughout the world, Iraqi citizens in the heart of Baghdad -- with help from a U.S. tank -- toppled a huge statue of Saddam Hussein and began dancing on it Wednesday.
It was a historic moment: the people of Iraq conveying to the world that they are finally free of the brutal dictator who has maintained a vice grip on them for almost 30 years.
Earlier in the day, American tanks drove straight into the center of Baghdad, and Iraqi citizens poured into the street, some taking their shirts off and waving them around in celebration.
A group of men led journalists and cameramen toward the gigantic statue of Saddam in the middle of Firdos Square, and they began tearing pieces off of it -- a clear sign that they are finished with their brutal dictator.
Before the statue came down, some Iraqi men even climbed up it -- mounted on a huge pedestal -- and tied a rope around the neck of Saddam.
One man took a sledgehammer to the statue's base, then handed it off to others to take a swing, including young boys.
Before a U.S. tank pulled the statue down, U.S. troops -- with the aid of an Iraqi man -- put an American flag over the statue's face, then replaced it with an Iraqi flag. Both were taken down before the statue was toppled.
U.S. troops walked around the square, checking rooftops for snipers, but they met little to no resistance in that part of the city, east of the Tigris River.
"He's [Saddam] kept us on our toes but we're ready to be finished and go home," one Marine told Sky News.
One Iraqi in the square was asked by Sky News reporter David Chater what the coalition presence means for him.
"It's safety for me ... they don't hurt anyone," he said. "All the people here is happy -- I see happy."
Marine were greeted by people cheering and waving white flags.
Civilians gestured to the Americans with V-for-victory signs. "We were nearly mobbed by people trying to shake our hands," said Maj. Andy Milburn of the 7th Marines.
But in another part of the capital, U.S. Marines were in a fierce firefight with Saddam's Republican Guard. Fighting was particular intense around Baghdad University.
In one part of Baghdad, a Marine unit came under heavy fire near a bridge, and loud explosions went off.
"It's still a combat situation. We have to stay on our toes," said U.S. Central Command Capt. Frank Thorp.
But Central Command says Sddam -- if he's still alive -- has lost control of Baghdad.
"The capital city is now one of those areas that has been added to the list of where the regime does not have control," Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said at a briefing in Qatar. But "there is still work to be done."
Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday the world is seeing the collapse of Iraqi central authority in Baghdad. The White House said President Bush is pleased with the progress, but warned that danger may still lie ahead.
Saddam loyalists continue to hold out in the north and there' still a threat of weapons of mass destruction
Fox News' Rick Leventhal, embedded with Marines a few miles east of the jubilant Baghdad square scene, said U.S. troops are still wary.
"They're still on guard here because there's still a threat from snipers, from Baath Party loyalists, from fedayeen and from soldiers who have taken off their uniforms but have weapons and are still shooting at marines," Leventhal said.
"There's still some things we haven't taken care of yet," one Marine told Leventhal.
Looting Spree Continues
At police stations, universities, government ministries, the headquarters of the Iraq Olympic Committee, looters made off with computers, furniture, even military jeeps.
"Thank you, thank you, Mr. Bush," some shouted. An elderly man beat a portrait of Saddam with his shoe, while a younger man spat on it.
In the southern city of British-controlled Basra, looters are plundering government buildings, universities, even hospitals, which could delay relief efforts.
Fox News' Greg Kelly, embedded with the 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad, said other parts of Baghdad were strangely quiet and that the looting was at a minimum.
But U.S. officers said their forces faced continued disorganized resistance from small groups of holdout pro-Saddam fighters.
This resistance is being felt the strongest in the north, Jim Wilkinson, spokesman for U.S. war chief Tommy Franks, told Fox News on Wednesday.
"The regime has lost control in most places in Iraq" but there are "significant pockets" of resistance in the north, Wilkinson said. "We'll continue to go where those pockets are and destroy them."
"There are still many days of perhaps fierce fighting to follow," said Capt. Frank Thorp, a Central command spokesman. "We're seeing good signs here, but I would definitely stay on the cautious side and say we still have more to come."
U.S. commanders focused attention on targets to the north -- including Tikrit, still a stronghold of loyalist troops, and the northern city of Mosul.
Special operations forces and air strikes were "actively engaging" Iraqi forces in both cities.
Thorp said there were several areas of Iraq where coalition ground troops have yet to arrive, specifically mentioning Tikrit, where the Air Force, Navy, Marines as well as British aircraft were conducting strikes against military targets on Wednesday.
U.S. special forces and Kurdish fighters seized a strategic hilltop near Mosul.
Tikrit -- population 260,000 -- is defended by well-trained troops, and home to many of Saddam's most devoted followers.
Coalition airstrikes are targeting the Republican Guard's Adnan division in Tikrit to pave the way for ground forces.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Saddam is hiding in Tikrit. U.S. officials don't know if he escaped Monday's bombing of a site in Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood, where he and at least one of his sons reportedly were meeting.
Coalition forces still don't have in their control the site that U.S. forces decimated when a U.S. jet dropped four 2,000-pound bombs there.
A senior administration official told Fox News that the Bush administration still does not know if Saddam is alive. It could take two to three more days to complete DNA testing once a body is found.
The Web site of Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera said Saddam is holed up inside the Russian Embassy in Baghdad.
A Russian military intelligence official told Al-Jazeera that there is or have been efforts by Russia to negotiate a deal that would get Saddam out of the country in order to avoid bloodshed. The Al-Jazeera reporter, however, acknowledged the information may not be credible.
The Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow neither confirmed nor denied the report to Fox News. The Russian Embassy in Washington denies that Saddam is in its Baghdad Embassy and said 12 people are still there.
Coalition Takes More of Baghdad
U.S. forces steadily expanded their reach in more quiet parts of Baghdad, securing a military airport, capturing a prison, setting fire to a Republican Guard barracks. They are now operating in every quadrant of the city.
Maj. Gen. Buford Blount II, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, visited a command post set up at the New Presidential Palace, overlooking the Tigris River. Col. David Perkins, whose 2nd Brigade was at the command post, told Blount his forces can go anywhere in the city and meet only sporadic sniping.
The two commanders discussed what buildings could be used to house U.S. military units and a new government to replace Saddam's.
"That's the next mental jump, is for the Iraqis to realize that even if [Saddam] is still alive, he's not in charge anymore," Perkins said.
Iraqi state television went off the air Tuesday, and on Wednesday, foreign journalists said their "minders" -- government agents who monitor their reporting -- didn't turn up for work.
Also, there was no sign of Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, whose daily briefings have constituted the main public face of the regime during the war.
Fox News' David Lee Miller, James Rosen and Liza Porteus and The Associated Press contributed to this report.