BRIEFING: AT WAR WITH IRAQ
BY WORLD TRIBUNE.COM WITH MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE

Day 6 Ñ March 25, 3003
See Previous Briefings: Day 1
2 3 4 5

Saddam turns to tribesmen for help against U.S.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has turned to Sunni tribesmen for help in the war against the United States.

Saddam, in a statement read on Iraqi television, urged the millions of tribesmen in central and western Iraq to strike allied forces regardless of the state of his regime. The statement also issued instructions on how to attack British and U.S. troops.

"Fight them in small groups, hit their frontlines and their rear units so the whole advance will stop," the statement, attributed to Saddam, said. "And when it stops, attack them. If they deploy, leave them alone, don't fight them. But if they rest somewhere, attack."

U.S. and British military forces have formed several fronts that are advancing toward Baghdad. One of them is from western Iraq.


Russian experts dismiss U.S. tech edge

MOSCOW Ñ Russian military experts assert that the United States has been unable to exploit its technological advantage to stop Iraqi irregular forces.

The experts said Iraq has the advantage over allied forces in close combat expected during the advance on Baghdad. They said U.S. technology has also been unable to distinguish between Iraqi friend and foe.

"The air supremacy and the high-tech, precision-guided weaponry of the U.S.-led coalition against Iraq do not mean that it will prevail in close combat," Gen. Andrei Nikolaev, chairman of the Russian Duma's Defense Committee, said. "Iraqi tactics are effectively countering the coalition's technological advantage."

Sergei Karaganov, chairman of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, agreed. Karaganov asserted that so far the U.S. and British military campaign has not gone according to plan.

Karaganov said the United States lost the propaganda war even before the military campaign even began.


U..S. air strikes target key Republican Guard division

The U.S. Air Force has launched a massive air attack on what is regarded as a key Republican Guard division south of Baghdad.

U.S. officials as well as correspondents at the front report that B-1 and B-52 heavy bombers launched massive strikes on the Medina division of the Republican Guard about 70 kilometers south of Baghdad. Officials have called the Medina division the linchpin of the elite units loyal to President Saddam Hussein.

The correspondents report heavy anti-aircraft fire in the air battle on Tuesday.

This was the second straight day of U.S. attacks on the Medina division, located near the Shi'ite city of Karbala. U.S. military commanders said that Iraqi anti-aircraft and ground forces continued to demonstrate suprisingly heavy resistance to the advance of U.S. troops towards Baghdad.


Subscribe to World Tribune.com's Daily Headline Alert
One-stop shopping for world news
Click Above To Subscribe
HOME INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING ARCHIVES