BRIEFING: AT WAR WITH IRAQ
BY WORLD TRIBUNE.COM WITH MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Day 14 Ñ April 2, 3003
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U.S. destroys 2 Republican Guard divisions

The United States said it has eliminated two Republican Guard divisions.

U.S. officials identified those divisions as the Baghdad and Medina units. They said the divisions no longer function.

"I would say they are incapable of effective maneuver," Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday.

Earlier, U.S. Central Command asserted that the two divisions were destroyed.

"When we say a unit is destroyed, another way to characterize it is it's no longer effective of conducting combat operations as a cohesive force," Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, deputy chief of operations at Central Command, said. "That means its leadership is broken. That means that some of its equipment has been destroyed or it can't be brought to bear in an organized fashion that will have a favorable outcome on the part of that force. It may mean that we have killed or captured a considerable number of the force to make that possible. In this case, that's what we're seeing."

U.S. breaks through Iraqi defenses, speeds to Baghdad

U.S. military forces have broken through Iraqi defenses and are speeding toward Baghdad from two directions. U.S. military sources as well as correspondents in Iraq said the U.S.

Army's 3rd Infantry Division and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Corps are quickly moving toward Baghdad. The marine force is moving north from Al Kut while the infantry division is approaching Baghdad from Karbala.

Some of the units are said to be fewer than 50 kilometers from the Iraqi capital.

The sources said U.S. ground and air units have captured all of the bridges along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers that lead to Baghdad. They said the last bridge was seized along the Tigris on early Wednesday.

Britain and the United States, the sources said, have entered what they termed was a decisive phase of the war against the Saddam regime. But they cautioned against the immediate fall of Baghdad.

Iraqi militia fires on fleeing civilians in Basra

ABU DHABI Ñ Iraqi militias loyal to the Saddam regime have fired on fleeing civilians in an effort to ensure that they could be used as human shields in the battle against coalition forces in southern Iraq.

Iraqi opposition sources said the Fedayeen Saddam and other militias loyal to the regime have been shooting at civilians in the Basra province, particularly in the city of Tenouma, near the border with Iran. The sources said Saddam's forces have imposed a reign of terror on residents of the city as they sought to flee to neighboring Iran.

Thousands of Iraqi civilians are trying to escape Basra, the second largest city in the country, the sources said. But the Saddam militias are threatening to kill anybody who tries to leave the city.

Still, British forces are preparing to capture the city and rout Saddam's militias, the sources said. British officials confirmed that their army has been advancing toward positions that will ensure the fall of Basra within the next 48 hours.

Saddam again misses TV appearances

President Saddam Hussein, missing since March 20, again failed to dispel rumors that he no longer functions.

Saddam sent a message that was broadcast on Iraqi television on Wednesday that appealed for help from Iraqis in the war against the United States and its allies. The president's message, read by an announcer, said any Iraqi who captures a spy for the coalition or provides any information of use would be awarded $3,200.

The president also failed to appear on television on Tuesday evening despite an announcement by officials that he would directly address the Iraqi people. In that message, Saddam called for an Islamic war against coalition forces.

Tensions high at U.S. bases in Kuwait

ABU DHABI Ñ Tension remains high around U.S. military bases in Kuwait.

Officials said U.S. soldiers around the facilities have been ordered to shoot at any suspicious vehicle. The order was relayed after an Egyptian national drove his truck into a group of U.S. soldiers in a military base.

On Tuesday, U.S. soldiers fired toward the car of a Kuwaiti vehicle that drove through Camp Thunder, a U.S. military base near the Iraqi border. The car was one of two vehicles that sped through the camp. One car crashed into the barbed wire perimeter. The other escaped.

"The soldier tried to take a short cut." Kuwaiti military spokesman Col. Yusef Al Mulla said. "Gunfire at the site was unintentional. But due to the situation in the region, precautions must be taken in dealing with any suspicious situation."

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