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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Saddam Dead? |
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| a_Silver_Rose |
| 04/07/03 at 22:35:09 |
| [slm] BASED ON an intelligence source on the ground in Baghdad, U.S. military officials were confident that Saddam and his sons, Uday and Qusay, were attending a meeting in the neighborhood, senior officials said. Officials quickly called in Air Force jets to strike the location Monday with four GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition weapons, the 2,000-pound smart bombs known as “bunker busters.” Diplomatic officials and officials at the Pentagon told NBC News that they were highly confident that they killed everyone at the meeting. Military officials at U.S. Central Command forward headquarters in Doha, Qatar, confirmed the airstrike but would not comment on its possible effect. BUSY DAY FOR COALITION If Saddam was killed, U.S. military planners would have achieved one of their prime objectives in the war. It would cap a dramatic day in which U.S. forces established a foothold in one of Saddam’s palaces in Baghdad after swooping into the city the day before. Coalition forces moved to cut off escape routes from the capital. Meanwhile, in a city near Baghdad, the military was led to a site where suspicious chemical compounds were stored — a discovery that, if verified, could prove that Iraq had continued its banned weapons programs. U.S. troops remained in the presidential compound on the west bank of the Tigris River, apparently determined to deliver a powerful message to residents and Saddam loyalists that his regime was broken. They had been part of an early morning assault by more than 70 tanks and 60 Bradley fighting vehicles from the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. The attack was a power play designed to prove to Saddam and the Iraqi people that “we can come and go at our pleasure,” a U.S. military official told NBC News on condition of anonymity. • Complete MSNBC coverage • Exclusive: Ansar's terror toxins • The Experts: Iraqi ingenuity • Iraqi ambush described • U.S. looks for al-Qaida link • Jordan's worries over war • Arab channels show clout • Dispatches from the field • Video coverage from NBC • Blog: Army family's journal • Encarta: Detailed Iraq map • WashPost: Special coverage LATEST FROM NEWSWEEK • Special war section • Saving Private Lynch • The grunts' war U.S. military officials initially described the operation as a foray similar to one by two armored units Saturday, but there were indications that the troops might be planning to use the presidential palace as a beachhead for further operations in the capital. The New York Times reported that U.S. commanders on the ground said three army battalions would remain in the city center. In addition to taking the palace, U.S. forces visited a second presidential palace in Baghdad, exchanged fire with Iraqi snipers holed up in the state-owned Al-Rashid Hotel and briefly surrounded the Iraqi Information Ministry with tanks. “The circle is closing,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld declared at a Pentagon briefing Monday. Rumsfeld said that while U.S. forces did not know where Saddam was, “we do know he no longer runs much of Iraq.” A top U.S. commander suggested that Iraqi forces had little fight left, even in the capital. “I think the command and control of the Republican Guards is at the point now where the most they can do are sporadic attacks from very, very small units,” said Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Looking beyond Saddam, Rumsfeld said planning was under way to turn over control of several government ministries other than defense and intelligence to Iraqis. “It’s pretty well sorted through,” he said. Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf continued to deny that the enemy had breached the city’s defenses. “They say they brought 65 tanks into center of city. I say to you this talk is not true. There is no presence of American infidels in the city of Baghdad at all,” he said, standing on a Baghdad rooftop as sirens blared and smoke billowed into the sky. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. seizes key points in central Baghdad British control heart of Basra Britain: Body of 'Chemical Ali' identified Up to 18 killed in 'friendly-fire' incident U.S. war death toll rises to at least 89 |
| 04/07/03 at 22:35:38 |
| a_Silver_Rose |
| Re: Saddam Dead? |
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| ltcorpest2 |
| 04/07/03 at 23:20:51 |
| i just hear that it was a "jaguar' phone system made by the brits that were for a select few in saddams regime and we had gotten the codes and that he was discussing on the phone their escape route out of Baghdad. |
| Re: Saddam Dead? |
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| ascetic |
| 04/08/03 at 03:04:58 |
| [quote]and we had gotten the codes [/quote] I found this part especially funny. Defense departments *never* sell encryption software/hardware to other countries w/o building backdoors into it (I once asked an NSA official point blank why it was illegal to sell 128-bit encryption software to other countries while they were ok with selling less secure stuff to them. He was like "I can't answer that question" :-/ |
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