KUWAIT CITY >> In a blaze of heavy bombing, American air power devastated parts of Baghdad last night, including several government buildings and palaces built by Saddam Hussein, as waves of fresh ground forces swarmed into Iraq from the south. [ WAR IN IRAQ ]
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Latest developments
Star-Bulletin news services
The troops crossing the border from Kuwait to Iraq followed advancing units whose vanguard of tanks had penetrated as much as 100 miles northward, about a third of the way to the capital, Baghdad.
PHOTO ABOVE BY MOISES SAMAN / NEWSDAY
A government building in Baghdad burned last night during heavy bombardment by U.S.-led forces. Military officials said it was only the beginning of an unfolding campaign that was expected to hit 1,500 targets in the first 24 hours. On the back page, Iraqi soldiers are silhouetted as they surrender to U.S. Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit in southern Iraq.
Troops fanned out across southern Iraq to seize a port, strategic oil fields and refineries on an eastern flank near the city of Basra. To the west, Army and Marine units took control of air fields and cleared a wide path through the desert for the expected assault on Baghdad.
Two British Navy helicopters collided early this morning over international waters in the Persian Gulf, and seven crew members are presumed dead, officials in London said.
The collision involved Sea King search and rescue helicopters and did not result from enemy fire, said Group Capt. Al Lockwood, a spokesman for British forces in the gulf.
A search and rescue operation was under way to find the missing crew members, Lockwood said.
"We are doing everything we can to ascertain what caused the accident," he told Sky News.
Two Marines were killed in fighting yesterday, one in a night of skirmishing to take the port of Umm Qasr, and the other during a firefight at the Rumaila oil field. Their deaths followed the loss of four other Marines and eight British Royal Marines in an early morning helicopter crash.
Last night, Army officials said that the commander and vice commander of Iraq's 51st Mechanized Division, which guards the approach to Basra, surrendered to a military police company. Most of the division's soldiers had fled or "melted away," they said.
In the first significant surrender of Iraqi forces, 600 soldiers gave themselves up in fighting throughout the south, many of them around Umm Qasr and on the adjacent Al Faw peninsula, both now in allied hands. The Iraqi armed forces number about 350,000.
But the mass surrenders that followed the Iraqi military collapse in Kuwait in 1991 have yet to occur this time, though American military officials said without giving details that they saw many signs of breakdown in the Iraqi military command.
In general, it was only weak units of the Iraqi army that remained in the southern part of the country, and American and British forces are expected to meet far stiffer resistance as they move north toward Baghdad.
In northern Iraq, in the area controlled by Kurds, Turkey sent between 1,000 and 1,500 soldiers across the border yesterday after Abdullah Gul, the Turkish foreign minister, said the troops were needed to control refugee flows.
There is concern in Turkey that the Kurds might seek to carve out an independent Kurdistan in the shadow of the war, but the incursion seemed certain to incense the Kurds.
In western Iraq, allied Special Operations forces seized two air fields that will be used to ferry conventional and special forces into the area and apply pressure on Baghdad from the west, military officials said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sgt. Jesse Lanter, of Fort Mill, S.C., carried Cpl. Barry Lange, of Portland, Ore., off the battlefield yesterday after Lange injured his leg while running, as members of India Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, engaged Iraqi soldiers with gunfire at the headquarters of the Iraqi 51st and 32nd mechanized infantry divisions near Az Bayer, Iraq.
A New York Times reporter who crossed into Iraq from Kuwait yesterday witnessed American Marines ripping down images of Saddam Hussein in the border town of Safwan as jubilant residents greeted them.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking at a news conference at the Pentagon, said that American and British forces had captured or controlled "a growing portion" of Iraq.
"The regime is starting to lose control of their country," he said. "The confusion of Iraqi officials is growing. Their ability to see what is happening on the battlefield, to communicate with their forces and to control their country is slipping away."
Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, "Basically, we are on our plan and moving toward Baghdad, but there are still many unknowns."
Among them was how Iraq was still able to fire missiles into Kuwait -- as it did three times yesterday, with little effect -- and how it was able to maintain control over a state television apparatus that some American officials predicted would be quickly disabled. That is an important strategic aim because it would ensure that Saddam's image, and the fear it instills, is kept off the air.
One of the biggest unknowns was whether early success by American and British forces in the largely undefended south would be followed by a more sober military reckoning in confrontations with at least six elite Iraqi divisions that ring Baghdad.
Other questions were whether Saddam was still in charge, whether he still commanded the loyalty of his army and whether he controlled enough force, or weapons of mass destruction, to surprise the armies closing in on him.
Iraq's minister of information threatened yesterday to treat any American prisoners of war as "war criminals."
"I tell the American soldiers," said the minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, "it is better for you to surrender. We will cut off all your heads."
The bombing that pounded Baghdad last night with hundreds of fiery explosions, throwing up plumes of smoke and dust, was part of the Pentagon's strategy to drive a final wedge between the Iraqi leader and his military commanders, with whom American officials have been communicating in hopes of negotiating their surrender.
In this way, the allies would avoid a costly battle to subdue the hardened divisions defending Baghdad.
The air battle was most visible in the capital, but military officials said it was only the beginning of an unfolding campaign that was expected to hit 1,500 targets all across Iraq in the first 24 hours, from Basra in the south to Mosul in the north.
The new Army airborne and Marine units that crossed into Iraq yesterday had specific missions to attack Iraqi command facilities around the southern town of Nasiriya as a prelude for attacks farther north along the Tigris and Euphrates.
Aside from the two air bases captured in western Iraq, American special operations forces operating with Kurdish forces also captured an air field in northern Iraq, military officials said.
Exasperated by Turkey's refusal to consider allowing American troops through its territory into northern Iraq, the Pentagon has decided to divert about 40 ships carrying tanks and combat equipment for the Army's 4th Infantry Division to Kuwait from the eastern Mediterranean, two military officials said yesterday.
The ships, which have been waiting off the Turkish coast for weeks to unload their cargo, will likely begin moving toward the gulf in the next few days.
Once the ships pass through the Suez Canal, it will take about 11 days to reach Kuwait, Navy officials said. The 4th Division's troops are still at Fort Hood, Texas.
At 2 p.m. yesterday about 5,000 Marines of Task Force Tarawa crossed the Iraqi border from Kuwait and headed north. Last night, convoys of troops from the 101st Airborne Division were moving across the same border.
Their mission in the coming days is to set up bases for deep assaults by helicopter gunships on the Iraqi Republican Guard forces that have ringed Baghdad.
As military officials reported rapid gains on the eastern front near Basra, with more Iraqi troops surrendering by the hour, it seemed possible that British and American Marines might soon be able to capture the city.
But a British military official said the ancient port with a population of more than 1 million was not a military objective, and "we're really looking at the reaction of the people before we go in there."
From the outset of the campaign, British Royal Marine commanders, who are in charge of the campaign to take Basra, said they hoped to capitalize on any welcome from the local population to undermine resistance in other parts of the country, particularly in Baghdad.
The taking of Umm Qasr was critical to the Basra campaign, as allied officials are planning a massive inflow of humanitarian aid to Basra.
As the troops advanced toward Basra, Sir Michael Boyce, the British chief of staff, said in London that there was "a lot of evidence of large-scale capitulation, evidenced by abandoned positions and items of equipment."
DAVID LEESON / DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Capt. Andy MacLean washed the dust from his face during a refueling stop yesterday as troops moved further toward their first objective in Iraq.
He also said that Iraqi military prisoners would be treated "with good manners" to underscore to Saddam's armed forces that there was still an opportunity to save themselves.
Late yesterday, the Defense Department announced the identities of four U.S. Marines killed in the crash of the CH-46E helicopter: Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, of Waterville, Maine; Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, of Bloomington, Ill.; Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, of Houston; and Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Watersbey, 29, of Baltimore.
As the scenes of the bombing of Baghdad appeared on television screens around the world, Rumsfeld bristled at suggestions that American forces had engaged in an indiscriminate firebombing reminiscent of the consuming attack on Dresden, Germany, in 1945.
"There is no comparison" to the indiscriminate bombing tactics of previous wars, he said. "The weapons that are being used today have a degree of precision that no one ever dreamt of in a prior conflict."
He continued, "The care that goes into it, the humanity that goes into it," makes any such comparison "unfortunate and inaccurate."
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[ WAR BRIEFS ]
Second Pearl Harbor sub launches missiles
A second Pearl Harbor-based nuclear attack submarine launched Tomahawk missiles at targets in Iraq last night.The Navy said the USS Columbia, skippered by Cmdr. Duane Ashton, was one of three U.S. warships and two British submarines that fired the missiles. On Tuesday the attack submarine USS Cheyenne, also from Pearl Harbor, was part of the Navy's first strike efforts.
Case and Abercrombie back troop resolution
WASHINGTON >> Hawaii's Democratic congressmen, Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Ed Case, voted with the majority yesterday as the House passed a resolution showing its support for U.S. troops in Iraq.The vote was 392-11, with Democrats casting all the opposing votes.
Abercrombie said he voted for the resolution to express his support for the troops but does not agree with language calling the invasion of Iraq "part of the ongoing Global War on Terrorism."
The administration presented no evidence linking Iraq with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he said, accusing House Republicans of trying to politicize support for the troops.
Meanwhile, Hawaii Democrats U.S. Sens. Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye were with the majority as the Senate voted yesterday to divert $100 billion from President Bush's proposed $726 billion tax cut through 2013 to finance the costs of war with Iraq.
The measure passed on a 52-47 vote.
Akaka and Inouye split their votes as the Senate, in a 62-38 roll call, rejected an effort to reduce President Bush's proposed tax cut plan for helping the economy to $350 billion.
Akaka voted against the proposal while Inouye supported it.
Support increases for Australian role in war
SYDNEY >> Support has jumped for Australia's involvement in the U.S.-led war against Iraq, and the country now appears evenly split on the role of Australian forces, an opinion poll showed today.The Newspoll survey, published in the Australian newspaper, found 45 percent of respondents supported Australia's involvement in military action in Iraq, up from 25 percent just more than a week ago.
The poll showed 47 percent remained opposed to Australia's involvement, down from 68 percent, with 13 percent of those believing Australian troops should now remain in the Persian Gulf.
Australia, which deployed around 2,000 troops to the gulf, said today its special-forces soldiers have been involved in fighting deep inside Iraq, while troops under Australian command have intercepted an Iraqi tugboat laden with sea mines.
Thousands of anti-war activists took to the streets of Australia yesterday for the second day of protests against the U.S-led war in Iraq and Australia's involvement.
Large anti-war rallies are scheduled to be held in the nation's biggest cities tomorrow.
Support for Japanese premier stays steady
TOKYO >> Support for the Japanese prime minister declined slightly but held above the critical level of 40 percent, defying predictions of sharp drops in his popularity stemming from his staunch backing for a U.S.-led war on Iraq.Latest polls showed about two in three Japanese voters opposed the U.S.-led attack on Iraq, but the level was below some 80 percent registered before the start of the war.
Stressing that solid U.S. ties were vital for Japan's defense, Koizumi vowed Tokyo's support for Washington on Thursday shortly after the outbreak of the war.
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The latest developments
Key developments in America's war against Iraq,
compiled by the Associate Press
- Two British Navy helicopters collided over international waters early today in the Persian Gulf, and seven crew members are missing.
- Two American Marines were killed in battle, and officials confirmed that the crash of a Marine helicopter late Thursday had killed four other Marines, along with eight British Royal Marines. Initial reports had indicated there were 16 Marines on board.
- Demoralized and underequipped, many Iraqi troops have been expected to give up without a fight, and yesterday in the first significant capitulation, the commanders and soldiers of Iraq's 51st Division, about 8,000 troops, surrendered to coalition troops bearing down on the southern city of Basra.
- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Saddam Hussein and officials who remained loyal to him were starting to lose control of their country. He said the "scope and scale" of the unfolding air campaign would convince Iraqis that Saddam will not survive.
- President Bush expressed satisfaction with the progress of the military campaign. Before briefing congressional leaders, he told reporters, "We will stay on task until we've achieved our objective, which is to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction." The president planned to spend the weekend at Camp David with his Cabinet.
- Whether the pinpoint attack Wednesday on Saddam Hussein's bunker killed the Iraqi leader -- and American military leaders said they did not know -- the bombing has totally disrupted communications between Baghdad and military units throughout Iraq. Analysts have concluded that Saddam's voice is heard on the videotape that was broadcast on Iraqi television a short while after the attack. But officials say they still do not know whether it was recorded earlier.
- More than 1,000 Turkish soldiers crossed the border into northern Iraq, ignoring warnings from Washington. Turkish leaders are worried the Kurds will attempt to create their own homeland. The government finally acted to allow American warplanes to fly through Turkish airspace on the way to Iraq. Kurdish officials reported that American planes struck the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul, destroying several buildings and setting off raging fires. The Kurdish officials said bombs fell on an Iraqi airport, a Republican Guard base and an Iraqi army headquarters not far from the city of Jalawa. There was also an unconfirmed report that 61 members of the Kurdish underground had been executed by Iraq's Republican Guard.
- Anti-war demonstrators clogged streets in cities all over the world again, inciting violent clashes with the police. The deadliest incident took place in Yemen, where about 4,000 protesters marched up to the barricades in front of the American Embassy. Officials said a gunbattle with the police killed two protesters and left three officers in critical condition.
- As the air war took off, stocks soared. Combined with strong advances over the last few days, the vigorous advances on Friday pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its best weekly performance since 1982.
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