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| MadMax | Posted
on 09-Apr-03 07:47 AM
http://msnbc.com/news/870749.asp Saddams whereabouts unknown as U.S. extends grip on capital NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES April 9 President Saddam Hussein lost control of Baghdad on Wednesday as U.S. tanks rumbled through the center of an Iraqi capital that erupted in scenes of jubiliation as well as anarchy. Three weeks to the day after President Bush launched a war to oust the Iraqi leader, U.S. officials said the capital was under U.S. control, although they cautioned that loyalists were holding out in the north, notably at Saddams hometown of Tikrit. EMBOLDENED BY the sight of U.S. forces expanding control over the city of 5 million people, hundreds of residents looted government buildings while others danced in the streets, many waving rifles, palm fronds and flags and flashing the V-for-victory sign. Residents also gathered around one of the Saddam statues that dominate the Baghdad skyline in an attempt to pull it to the ground. The capital city is now one of those areas that has been added to the list of where the regime does not have control, said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks at U.S. Central Command in Qatar. A spokesman for President Bush said the U.S. leader was heartened by reports from Iraq, although the official cautioned, This is still a military mission and therefore lives are still at stake, but obviously the progress has been very good. American officers cautioned that holdout fighters were still a threat in parts of Baghdad, mostly on the west side of the Tigris River. But the scenes of jubiliation as well as the notable absence of any Iraqi authority signaled that the rest of the city would soon capitulate to the coalition advance. The fate of Saddam remained unknown. U.S. experts have yet to gain access to the site in an upscale Baghdad neighborhood that was targeted by four 2,000-pound bombs in a U.S. strike aimed at killing him on Monday. V-FOR-VICTORY On the east bank of the Tigris, American troops were greeted by people clapping 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. One Army contingent had to use razor-wire to hold back surging crowds of well-wishers. At police stations, universities, government ministries, the headquarters of the Iraq Olympic Committee, looters unhindered by any police presence made off with computers, furniture, telephones, even military jeeps. One young man used roller skates to wheel away a refrigerator. Thank you, thank you, Mr. Bush, some of the looters shouted. An elderly man beat a portrait of Saddam with his shoe, while a younger man spat on the portrait. Not everyone rejoiced. This is the destruction of Islam, said Qassim al-Shamari, 50, a laborer wearing an Arab robe. After all, Iraq is our country. And what about all the women and children who died in the bombing? |
| Aliciaa | Posted
on 09-Apr-03 07:52 AM
Do you think saddam and his son's are dead or injured. |
| MadMax | Posted
on 09-Apr-03 07:57 AM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=540&e=2&u=/ap/20030409/ap_on_re_mi_ea/war_saddam U.S.: Saddam Likely in Bombed Building By JOHN J. LUMPKIN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence had solid information from multiple sources that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) went inside a building and didn't leave before it was struck by an American bomber Monday, U.S. officials said. One intelligence source was believed to be an eyewitness who watched him go inside. No one would discuss the identity or characterize the credibility of the witness. Intelligence officials, who spoke Wednesday on the condition of anonymity, stopped well short of declaring Saddam dead. They described the information as encouraging, but not conclusive. "We may have got him. We just don't know. It's clear that nobody's in charge, that nobody's getting any direction," said one official. "He's gone way underground, literally or figuratively." Military officials in the region said Saddam doesn't appear to be in control. "I don't think the regime is maintaining influence over hardly any of the military forces any more," said Capt. Frank Thorp at U.S. Central Command headquarters. "The fighting we see from the Iraqi military, although sometimes fierce, is not organized in any way shape or form." The U.S. military should maintain a presence in central Baghdad for the foreseeable future to convince the Iraqi people that Saddam is no longer in power, commanders said. "That's the next mental jump, is for the Iraqis to realize that even if he (Saddam Hussein) is still alive, he's not in charge anymore," said Col. David Perkins, commander of the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, in downtown Baghdad. On Monday, U.S. intelligence learned that Saddam and his sons, Qusai and Odai, were possibly going to attend a meeting with Iraqi intelligence officials in a building in the al-Mansour neighborhood of western Baghdad. The site was in the same general part of Baghdad where Iraqi television had shown Saddam being mobbed by supporters on Friday, officials said. The intelligence information was passed to U.S. Central Command, which directed a B-1B bomber to the site. Forty-five minutes later, it dropped four guided bombs. "We characterize that strike as being very, very effective," Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, vice director of the Pentagon (news - web sites)'s Joint Staff, told a news conference Tuesday. "What we have for battle damage assessment right now is essentially a hole in the ground ... where we believed high-value targets were." Three houses were destroyed. It was unclear who was within, and whether there were any survivors. Tuesday, Iraqi rescue workers recovered bodies from the debris with a bulldozer. The body of a child and part of a young woman were pulled from the site. Two of the bombs dropped were bunker-busters, designed to penetrate underground tunnels. However, officials said they had no specific information that there were underground facilities at the site. The bombs were apparently dropped in case there were. The target was not a restaurant, as some officials had reported, but a site near that restaurant, officials said. The fate of Saddam's sons is also unknown. |
| MadMax | Posted
on 09-Apr-03 07:59 AM
Personally, I think Saddam & sons are safe and sound outside Iraq. He has taken refuge in an unknown destination, probably, few days ago. |