The Allied troops move further and further on to Saddam's fortress,
but a bloody slaughter houses they want to avoid if possible
The image of Saddam Hussein at the driveway to the motorway junction
south Baghdad have riddled 20-millimeter cannon of American Bradley
armored personnel carriers, the signs "Basra" and "Saddam
International Airport" are bent. For U.S. Colonel David Perkins, it
was last Thursday of the most beautiful place in the world. After
hours of fighting with the Iraqi Republican Guard Medina division of
his soldiers had the junction of Highways 1 and 8 captured. "Now,"
beams the youthful colonel, "he can barely move his troops." "He is"
Saddam Hussein. U.S. officers avoid pronouncing his name.
Confidence in the Central Command of the U.S. armed forces in Doha /
Qatar. "The dagger aimed right into the heart of the Iraqi regime,"
brigadier general Vincent Brooks declared victory. In Washington,
meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld demonstrated
optimism. "It is just 14 days ago, marched for the first coalition
troops in Iraq. And now they are already close to Baghdad, "reported
the Pentagon chief last Thursday. The U.S. soldiers are "closer to the
center of the Iraqi capital than many American commuters to their
offices in the inner cities."
As of Saturday morning, the allied forces had brought the claims to
only 20 kilometers southwest away from the center International
Airport under their control. "We now have their crown jewel," exulted
to the British military spokesman Al Lockwood. Meanwhile, more and
more citizens took to flight. Long lines of cars left the capital,
where the electricity and water supply had collapsed end of the week
mostly. They rolled in the north.
Despite the success of incoming messages, tried the U.S. government,
which hopes for a quick victory to dampen. "Some of the heaviest
battles may still lie ahead," warned about Pentagon spokeswoman
Victoria Clarke, in view of Baghdad, which is considered difficult
conquerable stronghold of Saddam. "Our armed forces are superior to,
but will fight the other side. The do not just sit around and wait for
us. "
Apparently, the recent experience in Washington's military strategists
have worked. In the first two weeks of the war, the storm of the
superpower was left suddenly stuck in the desert sand, the supply was
coming, and an army of retired U.S. generals debated on TV talk shows
about the "lousy attack plans" of the Pentagon.
A fresh setback, so there are rumors in the U.S. capital, Rumsfeld
could cost the political head. Too sure of victory, and with too few
soldiers, he kept himself from his own generals, the 70-year-old was
dragged into the fray. "Now may not go far wrong," warn employees
under their breath and think primarily of a possible assault on the
Iraqi capital.
Risk Baghdad. What dangers await Rumsfeld troops there? "The enemy
must come quietly," Iraqi Defense Minister Sultan Hashem Ahmed had the
U.S. threatened after the outbreak of war, "then the city will become
his grave."
"The key question is: What will make the Iraqi resistance to the
coalition forces?" Says Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic
and International Studies in Washington. And above all: What surprises
have prepared the Iraqis still?
This depends not least on the balance of the period from the bombing
of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard positions. How much have the
"surgical intervention" (Rumsfeld) decimated with precision bombs and
cruise missiles, the 80,000-strong elite unit? The shock and the
terror spawned by the bombing in Saddam's followers? They have been
hiding in the tunnel system around, searched its first courses and the
angle of Americans under the airport already have and should reach to
a palace of Saddam?
"The further penetrate the troops to Baghdad, the more difficult the
situation," Cordesman suggested. "Ultimately, the march will culminate
in a house fighting."
Hoping against all Iraqis. They seem better prepared for such a fight
as expected by the Allies. The U.S. government independent news
service Stratfor reported last week that the losses of the Republican
Guards were given out to be significantly lower than that of Pentagon
circles. Significant parts could have retreated to Baghdad and wait
for the opponent. To the knowing air of superiority of the Americans,
Saddam and his generals have had enough time to cope establish an
effective strategy.
For an intensive preparation is the fact that the Iraqis had specially
sent a team to the Balkans in order to benefit from the experience of
the Yugoslav Army during the Kosovo war. They would want to know is
how to build Potemkin villages and leads opponents with fake targets
are misleading.
The U.S. troops on the ground certainly feel militarily prepared for
the invasion of Baghdad. You following this gene to the instructions
of a 150-page book titled "doctrine for the armed forces joint
operations in urban areas" ("Doctrine for Joint Urban Operations").
The primary goal is to isolate the city fought. It's not just the
military sealed off the site: The commanders must "achieve the
information superiority over adversaries and potential adversaries."
It should be "as soon as possible and as fully as possible the
information out and out of the city from coming into it, under the
control of the military leadership '" - also by the control "of local
television, radio and other media" to to control of the telephone
network to cut off the enemy from communicating with its own people.
The urban warfare remains the biggest problem. "Urban areas are the
natural battleground for terrorists," it says in the book. ". The
effects are larger and more sensational, and the terrorists are
difficult to locate and identify" These terrorists, warned of the
strategists, could use not only conventional weapons - but also
weapons of mass destruction.
Information for urban warfare has acquired the U.S. Army of Israel.
Officers could be informed in detail about the use in the Gaza Strip
and West Bank - including video recordings. Martin van Creveld,
professor of military strategy at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem,
said the Americans were in the battle in the Jenin refugee camp last
year, especially armored bulldozers proved as effective weapons. The
D9 bulldozer type would have beaten paths in the camp, could then move
up through the tank. According to his figures, Americans have bought
nine of the special track from the Israeli army.
A battle from block to block is estimated by the U.S. military expert
Robert Leonard remains a dangerous strategy, "the units could Saddam
coalition soldiers lured into traps and ambushes," fears the former
lieutenant colonel (see also page 28). "You could use poison gas
against them, from windows or roofs of houses, shoot using the
civilians as shields or camouflage themselves as civilians carry out
terror attacks."
That these possibilities of the Iraqi leadership are already being
played, Information Minister Mohammed Said al pointed-Sahaf on Friday
evening. The Allied troops, he announced "not conventional" actions in
which the Iraqi military did not necessarily participate. "The only
way to deal with these mercenaries is that they fought in the dark and
with non-conventional means." In a later broadcast on television
speech, which should prove that Saddam Hussein is still alive, called
this the Iraqis, "the criminals with a vengeance" to fight. There will
be a "hell fire".
How can the look, demonstrated on Friday a suicide bomber and his
pregnant wife. Both were in a civilian vehicle approached a U.S.
checkpoint 200 km north of Baghdad, said the military. "The pregnant
woman got out of the car and started yelling," it said. Then the car
had exploded. Three soldiers approached the car and at that time were
killed.
The possible horror scenario for the battle for Baghdad in the United
States evoke nightmarish memories of the nightmare in Vietnam, for
instance, but also to the U.S. debacle in Somalia. Only ten years ago,
there has been an angry mob dragged the bodies of several U.S.
soldiers through the streets of Mogadishu. The GIs came the crash of
their Black Hawk helicopter were killed. The pictures went around the
world. America responded with horror pale, and the then U.S. President
Bill Clinton called for a retreat.
Such a humiliation of George W. Bush is in Baghdad do not have to
accept: "This war may have only one exit," one Bush vowed Thursday
before his soldiers on the military base at Camp Lejeune in North
Carolina. "The complete and definitive victory"
Before his speech, the president had been praying together with the
troops. "He believes he was called by God to lead the nation through
this time," said Economic Secretary Don Evans, one of Bush's closest
friends, the daily newspaper "USA Today". "And he is convinced that he
was the only person in this country, indeed around the world who has
the responsibility to protect freedom and defend it."
The President himself expresses its mission as follows: ". There is no
higher ideal than the world to redeem us from evil," Bush had decreed
in these days of war, an iron military discipline that employees
describe: he train harder than before, five to seven jogging km a day
to air out your head and stay focused on the work to be able to. In
addition, he give it up speeds. Reason: his secret vices make thick
and tired.
Jogging and praying for victory. About the war Bush wants before the
storming of Baghdad exactly know. First, the president of the planning
and tactics had completely left his Pentagon chief. Now he must report
daily Rumsfeld to date from Iraq. Bush wants to be informed exactly
where his troops are, where they march and where the Iraqis could be
waiting for them.
"The President is aware that his place in history until the final
determination in Baghdad," said one employee. Because the storming of
the capital but is a highly risky venture, was on Friday still been no
decision whether and when to begin the decisive march on Baghdad.
Leading members of the President indicated that a storm was not
expected so soon. Instead, the capital should be cut off from the
outside world, said Chief of Staff Richard Myers.
"We have underestimated the Iraqis before," warns military expert
Patrick Lang, who was in the Pentagon's secret service DIA for years
in charge of Iraq. "I would not set foot in Baghdad, before I was not
the fourth Have infantry division as a reinforcement. "
It may take another two weeks, is nachgerückt to the approximately
20,000-strong force from Kuwait until the Iraqi capital. Some Pentagon
planners are therefore targeted at "smaller advances," with which the
defense readiness of the Iraqis could be explored. The problem: A
"small advance" can quickly escalate into a major battle with many
casualties.
Nonetheless, experts indicate optimism. "Once the defensive ring
breaks will fall, even the regime," believes about Gary Anderson,
formerly a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps and a specialist in urban
warfare.
Rumsfeld urges already at a transitional government in Iraq. You
should still be used this week, calls the Pentagon chief. A new
regime, he argues, when people would doubt the last of the "good
intentions" of the United States and disperse at the end of Saddam's
dictatorship.
The conquest of Baghdad
How the city could be taken.
The airport in southwestern allies already control. He is regarded as
strategically important starting point for an offensive.
U.S. special forces are already in Baghdad. You should select targets
for air strikes.
Prior to storming the city is isolated.
House by house, man to man
The U.S. wants the street fight, but if he comes, the soldiers are
well prepared in tactics and equipment.
In combat, the U.S. soldiers play their technical superiority but only
in part. Iraqis are likely to be easier to orient themselves in the
maze of streets of Baghdad.
Education will play a crucial role: the Americans via satellite to
track enemy movements. The GIs are equipped with GPS devices.
Night vision device
collects low light (eg the moon) and transforms it into an electron
beam. This is amplified and produces an image on a phosphor screen
Also in the luggage:
portable lamp, tape or paint to mark targets,
Floor lamps, protective clothing
Head made of light metal
Rope with grappling hooks
GPS device helps the GI located in the maze of streets find their way
Small mirror permits under doors or around corners to look round
Elbow and knee pads
Rooms enlighten
Are the U.S. soldiers entered a building, they first secure from each
individual room in units of four men. Their movements are closely
coordinated.
First Man secures the door, and refers to the right rear corner position
Second Man positions himself in the left corner of the door, opposite
the first GI
Third Man follows the path of the first, but remains in the upper
right of the door
4th Man refers to the left door position and secures access
Hazards
The Americans expect that Iraqi soldiers entrenched, especially in
densely populated neighborhoods to use civilians as shields.
The question is whether the Iraqis use their own capital, chemical or
biological weapons.
Sewer system serving the Iraqi soldiers as shelter and hiding weapons
Apache Longbow can fire anti-tank missiles, but is easily targeted by
Iraqi mortars
UH-60 Blackhawk is from ground troops and protect them from fire from
his boarding-MG
U.S. troops - the troops move into battle groups of a maximum of eight men
Mines can kill soldiers and tanks off
Shields
Iraqi soldiers mingle with civilians
Tank - hiding behind corners of houses and garages
Snipers with assault rifles
Rocket and mortar threaten low-flying helicopter
Iraqi soldiers pretending to surrender
