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March 17, 2003
Troops enter Baghdad
US forces entered Baghdad and destroyed various symbols of the regime, according to CNN. Reports unconfirmed by the Pentagon indicate that Hussein himself, as well as his sons, may have been killed in a US attack.
Meanwhile the Kurds have moved into oil rich Kirkuk. Secretary of State Colin Powell assured Turkey that the U.S had control over the city and not he Kurds. There is still fighting in Baghdad; Maj. Gen. Victor Renuart called it an “ugly place."
Many troops have been greeted by cheering crowds in Baghdad. In Firdos Square dozens of Iraqis tied a rope around a statue of Hussein while pounding on the base with sledgehammers. "We thought we were going to get a lot of resistance but we never did, so we just kept pushing and pushing until we got here," said Cpl. Steven Harris with the Marines in the square, according to CNN.
A statue of Hussein on a horse was destroyed earlier by U.S soldiers and some other symbols of his rule. "This sends a powerful message to the remnants of the regime that we can go where we want when we want," said a Pentagon official.
Fighting continued to the east of Baghdad, a red cross convoy was hit. But a U.S official told reporters that “the majority of Iraqi forces [in the Baghdad area] have now given up."
An Iraqi missile killed two journalists, one from Spain and one from Germany, and two soldiers while wounding 15 others, according to the Washington Post. David Bloom of NBC died of a pulmonary embolism, in Iraq, on April 6. Bloom was the second journalist to die from the U.S. Michael Kelly, the Atlantic Monthly editor-at-large and Washington Post columnist died in a Humvee accident on April 4.
Hussein’s cousin and Iraqi General, nicknamed “Chemical Ali" for ordering the chemical attack on the Kurds, was found dead in Basra, according to CNN.
Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said that they will not use weapons of mass destruction but that there could be widespread use of “martyrdom" by non-military people.
A combination of the terrible weather, insecure supply lines, and the unexpected level of resistance from the Iraqi’s have contributed to the war lasting longer than originally thought.
The army’s senior ground commander Lt. Gen. William S. Wallace said that an unpredictable enemy has stalled the troops drive on Baghdad. “The enemy we’re fighting is different from the one we’ve war-gamed against," he told the 101st Airborne division in Iraq.
Some of the tactics that Iraq is using surprised Wallace. “I’m appalled by the inhumanity of it all." Wallace’s response stems from reports of Hussein forcing Iraqi’s to fight by threatening their families.
U.N secretary General Kofi Annan said that he is “increasingly concerned" about the number of civilian casualties. It is uncertain as to how many deaths there have been but according to the Iraqi information minister, there have been over 100. There have been 132 deaths among the British and American troops combined.
Congress is moving to approve Bush’s $75 billion request for the war but is putting some restrictions on how the money may be used, according to the Washington Post. For instance, the $2.5 billion that was supposed to be given to the Pentagon for humanitarian relief will be given to the state department and other non-military entities. There was money added to help the struggling airlines and there was $60 billion allotted for combat.
France, Russia, Canada and Germany have all expressed their disagreement with the war. France has said that it is against any use of military force. Germany has said that they may not help with the cleanup after the war, either.
For more information on the war, go to www.cnn.com
Meanwhile the Kurds have moved into oil rich Kirkuk. Secretary of State Colin Powell assured Turkey that the U.S had control over the city and not he Kurds. There is still fighting in Baghdad; Maj. Gen. Victor Renuart called it an “ugly place."
Many troops have been greeted by cheering crowds in Baghdad. In Firdos Square dozens of Iraqis tied a rope around a statue of Hussein while pounding on the base with sledgehammers. "We thought we were going to get a lot of resistance but we never did, so we just kept pushing and pushing until we got here," said Cpl. Steven Harris with the Marines in the square, according to CNN.
A statue of Hussein on a horse was destroyed earlier by U.S soldiers and some other symbols of his rule. "This sends a powerful message to the remnants of the regime that we can go where we want when we want," said a Pentagon official.
Fighting continued to the east of Baghdad, a red cross convoy was hit. But a U.S official told reporters that “the majority of Iraqi forces [in the Baghdad area] have now given up."
An Iraqi missile killed two journalists, one from Spain and one from Germany, and two soldiers while wounding 15 others, according to the Washington Post. David Bloom of NBC died of a pulmonary embolism, in Iraq, on April 6. Bloom was the second journalist to die from the U.S. Michael Kelly, the Atlantic Monthly editor-at-large and Washington Post columnist died in a Humvee accident on April 4.
Hussein’s cousin and Iraqi General, nicknamed “Chemical Ali" for ordering the chemical attack on the Kurds, was found dead in Basra, according to CNN.
Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said that they will not use weapons of mass destruction but that there could be widespread use of “martyrdom" by non-military people.
A combination of the terrible weather, insecure supply lines, and the unexpected level of resistance from the Iraqi’s have contributed to the war lasting longer than originally thought.
The army’s senior ground commander Lt. Gen. William S. Wallace said that an unpredictable enemy has stalled the troops drive on Baghdad. “The enemy we’re fighting is different from the one we’ve war-gamed against," he told the 101st Airborne division in Iraq.
Some of the tactics that Iraq is using surprised Wallace. “I’m appalled by the inhumanity of it all." Wallace’s response stems from reports of Hussein forcing Iraqi’s to fight by threatening their families.
U.N secretary General Kofi Annan said that he is “increasingly concerned" about the number of civilian casualties. It is uncertain as to how many deaths there have been but according to the Iraqi information minister, there have been over 100. There have been 132 deaths among the British and American troops combined.
Congress is moving to approve Bush’s $75 billion request for the war but is putting some restrictions on how the money may be used, according to the Washington Post. For instance, the $2.5 billion that was supposed to be given to the Pentagon for humanitarian relief will be given to the state department and other non-military entities. There was money added to help the struggling airlines and there was $60 billion allotted for combat.
France, Russia, Canada and Germany have all expressed their disagreement with the war. France has said that it is against any use of military force. Germany has said that they may not help with the cleanup after the war, either.
For more information on the war, go to www.cnn.com
Discuss this Article
so at last war is all but here. quite sad, really. Bush has completely given up on any semablance of diplomacy to further his own goals. we all knew it was coming and yet, its still depressing to receive confirmation of this futility.
-Anran
fool!
How can you say that diplomacy has worked? Saddam Hussein has given safehaven to terrorists, sold weapons of mass destruction to terrorists, brutally tortured and murdered his own people, and is still producing chemical weapons and looking to gain nuclear weapons. You call that peace? You're kidding, right Anran?
-Ben
To kill 1,000 other people is called Foreign Policy.
Can I get a coherent, substantited reason for not going to war? Can I get somthing more then just "war is stupid?" There are no coherent substantiated reasons. unless somebody can prove me wrong.
Who put saddam into office? oh the US. Who sold him weapons? yeah us again.
where are these weapons, and why would we attack a country with them if we were so positive they had biological and chemical weapons.
Bush sucks.
I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENETH ME. PHILIPPIANS 4:13
WE WILL NOT LOSE THIS WAR IF GOD IS ON OUR SIDE!!!!!!!!AMEN
And this will improve our national security?
Osama bin Laden became an active terrorist leader after the first Gulf War, because he was angry about U.S. troops stationed in Saudi Arabia.
Sound familiar?
How many more bin Ladens are we creating today?
Will we have to conquer the entire Middle East before we have "security"?
protesting war does not mean i'm protesting freedom; in fact, i would say that protesting war is EXERCISING my right to freedom. if everyone who dared dissent with the government's views WAS taken out and shot, this country would be no better than every authoritarian dictatorship out there.
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it." That's what being American *REALLY* means!!
it's actually kind of funny that shelby said she would shoot the anti-war people, since we are in a war against a country that has a government that does such that. so shelby, let me get this straight, you're against saddamm and his government, but you think people who express their views should be shot. again, i've got to say, please do us a favor and think about what you said and reevaluate how much sense your words really make.
What is wrong with you people? Just because a guy misspeeks all the time does not mean that he is less competent than some mad teenager. "Bush sux" is not an intelligent thing to say, and the only reason that he is spoken of in that way is that he is not eloquent. I think that is why I am not liberal. Democrats want a "nice" guy who speeks kindly and can butcher the language on purpose (i.e. change the definition of "is"). I'll humor you all for an instant here, but would "I invented the internet and raised 10,000 chickens" Al-gore be any better? Even if he was, let's just evaluate the decision, not the person.
Yes, innocent people will die, but am I misinformed? I thought that innocent people would die if Jerusalem was frosted with anthrax. Maybe not. "We don't know if he has them" after all. We gave anthrax to him and he, uh, lost it. He put it in the back of his truck, but by the time he arrived at the hotel housing the UN inspectors, it wasn't there any more. Wonder where it went? Hmm... it doesn't matter.
Get perspective people. Do you want to take the 2% chance that Saddam kills a million Israelis next week? Oh, by the way, he said he WANTS to kill "as many Israelis as possible." He has been involved in every Arab-Israeli conflict since he took office.
Another thing, yes it does matter that people are protesting. You are sacrificing hours of education to march under a flag of blissful ignorance by walking out of school. If you walked out for religous reasons, I would applaud you. If you staged a protest on your own time, I wouuld applaud you. If you walk out on MY time for ignorant politics when your effort is HALF-HEARTED, THEN I condemn the protest. I am anti-war, but for better reasons. I don't act like I have stick up my butt every time someone disagrees with me, either. So here is my view of the reasons to avoid war: religous good, political bad.
[comment edited for offensive content]
i'm sorry, but there is no hard evidence that saddam hussein does plan to "dust jerusalem with anthrax". there IS hard evidence, however, that americans will die in the invasion of iraq. and while we're playing the "death of innocents" card: there are millions dying right now in korea thanks to malnutrition; millions dying in africa thanks to aids; millions more dying all over the world thanks to poverty and disease and inadequate sanitation...
if the US is really so committed to "saving the innocents," why don't we pull those troops out of iraq and use them to stop a few sub-saharan civil wars??
Sorry kristii, you're just plain wrong about Saddam wanting to kill Israelis, he has personally said that he would if he got the opportunity. That doesn't sound like a great political move but he has said (paraphrasing here), "Israel is the infidel state. We shall reclaim it for Allah." I don't quite understand his motives, since he is not a devout Muslim, but that's what he said.
I agree with you that it is unfortunate that we cannot stop those other wars/problems, but it boils down to this: African AIDS, Korean malnutrition, and civil wars that don't effect the US or its allies has to take the backseat. Although from a human-rights standpoint those things you've listed are more important, the government's first responsibility is protecting the American people. Don't get me wrong, I would rather try to eradicate/cure/treat AIDS in Africa, but the government must first take care of things that would possibly endanger Americans. Trust me here, I oppose the war, I just want to make sure everyone knows what they're supporting. AIDS, I think, is the worst problem the world faces right now, but Bush has to be a President, not a crusading rights activist (not yet, anyway).
you are a loser get a life why do you have so much time?
you advocate us ending a war, simply to start warring in other countries. you're even more conservative then rob and me, and george bush, and pat buchannon combined.
I know you're probably wanting to kill me right now for twisting your words, but did you not say that "why don't we use the troops to stop a few sub saharran civil wars?" You're a crazy, conservative psycho. look, i love the war on iraq, but you're saying that you hate it, simply because you want MORE war.
BE AN ANARCHIST.......HATE THE GOVENMENT., AND LIVE YOUR OWN LIFE DONT LET THE GOVENMENT LIVE IT FOR U!