The Hindu : Hunt for regime targets will go on: U.S.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 09, 2003

International

International

Hunt for regime targets will go on: U.S.

By Atul Aneja

AS SAYLIAH (Qatar) APRIL 8. The U.S. forces seeking to expand their influence inside Baghdad were today reminded that the main obstruction to their advance in the city could come from an unexpected quarter — civilians caught up in an urban battle zone.

The killing of two journalists, one from the Al Jazeera television network and another from the Reuters news agency and the injury to three others caused by the U.S. ordnance this morning in Baghdad pushed the U.S. Central Command on the back foot.

To a volley of questions on these incidents, Vincent Brooks, the U.S. Central Command spokesperson, regretted the losses. He also declined to justify the shooting by the U.S. forces by backtracking from his earlier comment that the strike on Palestinian hotel — where the Reuters team and several journalists were residing, could have been triggered by a sniper attack on the U.S. troops from the hotel's lobby.

Gen. Brooks, however, indicated that civilian casualties which the U.S. forces were seeking to avoid, would not retard their hunt for "regime targets." Notwithstanding the U.S. stated intent not to lose the momentum on the ground, analysts point out that the possibility of causing further civilian casualties was likely, and it could hamper the pace of the attack inside Baghdad.

The possibility of civilian deaths, they say are increasing as the U.S. forces moving into Baghdad are approaching the congested areas of city that lie across the eastern bank of the Tigris. The U.S. focus, so far, has been on attacking "regime targets" that are located west of this river. After taking over the Baghdad's international airport, north-west of the capital, these forces have focused on the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein's palace, on the west bank of the Tigris.

The advancing forces have then targeted the key channels of Iraqi authority — the Iraq TV station, the Information Ministry and the Ministry of Planning. Fires are now reported from these buildings. The forces, however, are yet to capture the three bridges on the Tigris — the 14th of July bridge, the Jumhuriyah bridge and the Ashudad bridge that would take them into eastern Baghdad in sufficient strength.

Fierce battle

A fierce battle has been raging around the Jamhuriyah bridge throughout the day, but it is not yet clear whether it has fallen into the U.S. hands.

Separately, a U.S. marine column that has been advancing towards Baghdad from the southeast direction has captured the Rashid air base. The two ends of this pincer movement — the troops west of the Tigris and the marines that are advancing from the east are yet to establish contact with each other.

Keen to bring the war in Iraq to a quick end, a U.S. warplane on Monday had struck a building in Mansur district in South-west Baghdad where Mr. Hussein and his sons Uday and Qusay were supposedly present. Gen. Brooks to a question however declined to confirm whether this operation to assassinate Iraq's top three leaders had been successful.

"Without detailed forensic work we may never know identities of leadership targets in that building," he said. Gen. Brooks pointed out that 20 days after the war, the Iraqi regime had lost its grip on Basra and most of Southern Iraq.

Fighting, however, continued east of the holy city of Karbala. The U.S. troops continued to hold the Haditha dam and its environs to prevent the launch of ballistic missiles against Israel.

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