Pauline Lubens San Jose Mercury News
Iraqi civilians loaded into a truck wait to cross the Az Zubair bridge, heading south
from Basra in southern Iraq.
Troops
continued from page 1
three brigades of the Army’s 3rd
Infantry Division drove toward a
Republican Guard division south
west of Baghdad while a large
force of Marines lunged for a Re
publican Guard division southeast
of the capital.
In the largest U.S. military as
sault since the Persian Gulf War in
1991, the invasion moved along
two fronts and marked the begin
ning of what was expected to be a
key battle of this second Gulf War
— the struggle to breach Republi
can Guard lines and reach the seat
of Saddam Hussein’s power about
50 miles away.
If successful, the double-barreled
advance — which followed a four
day halt in large-scale movement
— could strip away the outer layer
of Baghdad’s defenses and leave
only two other Guard divisions
standing between U.S. forces and
Hussein.
On the western front, rockets
illuminated an already starlit sky
over Karbala, a city of 400,000
residents. U.S. tanks rumbled
north and east. Ground soldiers
prepared for combat with Hus
sein’s most loyal fighters.
The Army’s advance occurred
near a region called the Karbala
Gap, a 20- to 25-mile wide sliver of
land about 50 miles south of Bagh
dad. The Army and Republican
Guard have been positioned in that
area, opposite each other, for days.
Hours earlier, the Marines began
their offensive on the eastern front,
moving north from Nasiriyah to
Kut, also a city of 400,000 people.
They expected to engage the Re
publican Guard’s Baghdad division
near that city, which sits astride
the Tigris River and a second
southern route to Baghdad.
The Marines reported destroying
three T-55 tanks and finding aban
doned military vehicles. But anoth
er part of the advance stopped at a
bridge that would not bear the 70
ton weight of their Abrams tanks.
That attack was to resume before
dawn Wednesday.
In Baghdad, Iraqi officials ap
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peared to foreshadow the impor
tance of the batde, issuing what they
said was a personal plea by Hussein
that Iraqis lay down their lives for his
regime and their country.
The message had a stronger
than-usual religious component,
and Hussein did not appear. In
stead, the statement was read by
Information Minister Mohammed
Saeed al-Sahhaf. Some U.S. ana
lysts believe Hussein was killed or
incapacitated by the missile strike
that opened the war nearly two
weeks ago.
“Those who are martyred will be
rewarded in heaven,” the state
ment said. “Seize the opportunity,
my brothers. Strike at them, fight
them. They are aggressors, evil, ac
cursed by God. You shall be victori
ous and they shall be vanquished.”
At the White House, President
Bush conducted a teleconference
with Army Gen. Tommy Franks,
who commands all allied forces in
the Persian Gulf, and was briefed
on the conduct of the war and the
coming action, according to sen
ior U.S. officials, who requested
anonymity.
© 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services. Harper is with
the 3rd Infantry Division near Karbala;
Tamayo is with the 1st Marine
Expeditionary Force in Iraq; and Merzer
anchored from Washington. Also
contributing were Knight Ridder
Newspapers correspondents Drew
Brown with the 3rd Infantry Division
near Karbala; Andrea Gerlin with the
Marines in central Iraq; Jessica Guynn
at the Pentagon; Mark Johnson in
Samawah, Iraq; Mark MacDonald in
Kalak, northern Iraq; Tony Pugh at the
Pentagon; and Peter Smolowitz at allied
headquarters in Qatar.
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