STARTED! Baghdad Being bombed - Post made by Mr. OverclockerBloke, War Fanatic

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Breaking News - US Special Forces last night inflitrated one of Sadam's Palaces. Only information we have other than that is that they then left.
 
The U.N. children's fund UNICEF expressed concern on Wednesday that Iraqi children might mistake yellow food packets being handed out by U.S.-led forces with small bombs with identical coloring.
"Confusing unexploded ordinance with food places children at huge risk of injury or death," UNICEF said, calling on the military to urgently change the color of the food packets.
A UNICEF statement said food packets known as "humanitarian daily rations" that were being handed out by the U.S. and British forces in Iraq were wrapped in bright yellow plastic.
The color of the wrapping was identical to that of an air-dropped bomblet that UNICEF identified as a BLU 97.
A similar problem had arisen during the war in Afghanistan, where the U.S. military eventually changed the wrapping on food packets to blue, the U.N. agency said.
In Afghanistan, both the food packets and the bomblets were dropped from U.S. aircraft, while in Iraq only the bomblets were being air-dropped. But children can still confuse the ration and unexploded ordinance, because of their identical coloring, UNICEF said.
The BLU 97 -- a canister containing 202 bomblets, each the size of a soda can -- has been used by U.S. forces in Iraq against heavily populated civilian areas, according to human rights group Amnesty International.
The bomblets scatter over a large area about the size of two football fields, and at least 5 percent of them fail to explode on impact, Amnesty International said.
The U.S. military had no immediate comment.
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The destruction of two Republican Guard divisions ("Baghdad" and "Medina") should come as no surprise. These units are often inaccurately labeled as "elite." The Republican Guard is elite only in relation to the Iraqi army units. One thing that makes Republican Guard troops "elite" to Saddam is the willingness of the Guard troops to commit atrocities against the Iraqi people. Iraqi army units cannot be trusted to do this sort of thing. Compared to U.S. and British units, the Republican guard is poorly equipped, trained and led. In the 1991 war, the Republican Guard units would fight, and be promptly destroyed, while Iraqi army units were more prone to disintegration or massive surrenders. A month ago, the six Republican Guard divisions had nearly 70,000 troops, 800 tanks, a thousand other armored vehicles and some 500 artillery. Nearly a week of air attacks are thought to have destroyed about fifty percent of those vehicles and maybe a third of the troops. There have been some desertions as well, although most of these men head for home, not coalition forces, when they decide to quit.

Most of the damage to Republican Guard units has been done from the air, using a new generation of smart bombs ("wind corrected munitions dispensers") that release dozens of smart bomblets that, in turn, use radar and heat sensors to seek out and destroy armored vehicles below. These smart bombs destroy most vehicles within a area 150 by 360 meters. Coalition aircraft track vehicle movements in most of central Iraq around the clock. When what appears to be a military convoy is spotted, several of the smart bombs are dropped along the route. Aerial photos the next day show many burned out armored vehicles along that road. During the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraqi were able to deceive coalition bombers about the success of their attacks. Not this time, or at least so it seems. The truth will not be known until coalition troops come in and inspect the destroyed Iraqi vehicles.

For the second night in a row, a convoy of American military vehicles (trucks and hummers) crossed into northern Iraq from Turkey. These vehicles are apparently being used to provide mobility for American paratroopers and Kurdish forces. Explosions are heard along the border with Iraqi controlled territory, as American Special Forces call in bomb attacks in support of Kurdish militia fighting local Iraqi troops. The Iraqi army units facing the Kurds are usually interested in fighting, and after a few of the American bombs, the Iraqis will retreat a few kilometers. As the Iraqis are pushed back closer to the outskirts of Mosul and Kirkuk, the two major cities in northern Iraq, they are putting up a fight. That is what is going on today. But these are Iraqi army troops, who tend to retreat if put under too much pressure.

One heavily armed unit on Saddam's payroll had publicly declared itself neutral in the war between Iraq and the invading coalition. This force is the Iranian People's Mujahadeen (Mujahedeen-el-Khalk), which has opposed the Islamic government in Iran for over twenty years, and for just as long has been supported by Saddam in camps along the Iranian border. Numbering several thousand lightly armed Iranians, their camps have occasionally suffered rocket or air attack from Iran. This is because the People's Mujahadeen regularly sends armed teams into Iran to attack military and police targets. Saddam has occasionally used them to do dirty work inside Iraq. But these guys are no friend of Saddam, who used them as pawns in his ongoing maneuvers against Iran. So now it's pay back time. After September 11, 2001, the People's Mujahadeen were declared international terrorists by the United States. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Shia rebel group supported by Iran inside Iran (SAIRI or Supreme Assembly for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq), has been negotiating with the U.S. government over what role SAIRI would play in post-Saddam Iraq.

The three American divisions leading the drive on Baghdad (3rd Mechanized, 101st Airborne, 1st Marine) all had a few days to replenish their supplies. What they did was stock up so that they had their "basic load" of ammo, food, fuel and so on. This is the total amount of stuff they can fit on their armored vehicles and trucks. The basic load gives you enough supplies to take off and move and fight for 2-4 days (depending on the degree of opposition and how much you have to move.)
Several battalions of the Republican Guard tried to recapture a bridge over the Euphrates river Mussayib. American troops destroyed most of the attackers and no damage was done to the bridge, which is 30 kilometers from Baghdad. While some U.S. scouts have advanced close enough to see the Baghdad skyline, most American troops were seen digging in, which may only be a short delay while bombers and gunships seek out and destroy nearby Iraqi combat units. If the Republican Guard want to hang on to any of their armored vehicles, they have to keep moving them away from advancing American troops. But as the Iraqis do that, American ground or air forces nail them. But with Baghdad so close, the surviving Republican Guard troops will probably get back to the capital as infantry only. There is also the fear that some, or many, of these Republican Guard troops will stay outside Baghdad and snipe at coalition supply and support troops. This would slow down supply operations and divert some combat units to deal with the attacks.
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Current Situation (Spec-Ops aren't marked)
 
She Was Fighting to the Death

Washington Post
Pfc. Jessica Lynch, rescued Tuesday from an Iraqi hospital, fought fiercely and shot several enemy soldiers after Iraqi forces ambushed the Army's 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company, firing her weapon until she ran out of ammunition, U.S. officials said yesterday.

Lynch, a 19-year-old supply clerk, continued firing at the Iraqis even after she sustained multiple gunshot wounds and watched several other soldiers in her unit die around her in fighting March 23, one official said. The ambush took place after a 507th convoy, supporting the advancing 3rd Infantry Division, took a wrong turn near the southern city of Nasiriyah. "She was fighting to the death," the official said. "She did not want to be taken alive. "Lynch was also stabbed when Iraqi forces closed in on her position, the official said, noting that initial intelligence reports indicated that she had been stabbed to death
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Baghdad :: Rageh Omaar :: 1216GMT
The Iraqi Minister for Information acknowledged that there is a very heavy battle still going on but disputed the idea that this was on the outskirts of Baghdad and around the airport. He said that it was between Babylon and Hilla. He said this battle involved units of the Republican Guard. He utterly disputed all claims coming out of Central Command in Doha. We'd been told that as soon as US forces knock on the city's doors, the ministers would be loading up their cars and heading off into exile.

He and the other ministers we see don't strike me as men who are about to run. For some reason they seem confident and this is the mysterious thing. What is it that gives them this confidence?
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And thats the million dollar question.
 
CNN's Walter Rodgers, rolling towards Baghdad with the 3rd Cavalry, just reported that every dead Iraqi soldier he's seen by the roadside was equipped with a gas mask.
 
i have this nightmare that they will draw loads of our troops off and then set some kind of dirty nuke off in the middle of Baghdad killing loads of civies and armed troops. :(
 
Out, Out Damn Spot

Al Jazeera reporters have been told to leave Baghdad as soon as possible. They say Iraqi officials gave them no explanation for the dismissal. - FOX News broadcast
 
Statement from Central Command:

They are investigating a possible friendly fire incident where an F-15E Strike Eagle may have bombed an American position. One dead, other injured, some missing at this stage.

No British involved apparently.
 
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The lights in Baghdad have all gone out.

Al Jazeera was interviewing the Iraqi Information Minister at the time and then everything cut out.

Initial reports are that the whole capital is in darkness, but this is breaking news so unsure.
 
Originally posted by Over Clocker
I have this bad horrible feeling in my gut that something bad is going to happen within 5 daya or so.:(

Hope my gut feeling is very very wrong.
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SO do I, I can just 'see' something happening. SOmething big and I am thinking either chemical or nuclear:(

I 'hope' it is chemical as there will be a high chance of US forces surviving if its chemical but I pray that things like that wont happen
 
Its a bit like a calm before the storm.

I just feel it has been a bit too easy for us to get near Baghdad.

Then again, they know more than we do, Special Forces etc etc.
 
Whatever happens more civilians and allied troops will die, imo the easy bit is over. Saddam has no nuclear capability, but for the risk of a dirty bomb the threat is likely to be chemical, which hopefully our guys will be protected against.
 
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