The Iraq War 2003
Latest News & Views

[Mewnews, April 3] U.S. troops attacked Saddam International Airport in the southwest corner of Baghdad tonight. Tracer rounds, anti-aircraft fire and artillery blasted near the airport, 10 miles southwest of the city center. Large sections of Baghdad lost power for the first time since the war began after huge explosions rocked the capital.

US Forces Raid Saddam Palace in North Baghdad

[Mewnews, April 3]  U.S. special operations forces briefly raided a presidential palace Thursday north of Baghdad. They seizing important documents, overcoming light resistance, and retreated. The palace that was raided is the Thar Thar presidential palace about 56 miles northwest of Baghdad. Earlier, a spokesman said the palace was near Baghdad's Saddam airport in the southwest of the city.

US Forces enter Najaf- 10KM from Baghdad- F-18 down

[Mewnews, April 3] US forces were reportedly racing north to Baghdad amid heavy fighting according to reports Thursday morning. Reports indicated battles as close a 6 miles from the gates of Baghdad (10 KM). Troops advanced over the both the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Iraqi troops were reported fleeing and discarding their black army boots along the way.

A US Navy F-18 fighter and a Black Hawk helicopter were shot down near Karbala on Wednesday. The Hornet was brought down by missile fire. The helicopter was brought down by small arms.

In the north, Kurdish fighters were reported advancing on the oil town of Mosul, but encountered heavy resistance.

U.S. Army troops seized the southern edge of Najaf on the Euphrates River city Wednesday afternoon. Hundreds of curious civilians, many of them smiling and waving, lined the narrow, dusty streets while soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division pressed to within half a mile of the gilded dome of the tomb of Ali, a site venerated by Shiite Muslims as the burial site of the prophet Muhammad's son-in-law.

Just before PM, Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, entered Najaf in a convoy, urged on by clapping Iraqis who gestured impatiently for the Americans to press deeper into the city center. This welcome contrasted with the hitherto subdued enthusiasm of Shi'ite populations.

Petraeus said Najaf was "very much contained" by Wednesday evening, but US troops do not occupy most of the city of 500,000.

The assault on Najaf reached a climax early this morning when Air Force planes dropped three 2,000-pound bombs on three buildings believed to be resistance strongholds. "It looked like sunrise coming up," an Air Force liaison officer said.

No casualties from the 101st Airborne were reported. Iraqi civilian casualties in Najaf remain uncertain, although Col. Ben Hodges, commander of the 1st Brigade, said, "It would be almost unfathomable that nobody was injured" during the two-day bombardment.

On Wednesday it was reported that Karbala was surrounded, Kut had been bypassed and marines captured a bridge over the Tigris and are speeding north. US claimed to have destroyed a Republican Guard division  while heavy fighting continues with Republican guard units, who are getting pounded by artillery as well as aerial bombardment. Americans also continued to soften up Al-Najaf, but did not enter.

U.S. Brigadier General Vincent Brooks announced on Wednesday that U.S. troops had "destroyed" the Baghdad Division near the town of Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, and had inflicted damage on two other Guard divisions - a charge that Iraq dismissed as "baseless."

"This is a baseless statement, as the Baghdad division is in command of the situation and it enjoys high morale to fight the enemy and destroy it," a military spokesman said. He said the division had not even suffered casualties in its engagement with U.S. troops.

However, US troops were reportedly about 40 km from Baghdad along Highway 6 from Kut, and 30 km from Baghdad on the road from Karbala in the West. The US also bombed Mosul and Kirkuk in the north.

In Baghdad on Tuesday the Iraqi information minister read a message from Saddam Hussein calling for a Jihad (text).

Palestine: "Thousands of Citizens Express Solidarity With Their Iraqi Brothers"

[Mewnews, April 1]The Palestine National Authority Newspaper, Al Hayat Al Jadida, carried the following report on their Web site on March 29.

Angry processions and demonstrations were staged yesterday in several cities, towns, and villages of the West Bank and Gaza Strip during which the participants called for an end to the US-British war against Iraq and the withdrawal of the invading forces from the land of the two rivers. They affirmed that they absolutely support the brother Iraqi people and President Saddam Husayn and stand side by side with their brothers in Iraq. Scores of participants carried posters condemning the war and the aggression against Iraq and calling on Arab states to open their borders with Iraq to allow Arab volunteers to join the contingents of mujahidin in brotherly Iraq.

  In their Friday sermons yesterday, preachers in the mosques called on Muslims to pool their resources and achieve solidarity between the Islamic and Arab nations in face of the aggression against Iraq. They also appealed to the Arab states to open the doors of jihad against neo-imperialism.

    Downtown Ramallah and Al-Birah yesterday witnessed the biggest the demonstration against the war on Iraq and Israeli occupation since the start of the popular solidarity campaign with Iraq, which has now continued for the second week. Angry demonstrators in al-Manarah square burned symbols of the coalition states in expression of the sweeping national resentment against the war and the crimes that are being committed against innocent people. They called for stopping the aggression and withdrawing the invading forces from Iraq and the Arab territories.

    Thousands of citizens from the Ramallah Governorate took part in a massive procession, which set off after Friday prayers in response to the call made by the political national and Islamic forces, the popular committee in solidarity with Iraq and other national organizations and figures. The procession was reminiscent of old intifadah scenes.

    The crowds marched behind the leaders and representatives of the national and Islamic forces, members of the Legislative Council, and representatives of the popular national and Islamic organizations under a forest of national and Iraqi flags, as well as the flags of the various forces.  There were also placards condemning the war and its planners. The participants also raised photos of President Saddam Husayn.

    Scores of children carried small Iraqi flags and showed victory signs in expression of their sentiments toward their brothers in Iraq. The demonstrators carried streamers with slogans condemning the US-British aggressive policy led by the Bush-Blair coalition against Iraq and the Arab and Islamic nations. Other streamers carried slogans condemning the war and calling for its immediate end and the departure of the invading forces. Yet other streamers affirmed the unity of Arab destiny, aim, and blood and the link between the Palestinian and Iraqi causes.

    The procession marched through the main streets and culminated in a speech rally amid hostile cries that opposed the unfair war on the people, land, and sovereignty of Iraq and affirmed solidarity with the brotherly people in Iraq.

    The participants hailed the Iraqi resistance and steadfastness and called for the escalation of the resistance in order to repulse the aggression. Moreover, they criticized certain Arab states for providing facilities to the invasion armies and called on all the states and peoples of the nation to boycott US goods and products and refrain from providing all forms of assistance to the aggression. They also prayed for the victory of Iraq.

    The demonstrators also condemned the Israeli aggression and occupation and Sharon's attempts to exploit the unfair and illegal war against Iraq to implement his expansionist plans. They called for the continuation of the intifadah and the resistance against these plots.

    Scores of foreign activists, members of the international popular campaign in support of our people, also took part in the processions. They raised placards condemning and calling for an end to the war. They shouted slogans in their national languages in this sense. Meanwhile, women participants ululated and chanted folksongs in solidarity with Iraq, people and leadership.

The participants in the procession affirmed their support for Presidents Yasir Arafat and Saddam Husayn against imperialist attempts to encroach on their legitimacy. They affirmed President Arafat's historical, democratic, and struggle legitimacy in representing and leading our people and their struggle.

In a speech at the rally in the name of the national and Islamic forces, Salih Ra'fat, secretary general of Fida Organization, affirmed that our entire people at home, in the Diaspora, and within the Green Line support their Iraqi brothers against the aggression.

Iraqi Agents in Jordan Plotted To Poison Water Supply

[MewNews April 2]  Jordanian authorities say they have arrested several Iraqi agents who allegedly planned to poison the water supply that serves American troops in the eastern desert of Jordan, as a US miliary base in Khao, near Zarka. Officials said this plot was connected to the expulsion of three Iraqi diplomats in late March.

IWestern diplomats also said Monday that four Iraqis were arrested last week for allegedly planning to set fire to the Grand Hyatt Amman Hotel, where many American journalists — and some American military personnel — are staying. They set a blaze, but it was extinguished by the hotel's sprinkler sysem.

Saddam: Victory at Hand

[Mewnews, April 2] - Saddam Hussein issued a new statement urging Iraqis to continue fighting in defense of their towns. He said "Victory is at hand,"  according to a broadcast Wednesday on Iraqi satellite television. A separate decree, also attributed to Saddam, offered cash rewards to those who help identify spies for the U.S.-led coalition.

Iraqi television reported Saddam met Wednesday with his sons, Odai and Qusai, and top military aides including Iraq's air defense commander. It showed no footage.

In the Iraqi leader's latest statement, read by a news anchor in military uniform, Saddam repeatedly called upon his people to rise up and said Iraqi armed forces have yet to display their full battle capabilities.

"Fight them so that Iraq, the bastion of religion and principles, will be secured and our (Islamic) nation will come out of this crisis glorious," the statement read. "Fight them. Victory is at hand, God willing, although we have only utilized a third or less of our army while the criminals have used everything they brought in."

The statement singled out the 11th Division of the Iraqi army and Baath Party members in Nasiriyah and other southern towns who have "exhausted" the coalition forces and urged Iraqis to follow heir example in defending their cities.

Saddam has appeared in two televised speeches since the war began on March 20 — one in the opening hours of the fighting and another four days later. The earlier statements in which he appeared in person had no time-critical information.  His offices and palatial homes have been  repeatedly struck by missiles fired from U.S. ships and warplanes, and US officials have expressed doubts that he is alive. 

Saddam: Jihad Speech Text In Full

Text of address by Saddam Hussein, read by information Minister Muhammad Sa'id al-Sahhaf April 1, 2003

US Hits Hospital - More Civilian Casualties

[Mewnews, April 2] U.S. aircraft hit a Red Crescent maternity hospital in Baghdad, the city's trade fair and other civilian buildings on Wednesday, killing several people and wounding at least 25, hospital sources and a Reuters witness said.

The attacks occurred at 9:30 a.m. (0630 GMT) and caught motorists by surprise  during a lull in the bombing. At least five cars were crushed with drivers burned to death inside, according to Reuters.

At least three doctors and nurses working at the Iraqi Red Crescent hospital were wounded in the blasts. Among the wounded were patients who had come to hospital for help.

The missiles obliterated wings of Baghdad's trade fair building, which lies next to a government security office that was apparently missed in the bombings.

Bombings on Wednesday also hit the Baghdad telephone exchanges again, putting most of the telephone network out of order.

Earlier, The Iraqi government claimed that  US forces had killed civilians in an Apache helicopter attack, in Hillah, south of Hindiyeh, killing 33 people and injuring more than 300. One man, Kazem Mohammed, said he was on the highway from Nasiriyah, heading to Hillah when the attack occurred. He said 11 of his relatives were killed when the vehicle they were riding in was hit. A man was also killed at a checkpoint.

Earlier, at a checkpoint near Najaf, U.S. troops killed seven Iraqi women and children and wounded two others at a checkpoint Monday when the Iraqis' van, carrying 13 women and children, would not stop as ordered, a military official said. The military is investigation. Soldiers fired warning shots and then shots into the vehicle's engine, neither of which stopped it, he said.

Arab League Plans Regional Organization

[Mewnews, April 2] Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak  raised the issue of a new Arab security order Monday. In a speech to his army commanders he raised "the possibility of having a developed, comprehensive Arab security system that keeps pace with the era's spirit, to consolidate our capabilities to face both inside and outside challenges."

General Amr Moussa, Egyptian diplomat and current Arab League Secretary, said today it was time for Arabs to build a new regional security order.

 "The Arab states have failed to meet their obligations and stand up to the challenges," Moussa said.  "We have to look seriously and honestly at the way the Arab system is working in the future."

Earlier, in an interview with the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al Awsat that appeared Tuesday, Moussa said some Arab countries "wanted the war and there were those who prepared for its eruption hoping for a desired objective."

Britain, Pentagon and State Department Quarrel over Occupation Gov't

[Mewnews, April 3] British FM Jack Straw has said that Iraq must be governed by Iraqis "in the end." This may or may not signal a difference of opinion from the US, which is planning to install a government run by American officials as an interim measure of unknown duration. According to a report in Monday's Washington Post, the State Department and Pentagon have disagreed over which Americans will be in charge of ruling Iraq democratically. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld has rejected a team of officials proposed by the State Department to help run postwar Iraq in what sources described as an effort to ensure the Pentagon controls every aspect of
reconstructing the country and forming a new government.

Vetoing the group of eight current and former State Department officials, including several ambassadors to Arab states, the Pentagon's top civilian leadership has planned prominent roles in the postwar administration of the newly liberated and democratic Iraq for former CIA director R. James Woolsey and others who have long supported the idea of replacing Iraq's government, according to
sources close to the issue.

The dispute is over who will occupy what the "cabinet ministries" under retired Gen. Jay M. Garner, the Pentagon-named head of a new Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, until the unspecified date when country can be fully handed over to Iraqis. By interagency agreement, portfolios such as education and trade were to be filled by the State Department, with the Pentagon choosing the "civilian advisers" for other departments. Sources said that Walter Slocum, who served as undersecretary of defense during the Clinton administration, might be the Iraqi Defense Minister.

"We've been told there is a big disagreement between State and Defense over who controls the personnel in Garner's group," said an officials. One source said that Rumsfeld had said Pentagon choices were "too low-profile and bureaucratic" for the work in Iraq. In the chain of command, Garner's office falls under Gen. Tommy R. Franks, head of the U.S. Central Command, which is running military operations in Iraq. Franks answers to Rumsfeld.