War: Latest News

[p0ink]

Reports of chemical weapons near Iraq's Kut - U.S.
Reuters | 3/23/03

AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar, March 23 (Reuters) - The United States said on Sunday there had been reports of some Iraqi forces with chemical weapons near the town of Kut, about 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad.

U.S. Lt. Gen. John Abizaid told a news briefing at Central Command headquarters in Qatar that he expected invading U.S.-led forces to find weapons of mass destruction when they occupy Baghdad, but it would "take some time" to root them out.

The U.S.-British invasion of Iraq was prompted by Iraq's refusal to give up alleged weapons of mass destruction.

"We should not expect to immediately come across it," Abizaid said. "Although there are reports that some units in the vicinty of Al Kut may have some type of chenmical weapons and, of course, we're taking the necessary precautions to deal with that."

It was not immediately clear where the reports came from.

"I have no doubt we'll find weapons of mass destruction, but you shouldn't think it's going to happen tomorrow."

Analysts believe Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has chosen not to use chemical or biological weapons for fear of massive reprisals, or perhaps because he is waiting until Baghdad and other key strategic points come under attack.

 

[p0ink]

UK MADE MISSILES FOUND
SkyNews

UK MADE MISSILES FOUND

British troops securing the outskirts of Basra have discovered missiles and warheads hidden inside fortified bunkers, reports say.

Cases of rockets, giant anti-shipping mines and other ammunition were found in dozens of Iraqi bunkers near what is marked on maps as the Az Zubaya Heliport.

Some of the boxes are clearly marked with the names of British manufacturers, Gethin Chamberlain of The Scotsman filed in a pool report.

It was not clear when the missiles were made.

Skirmish

One pile of boxes in a store housing rocket propelled grenades bears the name of Wallop Industries Limited, based in Middle Wallop in Hampshire, Chamberlain said.

Two Russian-made Al-Harith anti-shipping Cruise missiles, each 20 feet long and three feet in diameter, and nine warheads, hidden in two enormous reinforced concrete bunkers, were also found.

Another missile, as yet unidentified, was found still crated up at the rear of one of the bunkers.

The discovery of the missiles came as British troops from the Black Watch Regiment fought to secure the area around Iraqi's second city, Basra, ahead of a push to capture the city.

Several units were involved in skirmishes with pockets of Iraqi troops and with civilians who have seized abandoned weaponry.

Reinforced bunkers

It was while trying to secure the area around the heliport that units from the Black Watch stumbled upon the missiles and other weapons

The vast complex, surrounded by chainlink fence and barbed wire, stands to the south west of the town, defended by a network of earth works and with tanks and other armoured vehicles dug in to the surrounding area.

But the defenders have fled after coming under attack from coalition forces.

Outside of the perimeter fence were approximately 40 bunkers packed with a mixture of RPGs and other ammunition. Inside, 22 larger fortified bunkers contain heavy weaponry including the Al-Harith missiles.

Also housed inside the reinforced bunkers were what appeared to be large anti-shipping mines and a host of other munitions.

On one box, written in English, were the words: "Contract AS Navy. 5/1980 Iran."

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

Iraq Says It Will Follow Geneva Convention for POWs

Reuters
Sunday, March 23, 2003; 1:33 PM

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq said on Sunday that it would respect the Geneva Convention guaranteeing humane treatment of prisoners after taking at least five U.S. soldiers captive and displaying them on television.

"Iraq will not harm the captured prisoners of war," Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed told a news conference. "It will treat them in accordance with the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war."

At least four dead Americans and five prisoners were filmed by Iraqi television, in footage relayed on Sunday by the Arabic network Al-Jazeera, which said they had been taken during a battle at the southern town of Souq al-Shuyukh.

The prisoners were asked questions in what Washington said was a violation of the Geneva convention. Pictures of Iraqi prisoners have also been shown widely in the United States.

The Americans were the first prisoners known to have been taken by Iraq since U.S.-led forces invaded four days ago in a bid to overthrow President Saddam Hussein.

Ahmed also said that the bodies of U.S. soldiers were lying on a battlefield near the Iraqi city of Nassiriya, apparently different from those whose corpses were shown on television.

"A number of Americans were killed and their corpses are still abandoned in the area of Khomeiteh (near Nassiriya) in front of our forces," he said.

He also said that Iraq had destroyed 10 tanks and 20 armored personnel carriers in fighting across southern Iraq and shot down one unmanned spy plane.

Ahmed denied that the U.S. and British forces had entered any city in Iraq and said there was fierce fighting near Najaf 100 miles south of Baghdad.

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

Live camera of downtown Baghdad


http://www.msnbc.com/m/lv/default.asp?0cm=c43

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

Breaking News
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted on Sun, Mar. 23, 2003

Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan Kills 6
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A U.S. Air Force helicopter crashed in Afghanistan Sunday, killing all six people on board, the U.S. military said.

The HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter was on a medical evacuation mission when it crashed at about 11:20 a.m. EST, about 18 miles north of Ghazni, Afghanistan, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

The helicopter was not shot down, the statement said.

The precise cause of the crash is under investigation.

The Central Command statement did not say whether the medical emergency was in connection with Operation Valiant Strike, a mission involving members of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division in southeastern Afghanistan.

That mission, which began earlier this month, is meant to root out remnants of the al-Qaida and Taliban believed to be operating in the area.

The last helicopter crash in Afghanistan was Jan. 30, when an Army Black Hawk helicopter - the Army's version of the Pave Hawk - on a training mission crashed near the Bagram air base, killing four.

 

[p0ink]

POW video

i kind of have qualms with posting this, but i know if i dont, someone else will.

http://movies.ogrish.com/pow.asf

 

[p0ink]

Belgium just did us a huge favor. they vowed to block turkish admittance into the EU, if they put troops in iraq. (Fox News).

 

[Delinquent]

ABC news just reported that they supposedly just found a chemical weapons plant and they also caputred the commanding general who is considered a gold mine when it comes to info regarding weapons that Saddam "doesn't have"

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

10 Marines killed in fake surrender
--MSNBC

March 23 — U.S. and British forces encountered strong resistance from Iraqi forces in taking the southern Iraq city of Nasiriyah, resulting in numerous deaths, injuries and the apparent capture of several U.S. troops in the “sharpest engagement of the war thus far,” a U.S. military official said Sunday. Separately, two large U.S. forces drove north, one of them coming to within 100 miles of Baghdad as a two-pronged assault on the Iraqi capital appeared to be taking shape following the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and the U.S. military began assembling forces in the north of Iraq.
IT WAS “the toughest day of resistance that we’ve had thus far,” said Army Lt. Gen. John Abizaid at a Sunday press conference at Central Command headquarters in Doha, Qatar, as a heavy air raid crashed on Baghdad. He insisted the U.S. advance was still on track, however, and would soon reach the capital.

Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said about 10 Marines were killed in a faked surrender by Iraqi forces outside of Nasiriyah. The Marines came under fire while preparing to accept what appeared to be surrendering Iraqis.
“We of course will be much more cautious in the way we view the battlefield as a result of some of these incidents,” said Abizaid.
First reports indicated the Iraqis destroyed eight tanks, some anti-aircraft batteries that were in the region, and also some artillery, along with a number of infantry, Abizaid said.
Approximately 50 U.S. soldiers were wounded, some of whom were flown from the battlefield, NBC’s Kerry Sanders reported.
“Clearly they are not a beaten force. This is going to get a lot harder,” said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“Everybody was predicting they’d be welcomed as liberators, but it’s working out differently,” said one senior Arab official in the gulf. “The Americans had a hard day today.”
Evoking Vietnam and Somalia, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf warned U.S. forces they were driving into “a quagmire from which they can never emerge, except dead.”

 

[DcupSheepNipples]

Iraqi gas masks pose threat Captured, dead soldiers carrying new respirators raise fears of chem attack Masks pose Iraqi gas threat

--Melbourne Herald Sun
22mar03

IRAQI soldiers in the country's south were found carrying new gas masks, a sign that Saddam Hussein might be planning chemical attacks, a British officer has said.

The discovery was reported by Lieutenant Colonel Buster Howes of the 42 Commando Royal Marines who are currently securing the Fao peninsula on the third day of their drive to oust Saddam.
Among the rundown weapons, ammunition and machinery found with the dead or captured Iraqis were some new respirators, with an expiry date of 2007, Howes said.

"This is a dark discovery and a stark warning to my men," the officer said. "But we are all very well drilled against the threat and cannot let it stop us in our mission."

US and British military officials have said their biggest fear is a possible chemical or biological attack despite warnings to Iraqi commanders to refuse any such orders or face war crimes charges.

Dozens of gas masks were taken off the Iraqis, but none owned any chemical protection suits, British officers said. They said four Iraqis were killed in the Faw operation.