Three of every four allied airstrikes are now targeting Republican Guard forces that stand between advancing columns of U.S. ground troops and Saddam Hussein, a top American air officer said in an Associated Press interview Saturday.
From his desert command post in Saudi Arabia, Air Force Brig. Gen. Daniel Darnell also said U.S. and British warplanes over the past week have attacked virtually every military airfield in Iraq — believed to number roughly 100 — and have seen only a small number of planes. Intensified allied airstrikes on Saddam's best ground forces coincide with efforts by the Army's 3rd Infantry Division and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force to consolidate their supply lines south of Baghdad before beginning a multipronged assault on the Republican Guard. The intent is to severely weaken those forces so they will fall more quickly to American ground troops, minimizing U.S. casualties. The air campaign against the Republican Guard ringing Baghdad intensified after the foul weather that had impeded air operations lifted a few days ago. Darnell said there will be no letup in airstrikes.
| FoxNews is reporting 10 strikes south of Baghdad, targeted at Republican Guard positions. I think that while 3ID is getting some rest, the RG isn't. |
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