Posted to WaPo at 1:22 am EDT
Thousands of U.S. Marines moved block by block through Saddam City, a huge urban sprawl in northeast Baghdad, early on Wednesday, continuing to sqeeze out Iraqi resistance in the capital. Reuters correspondent Sean Maguire, travelling with a unit of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said troops met very little resistance, getting a largely warm reception as they swept the low-income residential district. Saddam City is home to two to three million Iraqis, mainly from the Shi'ite Muslim majority, who have traditionally been marginalised by the Sunni ruling elite, most lately by President Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated government. The few local residents on the streets cheered and clapped the U.S. troops. Maguire said he did not hear a shot fired. U.S. warplanes flew low overhead and Marines laid down a long barrage of U.S. artillery which appeared to be "prep" fire, aimed at clearing a space free of Iraqi soldiers or paramilitary fighters for the advancing American troops. One officer said the methodical pace to the assault was to "destroy remaining pockets of enemy resistance."
I don't know why I ever doubted Fred: perhaps Wednesday will be the last day. |