| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Saddamjugend joins battle in Baghdad |
| 2003-04-06 |
| Teenage Iraqis have said they are prepared to fight to the death to defend their city. Iraqi tanks, armoured personnel carriers and artillery have been deployed in the capital, some supported by young volunteers. Baghdad's heavy weapons are facing the western, southern and northern entrances that US forces are believed most likely to use. "I am not afraid to die," said 16-year-old Thamer Mekki. Good thing, isn't it? The fifth-former, interviewed wearing jeans and a T-shirt, said he learned how to shoot a gun at the age of 14. "I am doing this for my country," he added, standing guard in the upmarket Mansour district. No doubt Mom will miss you... The teenage volunteers are bolstered by some more seasoned fighters. During their first incursion into the city yesterday, the Americans came under intense fire from the Republican Guard. The Guard opened up with infantry small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. But they are also armed with T-72 tanks - a harder-hitting tank than the elderly T-55s and T-62s which have been encountered so far. But they pop just about the same... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 Ah, Spring Time in Berlin...err Baghdad and the Hitler Youth is out in force. BTW, the Hitler Youth, fighting in the last gasps of the Reich were known for killing seasoned German officers who were trying to surrender their men to the Allies. Now remind me how the International Community[TM] was up in arms because the US wouldn't sign the international convention which prohibited 17 year olds to enlist. [Something about the Constitution giving Congress that power, which by Title 10 says "The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and under 45 years of age..."] Can we expect a similar volume of outrage here? No. Nothing registering on my volume meter. |
| Posted by: Don 2003-04-06 12:07:42 |