| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Grip on Baghdad Tightens After Try for Saddam |
| 2003-04-08 |
| U.S. forces tightened their grip on Baghdad on Tuesday, blitzing targets in the heart of the capital and seizing an air base after trying to kill Saddam Hussein and his sons with four huge bombs. The U.S. military said it did not know if the air raid on Monday evening had killed the Iraqi president, but said his grasp on the country of 26 million was fast disintegrating. "We're not sure exactly who's in charge at this particular point in time," U.S. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said. Aircraft, tanks and artillery pounded the nerve center of Saddam's administration in a thundering raid in central Baghdad that began at dawn, meeting only scattered Iraqi return fire. "It's raining bombs," said Reuters correspondent Samia Nakhoul. "They're targeting the same area over and over. The place is shaking and there's smoke rising," she said from the Palestine Hotel where most foreign media are based. No telling who's in charge if Sammy's titzup. Maybe no one. There was a report yesterday that there were clashes between the Baathists and Baghdadis. We should expect to see them start stringing up the Fedayeen any time now — that's when we'll know for sure Sammy's gone. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |