WASHINGTON March 22 —
The war against Iraq, off to a smooth and potent start, could
become more difficult and deadly in the coming days. The tasks ahead
may require fighting the battle-ready Republican Guard troops,
avoiding chemical attacks, seizing the streets of Baghdad and
tracking down Saddam Hussein.
"There will be surprises," Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of the
U.S.-led forces, said Saturday. "We have not yet seen them."
One new complication is how to secure northern Iraq. The U.S.
military on Saturday abandoned plans to use Turkish bases to move
ground forces across the border with Iraq. The United States needs
troops in the north not only to fight Iraqi forces, but also to
avert possible conflicts between Kurds and neighboring Turkey.
U.S. officials are currently relying on special operations forces
in the north, but may have to send additional conventional forces
into the area.
President Bush renewed his warning that the war "could be longer
and more difficult" than some think. Franks, in his first news
conference since the war's start Wednesday, spoke of the "potential
for days and for weeks ahead" of fighting.
In particular, the six fighting divisions of the elite Republican
Guard appear ready for combat and are mostly dug in around
Baghdad.
At least one top deputy of Saddam is believed alive and
commanding some Iraqi military and security efforts, a senior U.S.
official said. That deputy, known as "Chemical Ali," led the
chemical weapons attack against rebellious Kurds in the 1980s that
killed thousands of civilians.
That raises the fear that U.S. troops could face chemical or
biological attacks. The troops have yet to find weapons of mass
destruction, which the White House contended Saddam was concealing
and President Bush said was a prime rationale for war.
Saddam himself has proved elusive.
Franks said he did not know if the Iraqi president were alive or
dead, after a massive U.S. bombing strike at dawn in Baghdad
Thursday that was intended for him and his sons. More footage of
Saddam appeared on Iraqi television Saturday, but it was unclear
when it had been taken.
If Saddam or either son is alive and in control, that could mean
greater resistance by the better-trained and more loyal Republican
Guards as U.S. troops draw near the capital.
U.S. war planners long have worried these soldiers will try to
mount street-to-street fighting inside sprawling Baghdad, leading to
both greater U.S. casualties and more deaths among Iraqi civilian
men, women and children. Baghdad has about 5 million people.
Such urban fighting though scattered already has occurred in the
southern seaport of Umm Qasr, now mostly under U.S. control. And the
possibility of similar warfare in the key southern city of Basra led
U.S. and British officials to announce Saturday they will not storm
the city, but instead try to gain an Iraqi surrender through
defections.
That might not be an option in Baghdad if the Republican Guards
choose to fight.
The deaths of Iraqi civilians would give Saddam's government a
powerful propaganda tool, hurting America's political aims in the
war. Toward that end, Iraq's foreign minister sent a letter to U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan complaining that Americans were bombing
homes, schools, mosques and churches in Baghdad, according to Iraqi
television. U.S. officials have said they are being as careful as
possible to avoid civilian casualties.
Even the fast and successful pace of the attack so far might
cause a problem: The challenge of keeping spread-out troops supplied
and moving quickly.
Traffic along one supply route near Nasiriyah in the south was at
times so heavy Saturday that the huge military flatbeds and Humvees
were brought to a standstill. That could be deadly if Iraqi forces
were somehow able to open fire.
EDITOR'S NOTE Sally Buzbee has covered foreign affairs and
national security issues for The Associated Press.
photo credit
and caption:
A police officer walks through
an orphanage that was hit by US-led bombing outside Baghdad,
Iraq, Saturday March 22, 2003. The place was empty at the time
of the attack. (AP Photo/Ali
Haider)
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