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• Marine Scouts Wait for Second Push Into Iraq • Praise, Protests, Threats: Reaction Around the World • Satellites Give U.S. Missiles Dead-on Aim

American ships and warplanes have launched 500 cruise missiles and several hundred precision weapons on Iraq over the past day, the Pentagon said Saturday.

American forces have progressed 150 miles into Iraq, halfway to Baghdad, said Brig. Gen. Stanley McChrystal of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Warplanes flew 1,000 missions from aircraft carriers and air bases in the region, he said at a Pentagon news conference.

U.S. forces also have successfully crossed the Euphrates River, the major waterway en route to the capital, McChrystal said.

Iraqi soldiers, "including some leadership," are surrendering and defecting in large numbers, Pentagon spokeswoman Torie Clarke said.

"It is only a matter of time before the Iraqi regime is destroyed and its threat to the region ... is ended," she said.

U.S. forces also have successfully crossed the Euphrates River, the major waterway en route to the capital, McChrystal said.

Iraqi soldiers, "including some leadership," are surrendering and defecting in large numbers, Pentagon spokeswoman Torie Clarke said.

"It is only a matter of time before the Iraqi regime is destroyed and its threat to the region ... is ended," she said.

photo credit and caption:

Map locates major government sites and reported targets of the coalition airstrikes in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Grahic)

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