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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

22 March 2003

U.S. Says Rumaylah Oil Fields Now in Coalition Hands

(U.S. Central Command report, March 22) (640)
By David Anthony Denny
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The vital Iraqi Rumaylah oil fields have been seized by
U.S. forces, according to U.S. military officials briefing the media
in Doha, Qatar, March 22.
Brigadier General Vince Brooks, after preparatory remarks by Central
Command (CENTCOM) commander General Tommy Franks, gave an update on
military operations for the first three days of combat operations in
Iraq. Brooks said ground forces had seized the Rumaylah oil fields.
"The oil fields were spared destruction that was intended by the
regime because of the effectiveness of these attacks," Brooks said.
"[T]he good news is: only nine of the roughly 500 oil wells that are
in the Rumaylah oil fields ... were sabotaged by the regime.... All
the rest of them are OK," Brooks said.
Franks said the current campaign "will be ... unlike any other in
history: a campaign characterized by shock, by surprise, by
flexibility, by the employment of precise munitions on a scale never
before seen, and by the application of overwhelming force." The plan
includes the use of U.S. Army and Marine ground forces, air forces
from several nations, naval forces including the U.S. Coast Guard, and
special operations forces, Franks said.
Turning to combat operations so far, Franks said special operations
forces entered Iraq first, followed by ground forces, and then "the
introduction of shock air forces.
"That sequence was based on our intelligence reads, how we see the
enemy, and on our sense of the capabilities of our own forces," Franks
said.
Brooks said coalition special operations forces captured three key oil
terminals in southern Iraq and in the Persian Gulf used to export oil
to tanker ships. Found at the terminals were weapons, ammunition and
explosives not meant for defensive purposes, he said.
"By preventing certain destruction [of the terminals], the coalition
has preserved the future of Iraq," Brooks said.
Commanders of several Iraqi regular army divisions have surrendered to
coalition forces, Brooks said, and their troops have laid down their
equipment and have gone home. This, he said, was due to the "power of
information" -- a reference to millions of leaflets dropped by air,
plus military broadcasts over the past weeks urging Iraqi soldiers not
to fight for "a dying regime" and giving them explicit instructions on
how to surrender.
Asked about the status of ongoing negotiations for the surrender of
the Iraqi regime, Franks said: "[W]e have ongoing dialogues ... with a
number of senior Iraqi officials. And so those discussions, both with
people in uniform and not in uniform, will continue in the hours and
the days ahead."
Asked whether any evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction had
yet been found, Franks said: "One would expect that weapons of mass
destruction would perhaps be found in certain parts of the country,
and that is work that lies in front of us, rather than work we have
already accomplished. ... There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam
Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. And ... as this
operation continues, those weapons will be identified, found, along
with the people who have produced them and who guard them."
In response to a question about Ansar al-Islam terrorists' presence in
the Kurdish northern part of Iraq, Franks said: "[F]rom time to time
... we will come across what we believe to be terrorist-associated
activity or people, and when we do, we will strike them, and then we
will exploit the site (afterward). ... [W]e did strike last evening
[March 21] a terrorist complex: the one you just made reference to.
And I won't describe exactly what action we'll be taking in the next
few days with regard to that particular site."
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)



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