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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

27 March 2003

U.S. Forces Secure Airbase in Northern Iraq

(Central Command Report) (620)
By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr.
Washington File Staff Writer
U.S. paratroopers landed in a Kurdish-controlled area of northern Iraq
during a nighttime airdrop March 26, establishing a secure airbase at
Harir, and were followed by U.S. mechanized infantry forces arriving
by air transport, a U.S. Central Command briefing officer said.
"An airborne combat team parachuted into northern Iraq yesterday
evening.
The presence of a combat brigade in that area changes the dynamics
considerably," Army Brigadier General Vincent Brooks, CENTCOM's deputy
operations director, said at a March 27 media briefing.
Brooks said that as coalition forces are added to the battlefield --
based on the CENTCOM war plan -- it gives commanders additional
options and increases the number of threats posed to the Iraqi regime.
"The capabilities of that force may be more than what meets the eye,"
he said. "They can be used offensively. And if we choose to use them
that way, then that's indeed how they'll be used."
However, Brooks would not elaborate on how or when the northern forces
would be used, to avoid giving Iraqi forces operational details. Harir
is approximately 70 kilometers northeast of Arbil, which is in a
Kurdish-controlled zone that includes the provinces of Arbil, Dohuk,
and As Sulaymaniyah.
Brooks said U.S. and coalition special operations forces, now
operating across Iraq, are conducting strategic reconnaissance to find
weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missiles and regime leaders.
"Our direct attacks against the regime's structure and units continued
in the last 24 hours," Brooks said. "And the cumulative effect we're
seeing is degraded control. We're seeing locally controlled military
and paramilitary actions, frequent survival moves by regime leaders,
and uncontrolled firing of air defense missiles."
Brooks said coalition forces are reporting that the regime of Iraqi
leader Saddam Hussein is becoming increasingly desperate in its
actions.
"Their repressive acts against Iraqi citizens showing any signs of
tolerance of the coalition are growing harsher," he said. "Our field
commanders report that in the vicinity of An Najaf, as one example,
Iraqi regime forces are seizing children from their homes, telling
their families that the males must fight for the regime or they will
all face execution."
Brooks said the discovery by British forces of several thousand more
chemical protective suits in the Ar Rumaylah oil fields in southern
Iraq strongly indicate "a certain knowledge in the Iraqi forces that
chemical weapons will be used." Since coalition forces do not have
chemical weapons, Brooks said, there may already have been an Iraqi
decision to use banned weapons at some point.
In other operations, Brooks said:
-- Elements of the U.S. Fifth Corps were attacked by vehicle-mounted
irregular forces east of An Najaf, where there had been media reports
of a massive convoy moving from Baghdad with a convoy approaching
1,000 vehicles. Brooks said the early reports were inaccurate on the
size of the force, and the U.S. mechanized forces and Air Force
bombers "soundly defeated the attack, destroying most of the force."
-- In An Nasiriyah, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force defeated an
attack by Iraqi irregular forces that were supported in the 90-minute
battle by Iraqi armored personnel carriers, rocket launchers and
anti-aircraft artillery systems, Brooks said.
-- A British supply ship, the HMS Sir Galahad, was scheduled to
deliver approximately 650 tons of food, water and medical supplies to
the Iraqi deep-water port at Umm Qasr, but the discovery of mines in
the channel prevented the ship from arriving on schedule, Brooks and
Pentagon officials said. Coalition naval forces are clearing the
channel and expect the cargo ship to arrive March 28, Brooks said.
(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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