31 March 2003
Pressure on Iraqi Regime from "All Directions," Pentagon Says
(Defense Department Report, March 31: Iraqi Operational Update) (620) Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Victoria Clarke says the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein is facing pressure "from all directions." In a briefing updating reporters at the Pentagon March 31, Clarke said coalition forces are approaching Baghdad now from the north, south and west. "It is not a good picture" for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, she said, who apparently has not appeared in person to rally his troops. It is inevitable now, the spokeswoman said, that the current regime in Iraq will be replaced, the Iraqi people will be freed from decades "of torture and oppression, the likes of which, I think, the world has not ever seen before," and, finally Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) will be found and destroyed. Speaking on the twelfth day of "Operation Iraqi Freedom," Army Major General Stanley McChrystal joined Clarke to say that there has been "some very significant weakening" of Iraqi Republican Guard units. Right now efforts are under way to degrade Iraqi military divisions such as the Medina, al-Nida and Hammurabi, he said, and ultimately divisions "that stand in our way" will be destroyed. In western Iraq, McChrystal, who is vice director of operations for the Joint Staff, said U.S. Special Operations Forces and coalition representatives are able to move around now "almost at will." He said those forces have focused on various military operations including "counter Scud (ballistic missile) work." Unlike the Persian Gulf conflict in 1991, Clarke noted, no Iraqi Scuds have been launched against Israel. McChrystal also denied recent media reports that Iraq is being carpet bombed indiscriminately as part of the air operation. "There really is not carpet bombing occurring," he said; instead there are combinations of munitions being launched from aircraft such as B-1s, B-2s and B-52s -- especially large numbers of precision-guided munitions (PGMs). In just the last three days, for example, he said, 3,000 PGMs have been used; 8,000 since the operation began. McChrystal was asked about the potential danger of coalition air strikes against hidden Iraqi chemical or biological weapons storage or production sites. Target selection is undertaken with great care, he said, "so we don't get any unintended (spill over) effect." While no Iraqi weapons of mass destruction have been found as yet, McChrystal said coalition planners still believe that the Iraqi regime has both the capability and intent to deploy chemical weapons, and could do so from conventional artillery or from a garbage truck. While the U.S. is getting "much support from so many countries" as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom," Clarke particularly singled out the British contribution for American gratitude. She said the British are doing "a fabulous job," especially in and around the southern city of al-Basrah, where they are confronting Saddam's Fedayeen "death squads" and trying to bring in water and other humanitarian assistance to beleaguered citizens. Asked by a reporter why the liberation of Basrah seems to be slow going, the spokeswoman said it may have to do with the fact that this is where "some of the worst of the worst of the Iraqi regime" have been located. She also highlighted the contribution being made to security and translation services by the volunteer Free Iraqi Forces (FIF). When Saddam Hussein's regime is history, Clarke said, the FIF "will have played an important role" in liberating the nation from that regime. Clarke also took note of various reports which have surfaced recently suggesting that family members of very senior Iraqi leaders are fleeing the country. (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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