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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Washington File

03 April 2003

Coalition Forces Are Close to Iraqi Capital

(Central Command Report, April 3: Iraq Operational Update) (640)
U.S. Central Command says coalition forces "are in close proximity" to
Baghdad and there are growing indications that the Iraqi regime of
Saddam Hussein has lost control of its army and the Iraqi people.
"The coalition attacks against the regime remain effective throughout
the country, and there is increasing evidence that the regime cannot
control its forces or the Iraqi population in most of the country,"
Army Brigadier General Vincent Brooks said April 3 during the CENTCOM
briefing at Camp As Sayliyah near Doha, Qatar.
"Whether [the Republican Guard] is melting away ... by choosing not to
fight anymore, or whether it is repositioning, there is movement
that's ongoing," Brooks said. "We don't think that the fighting is
over yet. There are still options that are open to the regime,
including weapons of mass destruction. We take that very seriously."
Brooks, who is deputy director of operations at CENTCOM, said there
are a lot of dynamics that are in play at this stage of the Iraqi war,
and "so we would not want to be overconfident at what we are seeing.
There still, we believe, will be fighting ahead. We should be sober
about our approach."
Brooks also announced that the prominent cleric Grand Ayatollah Sayyid
Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, a Shiite religious leader who had been
held under house arrest, has now issued a religious ruling -- called a
"fatwa" -- that urges Iraqis not to interfere with coalition troops
and to remain calm.
"We believe this is a very significant turning point, and yet another
indicator that the Iraqi regime is approaching its end," Brooks said.
"We are seeing evidence of other religious leaders who have had enough
of this regime."
Separately, CENTCOM Director of Strategic Communications Jim Wilkinson
said in an April 3 news release that there is evidence the Iraqi
regime may be planning a bombing campaign against several Baghdad
neighborhoods.
"U.S. Central Command has reliable information that the Iraqi regime
may be planning to begin anonymous bombing campaigns in several
Baghdad Shiite neighborhoods in an attempt to falsely accuse the
coalition of this destruction for propaganda purposes," Wilkinson
said. "This action would represent just the latest chapter in a long
history of aggression against innocent Iraqis by a regime that uses
violence, torture, murder and hunger as tools of terror and control."
During the briefing Brooks also said Special Operations forces in
northern Iraq have now cut off the highway that runs between Baghdad
and Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. "There have been several
skirmishes that have occurred in these areas, and the mission remains
successful," he said.
In addition, Special Operations forces remain in control of the
Hadithah Dam, which they captured April 2, Brooks said. The seizure of
the dam was essential to prevent its destruction and the subsequent
flooding of areas down river, particularly near Karbala and coalition
forces, he said. There have been repeated attacks against the
coalition force holding the dam by Iraqi artillery and mortars coming
from the nearby town of Hadithah, he said.
Brooks said Special Operations forces April 2 raided the Tharthar
Palace, which is approximately 90 kilometers outside Baghdad and is a
known residence of Saddam Hussein and his two sons. Attacking the
palaces built by Saddam Hussein is important, he said, because they
have been used as back-up command and control centers.
"In many cases we've tried to render them unusable for command and
control," Brooks said. "And in many cases as well, if we have
indications that there are regime leaders, we'll try to attack them
while they're in there to ensure that the people as well as the
physical structures are rendered incapable of command and control."
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)



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