08 April 2003
Pentagon Says Coalition "Rooting Out Resistance" in Baghdad
(Defense Department report, April 8: military operations in Iraq) (500) By David Anthony Denny Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- Coalition forces have a "substantial presence" in Baghdad and are conducting raids from different directions into the city, "rooting out resistance wherever we find it," says a Pentagon military official. "We are sitting in the center of the city with almost an armor brigade right now, which is extraordinary," Army Major General Stanley McChrystal told journalists at a Pentagon briefing April 8. "I think the end game is the end of the regime. And that's much closer than people thought it was," he said. McChrystal, the vice director of operations on the Joint Staff, said that operating in the Iraqi regime's capital "subdivides" the regime's ability to operate. Coalition operations there continue "to degrade what command and control they (the regime) have," he said. "And as we convince the [Iraqi] people that the regime is through, then we think that [ending the regime] becomes that much easier," McChrystal said. Air power plays a vital role in the effort as well, he said. "Coalition air forces have established air supremacy over the entire country, which means the enemy's incapable of effective interference with coalition air operations," he said. Air operations are focused on providing support to coalition ground forces in and around Baghdad, targeting remaining Republican Guard forces, and looking for targets of opportunity, he said. They are also attacking Iraqi forces in the north near the Kurdish area, he added. Asked about the possible discovery of chemical weapons on April 7, McChrystal said field tests of the substances found in the drums were mixed. Other topics discussed at the briefing included: -- The incident in Baghdad at the Palestine Hotel, where journalists were killed was a result of coalition forces' "inherent right of self-defense," McChrystal said. "When they are fired at, they have the obligation to respond to protect the soldiers with them and to accomplish the mission at large," he said. -- The United States considers the air strike on a house in Basrah belonging to Hassan al-Majid, a cousin of Saddam Hussein known as "Chemical Ali," to have been "very, very effective," McChrystal said. Battle damage assessment shows "a hole in the ground ... where we wanted it to be, where we believed high-value targets were," McChrystal said. Hard evidence as to who was at the site is still lacking, he said. "[W]e remain optimistic that he is dead," Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said. -- The Iraqi Republican Guards still receive instructions but often don't or can't follow them. Elements of the Special Republican Guard and death squads still remain under regime control, McChrystal said. -- Coalition forces are still gathering intelligence on coalition prisoners of war and conducting operations to find them, he said. -- Ahmad Chalabi and his free Iraqi forces are being trained and equipped in southern Iraq by coalition forces, McChrystal 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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