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Tuesday March 25, 2003

"We're making good progress," Bush said. "We're fighting an enemy that knows no rules of law, that will wear civilian uniforms, that is willing to kill in order to continue the reign of fear of Saddam Hussein. But we're fighting them with bravery and courage. ... We will prevail."

In Baghdad on Tuesday, Saddam urged tribal leaders to attack U.S. and British soldiers without waiting for orders. "Take shelter, annoy them and attack them day and night until you terrorize them," Saddam said.

"If you face the enemy and inflict serious casualties and losses even if they are not big, you will see how they will flee scared because they are strangers and criminal aggressors."

It was the second consecutive day Saddam appeared on Iraqi television, but it was not known when the item was taped.

At the Pentagon, Bush painted a picture of success and determination on a broad front, even as swirling sandstorms put a temporary halt to the allies' advance about 50 miles from Baghdad. Some analysts, including senior military officials from the first Gulf War, are becoming more vocal in their criticism of the battle plan and said they feared the United States might be undermanned and underarmed for the task.

Bush said the allies are winning: "Our coalition is on a steady advance. We're making good progress."

"Eighteen months ago, this building came under attack," Bush said, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the Pentagon and in New York that killed about 3,000 people.

"From that day to this, we have been engaged in a new kind of war, and we are winning. We will not leave our future to be decided by terrorist groups or terrorist regimes."

Bush accuses Saddam of hiding weapons of mass destruction and refusing to be disarmed in violation of repeated resolutions by the U.N. Security Council. Tuesday, there was renewed concern among coalition leaders that Iraqi troops -- who by some accounts have begun carrying gas masks -- might respond to advancing coalition forces by unleashing chemical attacks.

Officials said they believe a "red line" ringing Baghdad might serve as a tripwire for the attacks once it was crossed.

Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz Tuesday dismissed those concerns as "fabrications and lies."

The Pentagon released the names of seven Marines killed Sunday in battle near An Nasiriyah. As of Tuesday, there were 18 people confirmed killed in action. At least 12 are missing in action and there are two confirmed American prisoners of war.

U.S. Central Command said there were additional casualties in fighting in An Nasiriyah but didn't specify a number. Reporters embedded with combat units said there were reports of additional deaths, but the Pentagon hadn't confirmed them.

CNN reported Monday a total of 39 killed, according to tallies from embedded reporters.

Two U.S. Army pilots are confirmed prisoners of war after their Apache helicopter was downed in Iraq Sunday. Some of the 12 soldiers ambushed Sunday in their supply convoy might also be prisoners of war. Some may have been killed, according to video footage of dead soldiers aired by Iraqi TV Sunday. At least five were being interrogated as prisoners of war on the tape.

Bush will visit CentCom in Tampa on Wednesday, then fly to Camp David, Md., to meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, America's key coalition partner.

Top British military officials Tuesday said they now regarded the southern Iraqi city of Basra a military target to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid for its residents, and a sandstorm delayed the coalition's march on Baghdad.

"We were expecting a lot of hands up from Iraqi soldiers and for the humanitarian operation in Basra to begin fairly quickly behind us, with aid organizations providing food and water to the locals," British military spokesman Capt. Patrick Trueman said.

"But it hasn't quite worked out that way."

British forces have faced intense resistance from Iraq's non-regular militia outside the city.

"Our forces now surround Basra and we are obviously assessing the situation before we commence operations to take out the non-regular militia," said Group Capt. Al Lockwood, a spokesman for British forces in the Gulf, the U.K. Press Association reported.

The city of 1.3 million people has lost electricity and water supplies and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned of a humanitarian crisis. The coalition had wanted to negotiate surrenders with Iraqi troops rather than move into the city, citing humanitarian concerns.

Meanwhile, the battle of Baghdad was on hold, delayed by a howling sandstorm that cut visibility, hampered the combat helicopters and forced U.S. forces around An Najaf to wrap their tanks and vehicles in tarpaulins against the grinding sand.

"The storm will deepen gradually tonight, reaching wind speeds of up to 50 km per hour (30 mph) before moving to the east Thursday," Khalid al-Shuaibi, chief meteorologist at Kuwait airport, told United Press International.

But the storm did not prevent the aerial bombing of Iraqi Republican Guard units around Baghdad, some of them using targeting information from British SAS and U.S. Special Forces teams on the ground.

About half of the sorties by coalition air forces were being flown against the Republican Guard, focusing on the Medina armored division and Nebuchadnezzar infantry division south of Baghdad.

The Medina division, equipped with Soviet-built T-72 tanks, is seen as the strongest single unit on the Iraqi side. It also has a large contingent of highly mobile ZSU-23 anti-aircraft armored vehicles, firing radar-guarded quadruple cannon.

Fighting also raged Tuesday in An Nasiriyah in southern Iraq, and explosions and anti-aircraft tracer fire were heard in Baghdad, CNN reported.

The British announced a second U.K. soldier was killed in action in southern Iraq. The soldier, from the 1st Battalion The Black Watch, was killed late Monday near al-Zubayr, 15 miles west of Basra. The Black Watch is a Scottish regiment.

Australia Tuesday said its special forces troops were engaged in successful "shoot and scoot" missions behind Iraqi lines.

"Special forces have been active destroying enemy installations either using their own resources, or directing coalition air support for destruction mission," army chief Lt. Gen. Peter Leahy said. "Our forces are denying freedom of movement to the Iraqi forces."

Britain's Blair, boosted by a new poll Tuesday that showed a significant surge in support for war, told the House of Commons that the leading edge of troops was 60 miles from Baghdad and would soon face a "crucial moment" when they would face highly trained Iraqi Republican Guards blocking the route.

He said coalition troops had taken the Aw Faw peninsula and the port of Umm Qasr despite "pockets of resistance," and had secured southern oil installations and the western desert.

Copyright 2003 by United Press International.