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Full blooded onslaught { March 22 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,919646,00.htmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,919646,00.html
Full-blooded onslaught is launched on Baghdad
Julian Borger in Washington, Richard Norton-Taylor and Rory McCarthy in Camp As Sayliyah
Saturday March 22, 2003
The Guardian
US and British warplanes unleashed the much-anticipated "shock and awe" attack on Iraq when they delivered a devastating aerial bombardment on Baghdad and other cities, aimed at pummelling the country's commanders into abandoning Saddam Hussein and giving up the fight.
Explosions erupted across the Iraqi capital sending up billowing clouds of smoke and flames, as dozens of Stealth bombers and cruise missiles fired from B-52 warplanes, some dispatched from Fairford in Gloucestershire, converged on their targets. Those included dozens of barracks, government buildings and a presidential palace.
There were also reports of massive air attacks on the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, along the front lines between Iraqi forces and the Kurdish-run zone.
The Pentagon dubbed it "A-Day" - possibly standing for "attack" or "air war". It was ordered as Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, claimed that the Iraqi power structure was unravelling. "The regime is starting to lose control of the country," he said.
The decision to launch the onslaught came as British and American troops were surrounding the key southern city of Basra early this morning. Earlier they took control of the large Rumaila oil field, nearby oil terminals, and the country's only access to the Gulf.
The decision to dramatically intensify the bombing, despite fears in London and Washington that such an assault could provoke further anti-war sentiment, suggested that preliminary attempts to persuade commanders of the Republican Guard to turn on President Saddam through direct contacts had been inconclusive.
Washington buzzed with speculation last night over what had become of President Saddam. US intelligence and military officials told journalists that they were convinced he had been in the building in southern Baghdad that was struck on Thursday morning by more than two dozen cruise missiles and bombs from Stealth aircraft.
Soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade and paratroopers were last night moving to the west of Basra. Other units from the 7th Armoured Brigade working with US marines moved up to the east of the city. Military planners are aiming for the main force of US troops and some British forces to sweep around Basra and continue north to sit on the outskirts of Baghdad, hoping the regime will collapse.
US and British marines also captured the port of Umm Qasr, south of Basra, and Royal Marine commandos consolidated their control of the Al-Faw peninsular. The defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, said: "Any attempt by Saddam Hussein to release oil into the Gulf and create an environmental disaster has been thwarted."
Tornado GR4s and Harrier GR7s were among several hundred coalition planes involved in the "shock and awe" bombing. More than 1,000 targets have been selected for destruction across the country.
As the propaganda war raged, the administration conceded yesterday that a video released the same morning appeared to show President Saddam, and not an impostor as had been suggested earlier by some US intelligence sources. However, administration officials said the tape could have been pre-recorded.
British intelligence agencies are also in contact with senior Iraqi commanders, Whitehall sources said last night.
"A-Day" had originally been intended to be the launch of the war, paving the way for a ground assault. That order was reversed principally out of concern that Iraqi forces were torching southern oilfields.
Speaking at the Pentagon, Mr Rumsfeld, declared: "The regime is starting to lose control of their country. The confusion of Iraqi officials is growing. Their ability to see what is happening on the battlefield, to communicate with their forces and to control their country is slipping away."
He said the decision to launch the air war had been held back in the hope that "a large number of senior military people would make a conscious decision to act with honour and separate themselves from the regime". When that did not happen, the defence secretary, "A-Day" was given the green light.
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