Sand Likely To Delay Baghdad Battle
A sandstorm seems likely to delay the start of the battle of Baghdad, but it isn't stopping weapons that don't rely on sight for targeting.
Dozens of Tomahawk missiles were launched from the Red Sea Tuesday toward targets in Iraq. More than a dozen were launched from the USS San Jacinto alone, where CBS affiliate WKTR's Mike Mather is "embedded."
By early afternoon Tuesday, a sandstorm was in full swing over the city of Baghdad, casting a yellow pall and dramatically reducing visibility. Strong winds howled across the city, adding to the discomfort of residents.
It's also hampering coalition troops, reports CBS News' Phil Ittner just outside an-Nasariyah with the U.S. Army's Third Infantry.
"Visibility is down to perhaps 20 yards," he reported. "Unless you've got some sort of protection over your eyes, the dust will get right in there and you won't be able to see worth a darn. Breathing can also be a problem; you have to put some sort of mask over your mouth if you want to breathe properly."
When coalition troops do approach the Iraqi capital, there is speculation that they may face more than just bullets and bombs.
The Iraqis have drawn something on the map around Baghdad called the "chemical red line," reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin, and once U.S. troops cross that, Iraqi forces are released and authorized to use chemical weapons. The first place the U.S. could cross that line is Karbala, which is 60 miles south of Baghdad, where the Medina Division of the Republican Guards is based. Medina is one of the best and most powerful of the Republican Guard divisions.
The Iraqi Republican Guard controls the bulk of Iraq's chemical weaponry, most of which can be fired from artillery or short-range rocket launchers, according to U.S. officials who discussed the intelligence information on the condition they not be identified. These weapons generally can hit targets from a few dozen miles or less.
The Third Infantry so far has "encountered Iraqis carrying antibiotics with them, but no Iraqi POWs carrying gas masks," reports Ittner.
The so-called Shock and Awe bombing campaign has not yet produced wholesale Iraqi surrenders, and the campaign is now shifting more and more to attacks on Republican Guard positions in an attempt to soften them up before the assault on Baghdad.
Whether or not there is a Battle of Baghdad will depend on whether or not the Republican Guards fight or surrender, reports Martin. For the moment there is every indication that they intend to fight. But as one official pointed out, until American forces close on them, the Republican Guards really have no one to surrender to.
In fact, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the U.S. forces are using air power, helicopters and artillery to "beat down those Republican Guard positions" before ground troops move ahead in the battle for Baghdad.
"I wouldn't characterize any of that as a pause; it's all part of a plan," Air Force Gen. Richard Myers said in a broadcast interview Tuesday.
"We've never said it's going to be quick, we've never said it's going to be easy, you've never heard those words come out of officials here at the Pentagon," he said. "War is tough and it's going to be a tough fight. But it's a worthy fight."
CBS News Correspondent John Roberts reports there was evidence of fierce fighting as he approach an-Nasiriyah, "from entering the city, where we saw six Iraqi T-55 tanks that were obliterated to a couple of U.S. Marine Corps M-track vehicles which were split literally in half by rocket fire."
Myers said military planners are working to minimize civilian casualties, even to the point of putting coalition forces at extra risk. He said the effort to balance risks to civilians and coalition forces is "a constant calculation."
U.S. officials on Monday repeated warnings that they believed Iraq was more likely to use chemical or biological weapons against coalition troops the closer they get to Baghdad.
About 500 Iraqis have been killed in the last two days by 3rd Infantry Division's tanks and mechanized units as they swept through southern Iraq, a top U.S. commander reported Tuesday.
The estimate came from Command Sgt. Maj. Kenneth Preston of V Corps, who oversees the 3rd Infantry Division.
Preston said U.S. forces ran into "a lot" of Iraqi tanks and anti-aircraft weaponry and "thousands and thousands" of weapons around the city of Najaf.
"This could have been very ugly, but they're not very motivated," Preston said of the regular Iraqi army recruits. "I think a lot of them wanted to go home."
Asked about his division's plans, Preston replied simply: "Baghdad. That's where we're going, one step at a time."