Troops Go Into 'Hunting Mode'

U.S. units in central Iraq appeared to be shifting their strategy because of attacks from Iraqi militia.

Rather than racing toward Baghdad as they have in the last few days, Marines on Wednesday slowed their advance, opting to send patrols out from their convoys to take out mortar nests and other enemy targets.

"We're going into a hunting mode right now," said Lt. Col. B.T. McCoy, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines. "We're going to start hunting down instead of letting them take the cheap shots."

The attacks "appear to involve Republican Guards who have donned Arab civilian dress and are traveling in buses, taxis and SUVs to reinforce units in the south," CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reports.

Dodge Billingsly, a freelance reporter working for CBS News and traveling with the 1st Marine Division south of an-Nasariyah, reports his convoy came under fire.

"It seems to be the same tactic being used by Iraqis elsewhere - wait until dusk, spring ambush and melt away," he reports.

There were no U.S. casualties.

The gunfight lasted one hour and the attackers fled when the Marines turned on their overwhelming firepower, Billinglsy reports.

Meanwhile, a large contingent of Iraq's Republican Guard headed south under cover of blinding sandstorms in a 1,000-vehicle convoy Wednesday toward central Iraq — site of the heaviest fighting of the war.

Cobra pilots resupplying Marines in central Iraq cited military intelligence reports that columns of 3,000 Republican Guard troops were moving from Baghdad to the city of Kut, and 2,000 more were seen south of Kut.

"I don't have a number, but we have seen reports of Republican Guards coming south in significant numbers, in strong and significant numbers," said Navy Capt. Frank Thorp, a spokesman at U.S. Central Command in Qatar.

Thorp later said he was not referring to Republican Guards but Iraqi forces.

Coalition forces may find it difficult to attack the columns because sandstorms sweeping across Iraq for a second day have grounded helicopter flights throughout the area and significantly reduced the number of flights off carriers in the Persian Gulf and eastern Mediterranean.

The blinding storms also hampered resupply efforts. Most aircraft have been grounded since Tuesday morning, including helicopters bearing food, water and ammunition. Some helicopters that were able to fly on Wednesday picked up casualties.

The 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division was within striking distance of Baghdad but was stalled by the storms, said its commander, Col. Michael Linnington.

"We are one tank of fuel from Baghdad," Linnington said. "The 101st is grounded and were not doing what we do best which is air assault operations and attacks. So we're waiting for a weather break."

The unexpected level of resistance and battering sandstorms are creating a drag on troops headed to Baghdad, where President Saddam Hussein and his regime are expected to make their last stand, said officials at the Pentagon and the U.S. military command center in Qatar.

Storms grounded scores of coalition aircraft Tuesday, blinded the array of electronic eyes needed to target Iraq and were gumming up guns, breaking down engines and generally slowing a military campaign designed for speed.

The U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division drew to within 50 miles of Baghdad, west of where the Republican Guard was advancing. Other American forces were expected to join soon in squeezing the capital from several directions.

A military source said the U.S. Central Command now had evidence that the Iraqi regime had wired many of the bridges around Baghdad for destruction.
Meanwhile, Iraqi officials said a U.S. missile attack in Baghdad killed 14 and injured 30 in the Al-Shaab neighborhood, an area crowded with apartments, auto repair shops and inexpensive restaurants. Associated Press Television News footage showed a large crater in the middle of a street, a child with a head bandage, and bodies wrapped in plastic sheeting in a pickup truck. Hundreds of people stood in front of a damaged building, some shaking fists in the air and shouting.

U.S. Central Command said it had no information about the incident.

"We don't have a report that corroborates that, so I can't confirm it," Brig. General Vincent Brooks said during a Central Command briefing Wednesday. "We do everything physically and scientifically possible to be precise in our targeting."

"Warfare is not a pretty or easy endeavor. Mistakes do happen. Weapons do malfunction. If we make a mistake we admit it," said Jim Wilkinson, a U.S. Central Command spokesman.

Asked about military conditions south of Baghdad, Brooks said "we've not seen any significant movement" in the area by the Republican Guard, although there has been some "survival positionings, but not serious attacks."

British forces on the edge of Basra waged artillery battles with more than 1,000 Iraqi militiamen, who reportedly also faced some sort of insurrection by Shiite Muslim civilians opposed to Saddam.

British officers said the Basra uprising became enough of a threat that the militiamen fired mortars to try to suppress it. British forces then silenced the Iraqi mortar positions with an artillery barrage, spokesman Lt. Col. Ronnie McCourt said.

McCourt said British troops also were firing at some of the militiamen who were trying to flee Basra.

Iraqi officials have denied there was any uprising in Basra.

The British — while awaiting an opportune moment to enter the heart of Basra — used loudspeakers to say that aid is waiting outside the city. Relief officials say many of the 1.3 million residents are drinking contaminated water and face the threat of diarrhea and cholera.

Assigned to bring aid to another battle-scarred southern city, a seven-truck relief convoy — loaded with food and water — left Kuwait and reached the port of Umm Qasr on Wednesday.

Hoping to cripple the Iraqi government's communications, the allies attacked the state television headquarters in Baghdad before dawn Wednesday with missiles and air strikes. The station's international satellite signal was knocked off the air for a few hours.

Asked about 14 civilians killed in Baghdad on Tuesday in what Iraq said was a U.S. bombing, Brooks said that he had no information on the incident.
"We don't have a report that corroborates that, so I can't confirm it," he said. "We do everything physically and scientifically possible to be precise in our targeting."

Television footage showed a large crater in the middle of a street, a child with a bandaged head and bodies wrapped in plastic sheeting in a pickup truck. Hundreds of people stood in front of damaged buildings, some chanting "Oh, Saddam, we sacrifice our souls and blood to you."