Regards, Ivan
Posted on 04/06/2003 3:51:35 PM PDT by MadIvan
ONE of the most holy cities in Islam was largely in American hands last night after some of the fiercest street fighting of the war that left one coalition soldier dead and eight wounded. The Americans say 400 Iraqi soldiers were killed during the battle.
As a sign of the coalition’s takeover of Karbala, 70 miles southwest of Baghdad, a 15ft bronze statue of President Saddam Hussein was brought crashing to the ground with the help of an American army blowtorch and local people pulling on a rope.
Karbala, described as the gateway to Baghdad, had been bypassed by American troops of the 3rd Infantry Division when they swept to the west of the ancient city in their armoured convoys last week en route to Baghdad. However, the city sits astride a vital supply route for the Americans. Elements of the 101st Airborne Division arrived in helicopters over the weekend to secure it. The 101st was backed by tanks from the 2nd Battalion of the 70th Armoured Regiment.
They became engaged in block-by-block fighting, confronting 500 Fedayin who had taken up positions on rooftops in the narrow streets, firing rocket-propelled grenades. The tough street-by-street battle for Karbala was a sign of what is to come in Baghdad.
The fighting was so fierce that the Americans had to call in air power and artillery.
For as long as the paramilitaries held sway in Karbala, threatening the supply route to Baghdad, it was considered too risky to mount any large-scale operation against the capital.
However, with most of the resistance routed by the 101st Airborne, the locals, no supporters of Saddam, could concentrate on toppling the statue of their hated leader, in military uniform with his right hand outstretched.
An American soldier produced a blowtorch and started to work on the lower leg, aiming to weaken the statue sufficiently to allow the locals to pull it down.
A crowd of several hundred, mainly young men and boys, gathered around. Numbers had swelled to several thousand by the time that the statue fell.
“Good, good, good Mr Bush, no Saddam,” an elderly man in the crowd said.
In 1991, after the Gulf War, Karbala was the scene of a brutal assault by Iraqi troops, crushing a revolt by the Shia, who had led an uprising in the belief that the American-led coalition would go to their aid.
The people of Karbala had to wait another 12 years.
Regards, Ivan
Best part of the article!
Ivan, Many Thanks!
Keep up the good work in reporting!
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Iraqi citizens stand on top of a statue of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) which was pulled down by US-led forces, in the town of Kerbala, April 6, 2003. REUTERS/Peter Andrews - Apr 06 11:42 AM ET |
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Iraqi citizens pull down a statue of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) with the help of U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor and 101st Airborne division, in the town of Kerbala, April 6, 2003. Bombs and artillery thundered across Baghdad on Sunday as U.S. forces tightened their grip on the capital's outskirts, bringing up more troops and cutting approaches on three sides of the embattled city. REUTERS/Peter Andrews - Apr 06 11:20 AM ET |
hohoho.
A U.S. soldier from 2nd Battalion, 70 Armor destroys
a portrait of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the town
of Kerbala 70 miles southwest of Baghdad, April 5, 2003.
Moving street to street, U.S. troops pushed into the center
of Kerbala on April 6, after fierce battles with Iraqi para-
militaries threatening U.S. supply lines north to Baghdad.
Peter Andrews/Reuters
That tends to happen after everything has bullet holes in it. ;)
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